The Super Summary of World History (39 page)

Nations chasing England’s path to world power illustrate the idiocy of assuming what worked before will work now. Each nation’s or individual’s situation is distinct. Unclear, stilted thinking threw away chances for positive progress by Germany and other countries trying for “greatness” through military power and colonial acquisitions. Mapping out the best course of action requires knowing your unique situation, the situation of others involved, and knowing your own strengths and weaknesses. If you are five foot nine and weigh 165 pounds your chances of playing linebacker in the NFL are nil. Learn to live with that. If you excel at math attend college and major in engineering. Germany blew it big time by poorly analyzing their fundamental situation and its advantages and disadvantages. Rather, they dreamed of achievements not fitting their situation, angered everyone with their activities, and then ignored the anger and the danger. Don’t do that. Learn to be realistic and take things one step at a time. If your actions bring trouble coupled with active confrontation immediately change course so your actions bring positive results. Flexibility, clear analysis, and superior research bring positive rewards while avoiding dreadful pitfalls.

The French Revolution teaches us moderation. Radicals seizing the Revolution destroyed its ideals achieving worse than nothing. Practice moderation and notice where your actions are taking you. If your path is laced with strife, alter the path. Concentrate on small (moderate) thoughtful changes and notice the results. The big changes in France shook up the neighborhood turning all governments against them. The French Republic needed to alter course. Instead, they kept the same course and eradicated themselves. Avoid that error.

 
Chapter 11

America and the Americas

Latin
America

In the late 1700’s historic events were taking place in Latin America because of events in Europe. After Napoleon conquered Western Europe (Spain included) he placed his brother Joseph on the throne of Spain. The Spanish people abhorred Napoleon and started a long gruesome guerrilla war against the French; plus, in Latin America the Spanish colonies likewise rejected French tyranny.
Simon
Bolivar
(1783 to 1830), a Creole (colonist of Spanish descent), rose up against the French. His army won battle after battle against forces loyal to the Spanish throne, even though it was occupied by a Frenchman. He and other freedom fighters such as
Jose
San
Martin
(1778 to 1850), set an entire continent free. From the tip of Tierra del Fuego to Mexico, Spanish and Portuguese rule was ripped away allowing the formation of free and independent states.

Looking back on what Simon Bolivar accomplished it seems a miracle. In spite of his numerous victories Simon Bolivar’s name is not a household word, and yet he was as accomplished as George Washington in setting men free. Of course, that is the best thing about General Bolivar; he conquered to spread freedom.

President James Monroe announced the
Monroe
Doctrine
in 1823, warning Europe that the United States would not tolerate interference in Latin American affairs. The United States could not enforce this doctrine, but England could because she controlled the seas, and the doctrine fit with her policies since Britain wanted European powers to stay away from South America. Because of the American doctrine and its enforcement by Great Britain, Latin America was able to develop without unnecessary interference from Europe.

United
States
of
America

In 1791, Congress established the first Bank of the United States (a central bank), and stockbrokers began meeting under a tree on Wall Street in 1792. The brilliant Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton was cleaning up the financial mess the United States had gotten itself into, and George Washington was unanimously elected to a second term as president. George Washington quit after his second term saying two terms was enough, and this precedent held until Franklin Roosevelt won election four times after declining to adhere to President Washington’s example. Now the US Constitution limits the president to two terms.

Figure 34 Westward American Expansion—Early 1800

After winning the war for independence and the battle for the adoption of a new Constitution America set out to move west. Moving very far west was going to be a problem because France claimed the Louisiana Territory which was the drainage basin of the Mississippi River. This would effectively block westward expansion unless the United States was willing to fight for the area. This time America was lucky. France wanted to get rid of its American holdings and offered Louisiana to the
Jefferson
administration at a low price.
[119]
The third US president had a problem. The Constitution failed to say whether or not the president’s powers included making such a deal. Jefferson believed in limiting federal (central government) power, by confining it to powers that were specifically named, but went ahead with the
Louisiana
Purchase
in April of 1803 anyway because it was good for the country. Jefferson had no idea how good it would be for the nation. His use of an unstated power did expand the power of the president, but his decision was one of the most important ever made for the country. No one knew the size of the land area purchased so the government set out to find out. The Lewis and Clark expedition was sent to discover what the Federal Government bought. It turned out the acquisition more than doubled the size of the United States.

George Washington, in his farewell address as president, told America to stay away from foreign entanglements. Good advice, but in spite of its best efforts the United States was drawn into international affairs because of its widespread trading with Europe and the Caribbean. The small US Navy successfully fought the Barbary Coast pirates off North Africa after the US refused tribute to them in 1805; however, about the same time Britain was seizing sailors and US merchant ships during yet another war the United Kingdom was conducting against Napoleon. The United States became angry when the British ignored several warnings to cease. Talk of war increased the distress of New England area traders who realized their international trade connections might be cut by the United Kingdom in a war. Words soon turned to bullets as the United States declared war on England in 1812. As their ports fell under a blockade, New England merchants began talking about leaving the Union. The key reason for the war? The USA did not like the bully Great Britain pushing it around. The Americans were a feisty bunch.

