Empire for Liberty: America in the Long Nineteenth Century

[volksmarschall]

An ugly part of American history to be sure.

BTW you have a sentence fragment, or so it seems: "It wasn't until the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890."

Fixed.

Well, I do think that great saint and church doctor of whom I'm something of scholar on -- Saint Augustine -- said it best; the city of man is moved by the lust to dominate and is itself dominated by that lust.

Fun fact, Cain's name in Hebrew means possession/control (e.g. to dominate) and Enoch means dedication. Given that it is the Cainite line that founds the cities of the world in Genesis, Augustine's allegorical reading asserts that the city of man is dedicated to the lust to dominate! How right, how right he is! Americanists need a good dose of that venerable saint from Hippo which I'm now tasked with writing an introductory essay for.

 

[Idhrendur]

Fixed.

Well, I do think that great saint and church doctor of whom I'm something of scholar on -- Saint Augustine -- said it best; the city of man is moved by the lust to dominate and is itself dominated by that lust.

Fun fact, Cain's name in Hebrew means possession/control (e.g. to dominate) and Enoch means dedication. Given that it is the Cainite line that founds the cities of the world in Genesis, Augustine's allegorical reading asserts that the city of man is dedicated to the lust to dominate! How right, how right he is! Americanists need a good dose of that venerable saint from Hippo which I'm now tasked with writing an introductory essay for.

I'll take that as another reminder that I need to actually read my copy of The City of God.

 

[volksmarschall]

I'll take that as another reminder that I need to actually read my copy of The City of God.

It’s never a bad idea. I own multiple copies of Confessions and City of God. Nice to compare and contrast with the Latin. Also allows for different note taking focus in different copies. Own a great swath of Augustine, Orosius, Ambrose, Jerome, Chrysostom, Nyssa, Nanziazan, Maximus, et al. I’m drowning in Greek and Roman classics, Sumer, Roman history, US history, the church fathers, Calvin and Edwards, Anglo-American literature. And where has it gotten me? Traveling around the world but still in school! Lol.

I need to do some more transactions and score on Plato or Augustine. But who knows. The best part of my life is all the time I can devote to books. But time doesn’t last forever.

 

[lad]

I loved how Custer lives !
I loved your war and writing style very much. It was sure long !!!


(Please read and comment on my aar too. Link in sig.)

 

[volksmarschall]

IMAGE INTERLUDE​

FIGURE 1: A Judge cartoon depicting William Jennings Bryan, as a Chinaman and a Roman Catholic prelate, a general fanatic, whose political ideas would do harm to the country. Although a devout Presbyterian, Bryan was cast by opponents in the manner of the two great American fears of the 1890s: Chinese immigrants and the ever-present Romish conspiracy to take control of America. His own Protestant religiosity and Anglo-Saxon stock didn’t prevent his opponents from presenting him as a Chinaman and Catholic cleric to make a political point.

FIGURE 2: Another Judge cartoon depicting the supposed futility of Bryan’s free-silver and populist campaign against Washington D.C.

FIGURE 3: The re-election campaign poster for William Jennings Bryan in 1900. Bryan’s victory in 1896 shocked the American cultural, institutional, and political establishment. The major papers and institutions had backed William McKinley and Grover Cleveland on a joint anti-Bryan ticket. Pro-Gold standard Democrats bolted from the party and aligned with the Republicans in hopes to defeat Bryan and regain control of the party in the 1900 election. The bid failed, by the slimmest of electoral margins.

FIGURE 4: A depiction of the gunfight at the O.K. Corral. The O.K. Corral became one of the most mythologized and famous of American frontier town gunfights. The Earp brothers and Doc Holliday defeated the Cowboys and three of the Cowboys: Tom and Frank McLaury, and Billy Clanton, were killed in a crazed 30 second close-quarters fight.

FIGURE 5: A photo of Chief Sitting Bull, the greatest of the Sioux tribal leaders who united the disparate Sioux nation in their final years to confront American expansionism. Though eulogized as a spiritual and honorable figure, he failed in his attempts to keep the Sioux nation unified and in control of their traditional territories.

