Whither the Great American Unicorn?

by Cliopatria

The Huffington Post has become a historian's leading source of comedy gold. Yesterday brought the Yale lit professor David Bromwich, who wrote infinity-billion words while trying to figure out how the United States became so violent:

We have begun to talk casually about our wars, and this should be surprising for several reasons. To begin with, in the history of the United States war has never been considered the normal state of things. For two centuries, Americans were taught to think war itself an aberration.

During the war with the Northern Confederacy and the Quasi-War with France and the Creek War and the three Seminole Wars and the official War of 1812 with Great Britain and the off-book war with Spain over East Florida during that war and the Blackhawk War and the Texas Revolution and the war with Mexico and William Walker's four invasions of Nicaragua and the long local war in Bleeding Kansas and the Civil War and the Plains Wars and the violent annexation of Hawaii and the Spanish-American War and the counterinsurgency in the Philippines and if you don't stop me I'll keep going, Americans thought war itself was an aberration.

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Chris Bray - 7/24/2009

That's an interesting way to see it, although I would add some things to the list behind "suppressing the indigenous population," including filibustering, the military suppression of internal rebellion (Shays's, Whiskey, Fries's), county wars over natural resources, and violent economic conflict (e.g. Pinkertons vs. labor). If you allow that Americans saw a lot of organized violence as something other than war, then you can say that Americans saw war as an aberration.

Still, some suppression of the indigenous population was clearly seen as "war," especially at Fallen Timbers, Horseshoe Bend, Fort Mims, and Florida. Regular troops conducted tactical maneuvers, fought battles, all that jazz.

Oscar Chamberlain - 7/24/2009

"Americans were taught to think war itself an aberration."

Actually, there is considerable truth in that, particularly from the progressive era forward. They were also taught that the suppression of the indigenous population was not war. If they believed that, it was easier for the average educated American to accept war as an aberration.

That suppression and conquest was war, of course. People on both sides knew it at the time of any given conflict. But as "Americans" (as opposed to "Native Americans") saw the land as theirs before they controlled it, what happened from their perspective was transformed from war to an unfortunate internal matter.

Larry C Wilson - 7/23/2009

There is far too much historical ignorance among the so-called and self-proclaimed intelligentsia in the United States.

One example: Just last week Pat Buchanan claimed in a TV interview that no blacks fought in the Civil War!