re: #462 HappyWarrior

The whole gestalt of the US in the first couple of decades of the 19th century was expansion at all costs: about relentlessly taking land and settling the land, no matter what.

The British didn’t exactly go into the war of 1812 with all their interest and might. It was opportunistic for them, but not one they had to win.

But for the Americans who had all those land promises from having served in the Revolution, the expansion west was a way of getting paid for their service.

We really have to look at the three wars together - what we call the French and Indian war, the Revolutionary war, and the War of 1812. They were all about the relentless drive of taking land, declaring ownership of the continent, and forcing out the natives.

And yet we still have the Mitt Romney types who want to pretend that the US doesn’t really want war. Most of our history is about being at war here or there.