Even if you know nothing else of American history, you need to be aware of Manifest Destiny because this is the doctrine which justified killing more people than the Third Reich. (WIKI: Manifest Destiny)
This is the doctrine from the 19th Century which justified wiping out the Indians and is the same basis Andrew Jackson used to justify the Cherokee Trail of Tears. The consequence of it was Americans remain the only people on the planet who do not have their own country. Modern Americans may dispute that but let's ask an Indian, shall we. Americans have been here about four hundred years while Indians have been here for tens of millennia so don't even waste my time talking about rights; you murdered them. They had no rights.
This vile doctrine was not unanimously supported and some of the best rejected it:
Historians have emphasized that "manifest destiny" was a contested concept—pre-civil war Democrats endorsed the idea but many prominent Americans (such as Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, and most Whigs) rejected it. Historian Daniel Walker Howe writes, "American imperialism did not represent an American consensus; it provoked bitter dissent within the national polity ... Whigs saw America's moral mission as one of democratic example rather than one of conquest."
Just what exactly is an 'irresistible destiny' but we don't need an explanation as that's the pseudo-religious empowerment America uses for practically everything it does which winds up killing people (i.e. practically everything it does).
Someone spoke earlier of the 'underlying morality' in Hillary Clinton based on her foundation but, in this case, let's ask the Libyans about that, at least the ones she didn't get killed.
Those so-called principles are still in effect today and are the fundamental reason Americans are such a threat to the world, just as they were to the Indians. If they want it, they will kill it and take it. That's the American history and it goes back centuries.
Part of what contributed to it was the Louisiana Purchase which bought the states with the most heathen racists in the country. That was one of the few aspects of the expansion of America which was quasi-legal.
The Mexican-American War is a better example of America's brutality and James Polk tried to buy the land but Mexico rejected it so he started a war with them. This is what gained Texas and most of the West. If he had paid for that land, he would have asked for his money back because all he got was yet more racists and the hugely unstable land in California. But this is America and he didn't pay for it. The Alamo isn't a symbol of freedom but rather one of theft. (WIKI: Mexican-American War)
The same thing happens now as America tries to encircle Russia with NATO sites so they can wipe them out as well and they don't even want the land because it's too damn cold. They just don't know any better since the country has never behaved any other way. Not surprisingly, Republicans, notwithstanding their supposed heritage from Lincoln, are full in favor of the continued pursuit of Manifest Destiny but it's just a cheap copy of the Divine Right of Kings. Take a look at Paul Ryan and tell me, do you see a king or a just a half-baked crumpet? (WIKI: Divine Right of Kings)
Yevette, there's your answer. It's probably not what you hoped but it's definitely what you suspected.
Pop quiz: why was she not taught this in school and, assuming it's presented at all, why is it whitewashed as just another bullet point for the next test. That's all I remember of the presentation of it from high school and learning the detail of it was something I had to do myself. In fact, most of my memory of high school history was just remembering lists with zero analysis of anything.
This is the doctrine from the 19th Century which justified wiping out the Indians and is the same basis Andrew Jackson used to justify the Cherokee Trail of Tears. The consequence of it was Americans remain the only people on the planet who do not have their own country. Modern Americans may dispute that but let's ask an Indian, shall we. Americans have been here about four hundred years while Indians have been here for tens of millennia so don't even waste my time talking about rights; you murdered them. They had no rights.
This vile doctrine was not unanimously supported and some of the best rejected it:
Historians have emphasized that "manifest destiny" was a contested concept—pre-civil war Democrats endorsed the idea but many prominent Americans (such as Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, and most Whigs) rejected it. Historian Daniel Walker Howe writes, "American imperialism did not represent an American consensus; it provoked bitter dissent within the national polity ... Whigs saw America's moral mission as one of democratic example rather than one of conquest."
- WIKI
The doctrine has these basic components:
- The special virtues of the American people and their institutions
- The mission of the United States to redeem and remake the west in the image of agrarian America
- An irresistible destiny to accomplish this essential duty
Just what exactly is an 'irresistible destiny' but we don't need an explanation as that's the pseudo-religious empowerment America uses for practically everything it does which winds up killing people (i.e. practically everything it does).
Someone spoke earlier of the 'underlying morality' in Hillary Clinton based on her foundation but, in this case, let's ask the Libyans about that, at least the ones she didn't get killed.
Those so-called principles are still in effect today and are the fundamental reason Americans are such a threat to the world, just as they were to the Indians. If they want it, they will kill it and take it. That's the American history and it goes back centuries.
Part of what contributed to it was the Louisiana Purchase which bought the states with the most heathen racists in the country. That was one of the few aspects of the expansion of America which was quasi-legal.
The Mexican-American War is a better example of America's brutality and James Polk tried to buy the land but Mexico rejected it so he started a war with them. This is what gained Texas and most of the West. If he had paid for that land, he would have asked for his money back because all he got was yet more racists and the hugely unstable land in California. But this is America and he didn't pay for it. The Alamo isn't a symbol of freedom but rather one of theft. (WIKI: Mexican-American War)
The same thing happens now as America tries to encircle Russia with NATO sites so they can wipe them out as well and they don't even want the land because it's too damn cold. They just don't know any better since the country has never behaved any other way. Not surprisingly, Republicans, notwithstanding their supposed heritage from Lincoln, are full in favor of the continued pursuit of Manifest Destiny but it's just a cheap copy of the Divine Right of Kings. Take a look at Paul Ryan and tell me, do you see a king or a just a half-baked crumpet? (WIKI: Divine Right of Kings)
Yevette, there's your answer. It's probably not what you hoped but it's definitely what you suspected.
Pop quiz: why was she not taught this in school and, assuming it's presented at all, why is it whitewashed as just another bullet point for the next test. That's all I remember of the presentation of it from high school and learning the detail of it was something I had to do myself. In fact, most of my memory of high school history was just remembering lists with zero analysis of anything.
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