How did the U.S. expand from a country affected by a civil war to a "new empire" at the turn of the XXth Century?

The American Civil War was a war fought from 1861 to 1865 between the United States (the "Union" or the "North") and several Southern slave states that had declared their secession and formed the Confederate States of America (the "Confederacy" or the "South"). The war had its origin in the fractious issue of slavery, and, after four years of bloody combat (mostly in the South), the Confederacy was defeated, slavery was abolished, and the difficult Reconstruction process of restoring unity and guaranteeing rights to the freed slaves began.

The American Civil War was one of the earliest true industrial wars. Railroads, the telegraph, steamships, and mass-produced weapons were employed extensively. The mobilization of civilian factories, mines, shipyards, banks, transportation and food supplies all foreshadowed World War I. It remains the deadliest war in American history, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 750,000 soldiers and an undetermined number of civilian casualties.

 "Killing ground: photographs of the Civil War and the changing American landscape". John Huddleston (2002). Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-6773-6. Viewed cover November 28, 2012.

After such a terrible chapter in the developing history in The United States, where American's fought American's the aftermath indicated

• Loss of human life
• Material destruction
• Strenghtenness of the union and the expansion to the west
• Secession initiatives stopped
• Urbanization and industrial character over the rebuilt cities
• Quick process of postwar reconstruction they gain RETRUST so the reintegration process is fast.
• The country began a class conflict process marked by polarization
  created through wealth, misery and political violence.

 From Early XIX Century to Mid-XIX Century, very little attention was put to foreign affairs as the Civil war dominated all aspects of politics in the U.S. but there seemed to be 2 interests that guided America in

its pursuit of foreign interests:

1.  Pursue favorable trade agreements and alignments to acquire territory and exert power over the Pacific and the Caribbean
2. Foster the spread of Christian and democratic ideals within the continent.(MANIFEST DESTINY)

The reconstruction and evolution of the empire tooked place from 1865-1913 within 3 specific scenarios:

• Economy (Industrial Revolution):

The "North" who now controlls Congress starts passing laws to protect northern products against cheap European goods, this helped the founding of American industrial complexes. (FACTORIES = JOB OPPORTUNITIES = FLOW OF ECONOMY = FINANCIAL EQUALITY)

• Politics (Military Strenghtness):

The American-Spanish War

Important facts:

- U.S. declares war against Spain but  they have NO wishes to annex Cuba. (1895)

- It is the first international conflict where the U.S. Army and Navy intervene.

- A quick victory for the U.S. ending in the defeat of the Spanish and the annexation of Puerto Rico, Guam and the Phillipines.

To get even with the support given to Cuba, the U.S. presented The Platt amendment which stated that

Cuba could make no treaties without U.S. agreement. Cuba could not create indebtedness beyond its
means to pay. The U.S. reserved the right to intervene in Cuba to maintain law and order.The U.S. was granted rights to a naval base at Guantanamo Bay until 1999, which they still run. (COMPLETE CONTROL OVER THE CUBAN POLITICAL LIFE, NO NEED FOR ANNEXATION)

The whithe's men thought to Christianize and educate inferior people

The “open door policy” which stated that the Chinese empire had to remain whole, united and under Chinese control.  China would be open to US trade and missionaries, opposing European colonialism and supporting the opening of foreign markets.

• Opposing colonialism and fostering open markets would domiante U.S. Foreign policy into the XXI century.

In 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt helps Panamanians revolt against Colombia, seizing for the U.S. a 10 mile wide area through Panama. They began building an isthmian canal which opened in 1914., allowing access to U.S. ships both in the Atlantic and the Pacific. (CONTROL OVER THE SEAS AND CENTRAL-SOUTH AMERICA)

Over the next several decades, until Presidents Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt pursued a “good neighbor” policy, the United States continued to intervene in Latin America.

And so, how did The United States of America evolved from the old and distroyed empire the Civil War led, into the new powerful and interventionist empire that was just described?

