Though President John Adams once warned, \u201cGreat is the guilt of unnecessary war,\u201d the United States has been at war for over 90% of its existence. [1] This exhibition will examine and address this recurring theme of war in Modern U.S. History. Specifically, chronologically examining two key aspects within the exhibition\u2019s theme of \u201cAmerican War.\u201d The first of the two aspects the exhibition will cover is the United States\u2019 motive for engaging or intervening in military conflict. The second aspect will focus on the domestic side of \u201cAmerican War,\u201d how the U.S. Citizenry viewed their country\u2019s military ventures. The exhibition contains 12 various forms of primary sources, each addressing one of the numerous military conflicts in Modern U.S. History. Each source, in a different way, sheds light on a specific facet of the exhibition\u2019s underlying theme of \u201cAmerican War.\u201d These sources best illuminate the significance that war has had and continues to have on the United States, and thus are best representative of \u201cAmerican War.\u201d Ultimately, by documenting the evolution of \u201cAmerican War,\u201d this exhibition will show the evolution of the United States itself, and its role in the world.<\/p>\n
For the purpose of this exhibition, its theme \u201cAmerican War\u201d is most aptly defined as any armed conflict with either a party or state apart from the United States, in which U.S. military forces or U.S.-backed forces engages. [2] War, particularly in the case of the United States, exerts a major influence on society as well as on the country as a whole. The late American intellectual Charles Tilly wrote extensively in the 20th<\/sup>century about a major topic within the field of comparative politics, \u201cstate formation.\u201d His 1990, Coercion, Capital, and European States,<\/em>has become famous for putting forth what the academic world calls the \u201cbellicist theory\u201d of state formation. This theory, simply summarized, concludes, \u201cWar makes the state,\u201d and is further expanded by scholars into \u201cmore war will lead to more state.\u201d [3] Tilly\u2019s \u201cwar makes the state\u201d is important to mention before delving into the exhibition, as it demonstrates the overwhelming societal impacts of war. In the case of the United States, particularly in the post-Reconstruction era, America has evolved into the world\u2019s main superpower. America\u2019s climb to the position it now finds itself in is marked by much, and nearly constant war; going from a minor global entity before the Spanish American War to the world\u2019s main industrial and military superpower following World War II. Modern U.S. History is an affirmation of Tilly\u2019s theory, war has made the United States the country it is today.<\/p>\n Beginning with the Spanish American War and ending with the Wars in the Middle East, this exhibition will cover various themes associated with each particular conflict. An example being President Franklin Delano Roosevelt\u2019s \u201cfour freedoms,\u201d and how both present America as a nation free from fear relate to President George Bush\u2019s freedom from terror in his declaration of \u201cWar on Terror,\u201d a half century later. [4] History does indeed, in the case of \u201cAmerican War,\u201d repeat itself. However, throughout its history U.S. war making has shifted, with the call for war coming more from the elites and less from the citizenry. In the Spanish American War, President William McKinley had hesitations about intervening, but ultimately did due to U.S. public opinion. [1] Over sixty years later in the Vietnam War, President Nixon\u2019s implementation of a draft in 1969 was met with severe protest and \u201cdraft-dodging.\u201d [5] The point here is one that ought to be made, which is how the American people\u2019s perception of war and there will to fight, both worsened as a result of the evolution of \u201cAmerican War.\u201d [6]\n The two aspects mentioned in the first paragraph represent the sensitive relationship between the U.S. Elites and the U.S. population, especially in regard to the U.S.\u2019s involvement in military conflict. A relationship that evolved so much it went from the citizens and most of public opinion pressuring President McKinley to go to war against Spain, to eventually the execution of four American college students in 1970, by American Soldiers no less. [5] \u201cAmerican War\u201d is intense; its impact is severe and far felt.