The
War
of
1812

Wars of pride often go badly, and the War of 1812 went badly for the small USA against the mighty British Empire. The British seized Detroit at the outset of hostilities and repelled an American attack on Canada. As the war went on, Captain Oliver Perry won control of the Great Lakes for the United States in a stunning fresh-water naval victory over the British. The British landed and defeated an American militia force guarding Washington DC in the Battle of Bladensburg on August 24, 1814, then marched to and
burned
Washington
DC
. The British next advanced on Maryland and planned to seize the city of Baltimore.
Fort
McHenry
was the main barrier standing between the British and Baltimore. The British bombarded the fort all night in an attempt to breach its defenses, but the fort held so the British advance came to an end. During the action at Fort McHenry the United States of America gained the words to its national anthem.
Francis
Scott
Key
, held on a British ship in the harbor as the bombardment took place, wrote the “Star Spangled Banner” as he anxiously awaited the battle’s outcome. (He wrote the words that were later set to music.)

In the West, the British encouraged Native Americans to attack the advancing American colonists, making alliances with them during the war against the United States. In fighting along the western frontier and northern frontier with Canada the Americans faced combined British and Native American units in many hard-fought actions. The Native Americans and British allies often got the best of the Americans in these battles; however, the Native American chief
Tecumseh
caught a bullet in the Battle of the Thames and died on October 5, 1813. Tecumseh’s death effectively ended Native American support for the British and eased the pressure on the Americans. The British conquered a portion of Maine, but this was relinquished back to the US in the treaty ending the war.

At sea, the British maintained a blockade of the American coast severely hurting trade, nonetheless, in several single-ship duels on the high seas American frigates defeated larger British ships. Perhaps the best known was the
USS.
Constitution’s
[120]
victory over the larger and better armed HMS
Guerriere
. Even though the Americans won several single-ship battles, the British blockade was effective and significantly impaired US commerce.
[121]

The last battle of the war took place when the British assaulted the city of New Orleans at the mouth of the Mississippi River on January 8, 1815. Unfortunately, the war was
already
over
when the battle took place, but the forces were unaware of this fact because word of the treaty’s signing was slow to reach the British or American armies. The British forces drew up on a flat area near the town and launched an all-out attack but
General
Andrew
Jackson
had expertly fortified the area the British had to assault. The battle was fierce, nevertheless, well-protected defenders shot down the British as they attacked across open ground. Over two thousand English troops were lost to approximately one hundred Americans killed in the action. Word of this unnecessary victory reached Washington DC about the same time as the news of the signing of the treaty. The result was a huge celebration and the illusion of a war won against the British.

The Treaty of Ghent, signed on December 24, 1814, ended the war. Not much was gained by either side. The impressments issue went away because the English stopped impressments after the war with Napoleon ended. England gave back the portion of Maine they conquered. The one real gain was on the frontier where the American settlers would no longer face Native Americans allied with and supported by the British. After several defeats and the near secession of New England from the Union over trade issues, perhaps the American leadership learned a lesson. This was the last war between the United States and the United Kingdom.

American
Growth
and
Problems

By
1815,
the
population
of the United States and its western areas (not actually a part of the nation) was about
10
million
. In Europe (including western Russia), the population was over
200
million
. In India, the population was estimated at
190
million,
and in China about
320
million
. Japan stood at approximately
20
million
. Thus, the United States enjoyed a small population compared to the industrialized nations of Europe, the colony of India, or the Far East. In trade, however, America was doing very well. The American method of manufacture was starting to spread throughout the United States. In this method machines produced parts so well that no additional human handiwork was necessary before assembly. In one showing of how this worked, an American firearms manufacturer put new parts from several rifles right off the machining process into a box and shook it. After he shook them up, he took them out and assembled the rifles that functioned properly without any additional work. In Europe the manufactures were still using gunsmiths for the final assembly because the parts did not come out of the machines ready to install. Tweaking was required before the parts would fit. Thus, each rifle ended up as a semi-custom gun with the parts individually fitted. Such innovative techniques made American goods cheaper and the parts were easier to replace.

As time advanced, things were not all sweetness and light in the new republic of the United States of America. In
1838
, Joshua Giddings from Ohio became the first representative elected to Congress on a platform of ending slavery (
abolitionist
). As the abolitionist made progress in Congress the southerners began to worry about their economic future. In 1841, the first wagon train arrived in California implying that many new territories east of California were ripe for admission to the Union. The year 1845 brought the Irish potato famine to Ireland, and many Irish families immigrated to the New World to escape starvation in the old. The immigrants came to the great manufacturing centers rising in the northeastern areas, adding significantly to their population. This combination of a growing population in the north plus new territories wanting admission to the Union spelled big trouble for the slave-owning south. Nevertheless, it was about to get much worse because of a brilliant American success in a war with its Spanish speaking neighbor.