•The nation's economic approach to foreign affairs,empowered by the risign economic powers inside the country due to the Industrial Revolution, led to an overseas sight. They were so optimistic about the reborned nation and the positive impact of the Industrial Revolution, economy was rising and they started to buy new territories (Expansionism).
• The growth of the Navy and army during the Civil war made the American military much more powerful, with batallions ready to itnervene in the continent and outside of the continent, examples: American- Spanish War (Cuba, Philipines, Puerto Rico)

• The establishment of clear ideals and principles in its approach to other nations: Open door policy with
China, support for the Panama Canal Project via doctrines such as the Monroe Doctrine (and its influence on Latin America), economic expansionism (with its investments in foreign lands –Cuba) and its continuous belief in the Manifest Destiny.

And that is how the great power we see today began. They settled values that they still carryon today, and having such congruence between their political speech and the actions taken is what keeps The United States as the ruling nation.

Never the less, the speed of the establishment of all this policies make me think about conspiracies, I mean, It took less than a decade to run all this operations and expansion their power as they did.

What is the intended scope of the second amendment to the constitution of the United States? 

The Second Amendment (Amendment II) to the United States Constitution is the part of the United States Bill of Rights that protects the right of the people to keep and bear arms. It was adopted on December 15, 1791, along with the rest of the Bill of Rights. The Supreme Court of the United States first ruled in 2008 that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess and carry firearms.

But, is it really necessary for the US citizens nowadays to carry on arms to protect their lives?

The tragedies at Waco in 1993 and in Oklahoma City in 1995, both of which involved a modern militia movement, brought the insurrectionist interpretation of the Second Amendment to the public’s attention and prompted vigorous critiques. And since then the subject has always been in vogue and in a constant disclaim with and against the N.R.A.

The United States has the highest rate of civilian gun ownership in the world, twice that of the country with the second highest rate, which is Yemen. The United States also has the highest homicide rate of any affluent democracy, nearly four times higher than France or the United Kingdom, six times higher than Germany. In the United States in 2008, guns were involved in two-thirds of all murders. Of interest to many people concerned about these matters, then, is when the debate over the Second Amendment will yield to a debate about violence.

In the context when this law was originated it is easy to understand why they wanted to be protected, the society was ending up a war and was passing through complex social changes, but today, to think that the biggest world power as a State is unable to provide with enough security to its citizens, so that they need to be own protected, is just nonsense to me.

In my opinion the State should rather invest in social adaptation programs of a higher civil education in order to make a sustainable and remarkable change in society, so that they won't be a protected society but a safe society.

http://www.newyorker.com/online//newsdesk/2012/04/the-second-amendment.html

What were the effects of American Independence on the establishment of a form of government in the USA?

Why did the war happened?

The war was the result of the political American Revolution. Colonists galvanized around the position that the Stamp Act of 1765, imposed by Parliament of Great Britain, was unconstitutional

The colonists claimed that, as they were British subjects, taxation without representation in Parliament was illegal. The American colonists formed a unifying Continental Congress and a shadow government in each colony, though at first remaining loyal to the king.

The American boycott of taxed British tea led to the Boston Tea Party in 1773, when shiploads of tea were destroyed. London responded by ending self-government in Massachusetts . In April 1775 Gage learned that weapons were being gathered in Concord, and he sent British troops to seize and destroy them. Local militia confronted the troops and exchanged fire. After repeated pleas to the British monarchy for intervention with Parliament, any chance of a compromise ended when the Congress were declared traitors by royal decree, and they responded by declaring the independence of a new sovereign nation, the United States of America, on July 4, 1776. 

·         American Loyalists rejected the Declaration, and sided with the king; they were excluded from power everywhere. American attempts to expand the rebellion into Quebec and the Floridas were unsuccessful.

France, Spain and the Dutch Republic all secretly provided supplies, ammunition and weapons to the revolutionaries starting early in 1776.