FIGURE 6: A photo portrait of General George Armstrong Custer. Custer was a Civil War hero who ended up with a mixed record in the Indian Wars. Despite early disasters in the invasion of the Sioux Nation, Custer recovered and eventually crushed the Sioux nations. Though never blamed for the early embarrassments, his national reputation and political ambition sank because of the defeat at Rosebud Creek. Then a possible Republican hopeful, Sherman came to the rescue of the post-Civil War republic after a series of strikes destroyed the Wheeler Presidency. Custer remained in the service of the cavalry until his retirement in 1901. He died and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in 1911 just before the outbreak of the Great War.

FIGURE 7: A photo of Native American warriors planning a raid.

FIGURE 8: The USS Indiana (BB-1). The launching of the U.S.S. Indiana as the first modern (pre-Dreadnought) battleship brought the United States into the naval arms race and the construction of the Great White Fleet. Bryan attempted to limit the financing of the American navy based on his anti-expansionist and isolationist foreign policy, but didn’t prevent the planned construction of six battleships to form the bulk of the new “Great White Fleet” from earlier. When McKinley was elected President in 1905, and with his death and succession by Theodore Roosevelt, the expenditures for the American navy tripled. Ironically, Bryan may have ensured American naval modernization in delaying plans for a large pre-dreadnought fleet. When the British launched the HMS Dreadnought, American planners scrapped plans with their pre-dreadnought ships and financed the dreadnought fleet which came in use during the Great War.​

 

[stnylan]

It is one of the great curiosities, I find, in just how anti-naval the US was for the latter third or so of the 19th century. Or indeed for most of the 19th century entirely. Mahan has a lot to answer for

 

[Idhrendur]

It is one of the great curiosities, I find, in just how anti-naval the US was for the latter third or so of the 19th century. Or indeed for most of the 19th century entirely. Mahan has a lot to answer for

Hey, that ship we're developing is expensive, so let's cancel it.
Okay, but our ships are old so let's develop a ship to replace them.
Oh, they're proving expensive, so let's cancel them.
And so on forever.

Also applied to literally everything else the government tries to do. I'm so glad to be out of the defense space. Six months at large tech company has seen more of my work get put to use than ten years in the defense industry.

 

[volksmarschall]

It is one of the great curiosities, I find, in just how anti-naval the US was for the latter third or so of the 19th century. Or indeed for most of the 19th century entirely. Mahan has a lot to answer for

Hey, that ship we're developing is expensive, so let's cancel it.
Okay, but our ships are old so let's develop a ship to replace them.
Oh, they're proving expensive, so let's cancel them.
And so on forever.

Also applied to literally everything else the government tries to do. I'm so glad to be out of the defense space. Six months at large tech company has seen more of my work get put to use than ten years in the defense industry.

Maritime civilizations are evil! Always the aggressor and the promoter of empire from the days of Thucydides to the present! Save us from the sea O Lord!

I've been writing a long essay on geopolitical nature concerning nations, the contrast between continental and maritime civilization, as it relates to the United States. Nearly putting the finishing touches on it; though unsure who I'd send it to. Needless to say, yes, there is something dramatic about the US not really caring much about maritime power until, well, the last 100 years. When Mahan stood before the Judgement Seat he had a lot to answer for indeed!

 

[Idhrendur]

Maritime civilizations are evil! Always the aggressor and the promoter of empire from the days of Thucydides to the present! Save us from the sea O Lord!

Something something Leviathan...

 

[Nathan Madien]

PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES

1. George Washington, 1789-1797, Independent
2. John Adams, 1797-1801, Federalist

If I may, volksmarschall, can I make a little suggestion? Labeling George Washington as "Independent" doesn't sound quite right to me. He wasn't an Independent in the modern use of the word since political parties didn't exist when he first became President. When political parties did begin to form during his Presidency, he was alarmed enough by them to warn the country in his Farewell Address that political parties would not be good for the country's future as they would bring about division. For my list of Presidents in my AAR, I left Washington's political association blank since he didn't belong to a political party.

