The answer
is easy. We are a warrior nation. In our 249-year history, 150 years have been
spent fighting declared wars. When we add peacekeeping missions, invasions,
naval campaigns, rebellions, occupations, operations, and interventions, it
would be safe to say that there has never been a time when American military
forces were not in combat status somewhere on the glove.
American
Revolution: 1775-1783
Barbary War:
1801-1805
Mexican-American
War: 1846-1848
Opium War: 1856-1859
Civil War:
1861-1865
Spanish
American War: 1898
Philippine
War: 1899-1902
Boxer
Rebellion: 1899-1901
Mexican Border
War: 1910-1919
WW-I:
1914-1918
WW-II:
1939-1945
Korean War:
1950-1953
Vietnam War:
1965-1975
Gulf War:
1990-1991
Afghanistan
War: 2001-2021
Iraq War:
2003-2011
The Indian
Wars alone lasted 81 years, from 1817-1898
We glorify
our military and celebrate our veterans.
They are our heroes, our knights of the realm.
Is it any wonder that posers, insecure in their manhood, line up to purchase AKs and dress up in military garb?
In this society, the gun is the man.
the Ol’Buzzard
Very true, but also very true of other nations (like Britain, for example) which now have strict gun control measures in effect and nowhere near the personal gun violence level of the USA. I think what has poisoned the well in the USA is the misinterpretation of the 2nd amendment by the NRA and others to fetishize an unfettered "right" to have military assault guns in private hands.
ReplyDeleteU.S. history differs from Britain as early Americans ran a constant battle with Native Americans until the late 19th century and guns were a part of every rural household for protection against Indian attack and to supply meat for the table. Then there was a Civil War within our country and people armed themselves against insurrection and incursion. Our Western heritage of cowboy heroes all focused on guns -gun battles - shootouts - and in the South, a history of duels.
ReplyDeleteO'B
Your post focuses on American military history as a "warrior nation" engaged in constant warfare. During the same period, Britain amassed and ran the world's largest empire and they certainly didn't do that by being nice guys engaged in diplomacy. Guns and warfare gave Britain, and indeed, all of Europe their dominant status in the world of that era. Everybody was blood-soaked in those days.
ReplyDelete