In 1783, the Treaty of Paris ended the war and recognized the sovereignty of the United States over the territory bounded roughly by what is now Canada to the north, Florida to the south, and the Mississippi River to the west.

A wider international peace was agreed, in which several territories were exchanged.

Colin Gordon Calloway, The American Revolution in Indian Country(1995)

The first change led by the American Revolution was the belief of equality among all society. During the Revolutionary War, wealthy military men joined the American army with poor men who were also fighting for the same cause.

Even though after the war social classes started to be insignificant, white men still looked down to Native Indian Americans and black slaves.

The North continued to look down upon slavery while the South didn't change their stance at all. Slavery was a key for the economical performance of the south so they were not agreed on abolishing it. After the Revolutionary War, the North had begun to free slaves.  The south remained in the position of keeping slavery alive.

One of the political effects from the War was that now, they could have their own powerful central government. Instead of relying on the King of Britain, they would have their own leader who would turn out to be General George Washington.

The Articles of Confederation stated that The United States of America would have a central government with a one-house congress where each state had a single vote-

The Constitution provided for a federal form of government but allowing the states to have particular powers. It is stated the division of powers.

The Bill of Rights, a document that guarantees individual rights: religion, speech, press, assembly and petition.

As an economical result of the American Revolution, the Continental Congress found it extremely difficult to pay the soldiers who fought the war. They had to resort to selling bonds to other governments such as France to be able to pay their troops. The Congress began to print paper money which they called Continentals. However when the paper money became too common, the cost of it sunk and inflation began to occur.

And so as my personal conclusion, the American Revolution led to the actual political system the United States have. 

Their central focus for them as a nation is to provide with the most important guarantees, which are stated in the declaration of independence: "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness", and by understanding this we will be able to understand the whole American Policy.

In further posts I will analyze the american conception of "Protection" talking about the 2nd Amendment to the U.S.A. Constitution. 

What processes occurred in the British Colonies for the establishment of a political system in America?

What processes occurred in the British Colonies for the establishment of a political system in America?

 

To answer this question let’s go back to the beginning of the colonization of the 13 Colonies.

The Colonization of the 13 British Colonies in North America has 4 stages:

1-      Exploring America

2-      The decision to settle

3-      Exportation

4-      Own government

The first stage was not properly a British decision, but a need when the other European countries like Spain, France and Portugal started their explorations. The resolution to settle was the great assert Great Britain did, since they were the first country with the ambition to grow their domain by actually having British people living there and not only taking advantage of the natural resources to enrich more the mother countries.

Once they settled and founded the colonies they started producing raw materials and goods that were merchandized with Great Britain and other European countries, by this they were building up an economic system based on the production and exportation of those goods.

And as a natural result from a civil settlement and life, they created and adapted their own political system.

But let's start by giving two key concepts: Colonialism and Mercantilism.

Colonialism is practice of domination which involves the subjugation of one people to another and its principal characteristic is the settlement.

On the other hand, mercantilism is an economical theory which pushes nations in a struggle for supremacy by merchandizing goods.

Both, Colonialism and Mercantilism were found in the 13 Colonies and these can be identified as the core pieces of the establishment of a political system in North America since they were pushing the settlers to an unfair way of life and oppression from the mother country.

But how did the settlement process become a political system? 

It is summarized by two words: INDIVIDUAL ENTREPRISE.

Proprietary Colonies were a result of the Stuart Restoration, by this the King Charles II gave to his supporters the title of property over the 13 colonies. The Propietors received legal titles for land ownership in America and Political Authority.

In this new system, settlers were authorized to elect and organize assemblies and make laws, even in Pennsylvania (William Penn’s Colony) they had religious freedom, a representative government and land rights.

As my personal conclusion, the evolution of the Political System during the Colonization was a proof of maturity over the developing settlements. They were not only there to “occupy” a land, but to actually progress in the New World.

They had aspirations and they fought for what they believed right.

Unfortunately, the mother country wouldn’t let them develop and grow as they were doing and they were later on, pushed to an Independence revolution.