Native Americans Essay, Research Paper
The War of 1812, the Spanish-American War and World War I were not just about national defense, but about many other things, like politics and the peoples trust. The strength of our nation is not just in politics alone, but in economics and the trust of its people in the heads of government to do the right thing. All of the wars that have been fought by the U.S. have been more supported by economics then politics.
The War of 1812 did not start because of a military action, but it was built up with the disagreements on trading and the taxing of goods shipped in and out of the U.S. The most important thing that got the U.S. in the War is the treatment of the Americans on the high seas. It was mostly the English that did not show any respect to the sailors (by the impressment of them) and also the passengers.
Her Majesty’s Ship the leopard attacked the U.S.S. Chesapeake on February of 1807, while looking for British sailors who have jumped ship and joined the American Navy and Shipping industry. In this attack three Americans were killed and eighteen others were injured.
President Jefferson wanted to solve this matter with diplomacy, not war. In thinking this way he helped create the Embargo act, which was designed “to bring the European belligerents to their senses” by cutting off American trade to France and England. The Embargo Act was later repealed near the end of Jefferson’s final term.
The Embargo was replaced during Madison’s first term with the Non-Intercourse act, which stated that Americans were allowed to trade with any other country except England and France. It also stated that if either country stopped violating our neutral rights the trade would resume. The Non-Intercourse act ended on May 1, 1810. With the ending of this act it did not help the deterioration of relations between America and France or England.
After the ending of the Non-Intercourse act congress passed Macons Bill NO.2. This bill had opened trade between America and the two other countries. This bill also stated that if one country should stop interfering with American trade within one year then the U.S. would stop trade with the other country within three months. If those same two countries did not stop the interference then the Non-Intercourse act would resume.
Trade was not the only thing that had started the War of 1812. It was also the influence of the American people on their government. The group of people that wanted the war to happen was the War Hawks. The War Hawks were mostly from the west (Kentucky and Tennessee). They wanted the war because they wanted to get rid of the British in America because they were selling guns to the Native Americans so that they could revolt with more power. The War Hawks tried to tell the Heads of the government about this but they did not believe them or just did not care. After the War Hawks pressured President Madison into war with England, he regretfully entered.
The leader of the War Hawks was a man by the name of henry Clay. Henry Clay was the Speaker of the House. He once said, “I prefer the troubled oceans of war . . . with all its calamities . . . to the tranquil and putrescent pool in ignominious peace!”
The Spanish-American War was also another war that was not just a military or political war, but mostly an economical war. The United States was more interested in the revolt in Cuba, not because of security factors as much as the economical worth of that island to the U.S. The U.S. had invested more than $30 million in sugar plantations in Cuba, which was the main export on that island. President Cleveland wanted strict neutrality in the Cuban struggle, and warned that if “the useless sacrifice of human life” went on the U.S. might have to abandon the policy of “Patient waiting”.
When the Maine was destroyed in the Havana Port the Press created uproar with the Americans. People wanted amends for the death of all 258 American sailors and in that pressure from the citizens the U.S. entered the war and won it for its people.
Through out the beginning of World War I the United States tried to stay neutral, but this was not the case once we were threatened. The Germans in the sinking of the Lusitaina threatened us. A new war weapon, a German U-boat, sank the Lusitaina. The U-boats were designed to sink any ship with out warning. World War I was a very important to the United States because it opened our markets to mass production of war weapons, and the U.S. jumped at the first opportunity to join and lead this market. When the U.S. would ship the supplies needed to help the allies, all the other countries that the U.S. did not help looked down upon them. When this happened, the U.S. started smuggling the supplies to the allies through the use of passenger liners that were going that way.
When the Germans heard about what was happening they started to destroy the passenger ships so that the supplies would not reach the allies.
When this happened, the United States had gotten threatened yet concerned, so they entered the war because their economy was really bad after the Germans started to sink their passenger ships.
In all of the wars the only thing that they have in common, they are all based on the American citizens pressuring the president into war and the fact that economics played a big role in the starlings of the War of 1812, the Spanish-American war and World War I.
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