List of Presidents of the United States
1.) George Washington (1732-1799); Virginia (1789-1797)
2.) John Adams (1735-1826); Federalist-Massachusetts (1797-1801)

I think "No Affiliation" would be a better-sounding term for Washington than "Independent". I get what you are saying with "Independent"; I just don't think it is the right-sounding term to use.

The progressives, unlike the claims of certain media stooges on Fox News, never abandoned the Constitution—they fulfilled its implications.

I get a lot of mail from right-wing sources. It's amazing the nonsense they come up with.

That the Republican Party was the party of the wealthy elite explains why the Republican Party, more than the disparate and internally conflictual Democratic Party, was the original vehicle for American progressivism until the equally reactionary “old money” class of wealthy Anglo-Saxon Protestants in the Republican Party secured victory after the First World War and allied itself with the populist cause of immigration restriction, isolationism, and anti-militancy.

I know I have said this before, but it bears repeating. By understanding the past, I get a better understanding of President Trump. He didn't just fall out of the sky. There are historic forces behind him and his policies. Screaming "He's a racist!" when it comes to immigration for example doesn't really explain anything. You're just screaming. Resticting immigration is hardly anything new if you look at history.

David Warner as Spicer Lovejoy in James Cameron’s epic Titanic. Lovejoy is perhaps the most famous fictionalized (former) Pinkerton agent portrayed in film.

I do love your movie references.

And anyone who has read Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World knows who the main beneficiary of the techno-scientific creed is.

I have read that book and I know.

Custer remained in the service of the cavalry until his retirement in 1901. He died and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in 1911 just before the outbreak of the Great War.

I like how you spared Custer his historic death at Little Big Horn and gave him a longer life.

When Theodore Roosevelt was elected President in 1905, the expenditures for the American navy tripled.

I was wondering when Theodore Roosevelt would pop up.

 

[volksmarschall]

@Nathan Madien, I suppose we'll disagree on Washington, if anything he should be labelled a fellow traveler with the Federalists and, as to the real life volksmarschall, I don't engage in Founder worship as it's idolatry! Plus, I think division is healthy for society. Just read Machiavelli! I had an essay on Machiavelli after the November Midterms arguing the case.

As for the progressives and the Constitutions, well, yes, they were really the fulfillment of the Constitution. Look at all the definitive powers enumerated in it, all are economic oriented. These so-called right-wingers, most of whom are liberals, properly speaking, without knowing it, just continue to shoot themselves in the foot with their Founder and Constitutional idolatry. We do need to go beyond the Constitution, and I don't say that as some sort of leftwinger which I am most certainly not. I'm the most rightwing person I know, so the cat's out of the bag now.

We'll be getting more movie references in the very next update! And a stuffed Teddy Bear will be occupying the White House soon enough.

 

[volksmarschall]

CHAPTER XVII: TAMING THE WEST


Of Outlaws and Lawmen​

As mentioned, the New West called Americans who had had their lives destroyed in war or from Old World impoverishment to a new life. The predominately agrarian nature of the western economies was dialectically paired against the industrialization booms, mostly railroads, that cut through the landscape. Cattle farmers, cowboys—men who drove cattle from destination to destination rather than the more infamous cowboys with free-flowing six shooters—simple farmers, shop owners, the town sheriff, the settlement of the west brought with it an entire culture of mythological images and archetypes that have since passed into American lore.

The west is known for several iconic images and tropes. The first, as I’ve already said, is that it was the new and last frontier simultaneously. The “west”, even today, as the allure of the land of new beginnings. It was also the last spatial geographic territory to have civilization dwell upon its rolling plains and hills. The second was the Cowboys and Indians or Indians and Cavalry image from the Indian Wars. The third was outlaws and lawmen. Infamous gangs, famous train robberies, retributive murders, and the U.S. Marshals as the instrument of God’s hand of justice, the outlaws and lawmen images are as American as baseball and apple pie.