<\/p>\n The first aspect of defining the motive for U.S. engagement into each conflict the exhibition covers will be done primarily through presenting sources of U.S. Presidents. These will consist of presidential addresses, photos, Foreign policy documents, and one civilian Time Magazine<\/em>article. Due to Article I of the U.S. Constitution\u2019s \u201cWar Powers Clause,\u201d congress (the government) is charged with the responsibility of when to declare war. With this responsibility being reinforced as a result of the \u201cWar Powers Act\u201d of 1973. [7] For this reason, motive for the U.S. military\u2019s engagement will be extracted from all but one government (presidential) source in the exhibition. For instance the exhibition will demonstrate that the U.S.\u2019 motive to defend freedom in the Vietnam War, though different in circumstance, is related to and to some extent a result of its intervention in World Wars I and II, both in defense of freedom. [8] This aspect of the exhibition will reveal the values or resources the United States viewed as worthy for engaging in war.<\/p>\n The second aspect of \u201cAmerican War\u201d that the exhibition will focus on is the U.S. citizenry\u2019s perception of war. This will be presented through various sources including but not limited to protests, political cartoons, newspaper articles, and Supreme Court Decisions. Each of these will address how the U.S. people perceived their country\u2019s participation in war, and also how this perception was received by the United States\u2019 elites. A society\u2019s perception of its military ventures reveal values of their country, things it prides itself on and things it is against. [7] In the case of America which prides itself on being the land of the free, it often goes to war to defend freedom. This aspect of the exhibition will demonstrate that war is a catalyst for societal change, \u201cAmerican War\u201d being an instance of such. [9] To name an example, and many will be shown in the exhibition; Vietnam paved the way for more freedom (of speech) for Americans, just as the Civil War led to more freedom for African Americans, nearly one hundred years earlier. The very presence of war in a society exerts an unparalleled influence on not only the citizenry, but on the country\u2019s international status as well. Ultimately revealing how domestic America behaves during a time of war.<\/p>\n It will be quite plain in that just as the exhibition demonstrates a change in why America fought (what for), it also shows the evolution of American society\u2019s perception of war. [7] \u201cAmerican War,\u201d from 1877 onward, is representative of the country\u2019s advancement that took place during this period. Ultimately, this will lead to the conclusion that American society and America\u2019s role in the world, both evolved as a result of \u201cAmerican War.\u201d [8] War is a constant theme modern U.S. History; its significance is evident in the fact that war has made America, the superpower global entity it is today.<\/p>\n Notes (listed by order of appearance)<\/p>\n 1) Cullinane, Michael Patrick. “Introduction.”\u00a0Liberty and American Anti-Imperialism<\/em>, 2012, 1-10. Accessed May 06, 2019.<\/p>\n 2) Tierney, Dominic. “The Two Vietnam Wars: American Perceptions of the Use of Force.”\u00a0Political Science Quarterly <\/em>133, no. 4 (2018): 641-67. Accessed May 05, 2019.<\/p>\n 3) Tilly, Charles.\u00a0Coercion, Capital and European States, A.D.990-1990<\/em>. Cambridge, MA: Basil Blackwell, 1990.<\/p>\n 4) Toaldo, Mattia.\u00a0The Origins of the US War on Terror: Lebanon, Libya and American Intervention in the Middle East<\/em>. London: Routledge, 2014.<\/p>\n 5) McMahon, Robert. “Contested Memory: The Vietnam War and American Society, 1975\u20132001.” OUP Academic. December 17, 2002. Accessed May 07, 2019. https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/dh\/article\/26\/2\/159\/504858.<\/p>\n 6) “Engel, J., Lawrence, M. and Preston, A.: America in the World: A History in Documents from the War with Spain to the War on Terror Princeton: University Press Princeton University. Accessed May 07, 2019. https:\/\/press.princeton.edu\/titles\/10257.html.<\/p>\n 7) Foner, Eric.\u00a0Give Me Liberty!: An American History<\/em>. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2017. (Pgs 745-50, 1038-40)<\/p>\n 8) O\u2019Brien, Payson Phillips. “American Press, Public, and the Reaction to the Outbreak of the First World War.” OUP Academic. April 26, 2013. Accessed May 06, 2019. https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/dh\/article\/37\/3\/446\/430691<\/a>.<\/p>\n 9) Bricker, Renee A., Proulx, and Michael. “Integrating Peace History in the U.S. History Survey Course: Challenging Identity from the Outside In.” OUP Academic. March 01, 2019. Accessed May 08, 2019.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Though President John Adams once warned, \u201cGreat is the guilt of unnecessary war,\u201d the United States has been at war for over 90% of its existence. 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