While the depiction and mythology of the outlaw vs. lawmen west is overexaggerated for various reasons, there was a certain basis for this depiction. Many of the westward settlers and pioneers, especially after the Civil War, were defeated men looking for a new beginning or, more properly, defeated men looking to keep on the struggle of the Confederacy in the new west which was envisioned as the new south. The sprawling hills and open plains, the desert flatlands, farming and cattle-ranching, the west was the idyllic untapped land of unfallen Eden waiting to be tilled. The western lands became the latest contest of America’s agrarian rootedness and her industrial and commercial aspirations. The outlaws happened to be associated with the former and the lawmen the latter. As northerners heading south were pilloried as Carpetbaggers, so too were the many lawmen from simple deputies to federal marshals, seen as carpetbaggers under the thumb of Washington federalism coming west to shackle the old west under the tentacles of the leviathan.

That outlaws engaged in flaunting law enforcement was not new. Many local sheriffs and small time and small-town deputies were under the control of cattle barons, rustlers, and landed or cowboy interests. The arrival of federal marshals and greater numbers of deputies willing to confront the monopolies of power which had formed between the late 1850s through the 1880s adds to the tragedy of the dynamic conflict between the two forces. The destruction of the old west, then, is a tragic romantic tale too be sure, but one that is not as romantically tragic as the romanticists depict it to be. Like the historians of the Lost Cause Myth of the Confederacy, the historians and poets of the old west were generally southern, pro-Confederate, and sympathetic to the rooted and agrarian way of life that was threatened and overturned by the coming hands of God’s, or Washington’s, judgement.

There are two battles, or gunfights, with a third longer event contingent to one of the infamous gunfights, that holds a mythic lore over the American psyche. One involves Billy the Kid. The other involves the Earp brothers. The Battle of Lincoln between the Regulators and Murphy-Dolan outfit was a four-day event in the badlands of New Mexico. The warring factions were part of the larger Lincoln County War which was, as hinted at, a conflict between monopolistic interests in the cattle trade in New Mexico. The established Murphy-Dolan outfit didn’t take kindly to the rise of the “lawless” Regulators cutting in on their profit. The conflict was inevitable and revenge killings common. Lawrence Murphy, the main proprietor of the Murphy-Dolan outfit, and former Civil War veteran who struck it rich in the west, wasn’t going to allow his personal empire to fall.

The Battle of Lincoln was the bloodiest of the engagements in the Lincoln County War and ended, after 7 deaths and about a dozen wounded, by U.S. Cavalry which restored law and order. The Lincoln County War went on, in a lighter and more controlled fashion, but the Battle of Lincoln cemented the legendary nature of Billy the Kid as a rascally young gun-totting maniac and prodigy despite being a renegade teenager. Billy would be killed four years later at the age of 21.

Young Guns, a 1988 film, loosely depicted the events of the Lincoln County War. Unlike as depicted in the film, Lawrence Murphy died of sickness rather than getting shot in the head by Billy the Kid.​

Apart from the Battle of Lincoln, the second legendary—and arguably more famous—gunfight was the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Wyatt Earp and his brothers were former lawmen who trekked west to start new lives but found themselves bound back up in the law profession upon arrival in Tombstone. Running into the hooligan Cowboy Gang, the conflict between the two sides was inevitable. Behan, the local sheriff, was a friend and supporter of the Cowboys but couldn’t keep the peace.

The Cowboys were notorious cattle rustlers who dealt in stolen cattle to make their living. Again, the emergence of Tombstone as a center of commerce and trade threatened the established agrarian interests; and the Cowboys were well-aware of their numbered days so took to illegal activities on the side to boost their power and wealth beside being field hands for larger cattle barons. As such, the Cowboys, led the McLaury and Clanton brothers, could see the writing on the wall.

Events reached a boiling point when the Cowboys entered town without abiding by new gun restrictions. The Earps, along with Doc Holliday, intent on enforcing the law, confronted the Cowboys at C.S. Fly’s Photography Shop. Though not actually fought by the O.K. Corral, the stories publicizing the event coined it and it passed into eternity as the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. In a 30-second blaze of fire, smoke, and confusion, three of the Cowboys (Tom and Frank McLaury, along with Billy Clanton) were killed while Virgil and Morgan Earp, along with Doc Holliday, were wounded. It is believed between 30-40 shots were fired in the half-minute window which sent three men to their graves and the two injured Earps to the recovery bed.

After the gunfight, a vendetta killing ensued with the murder of Morgan Earp. It is here that the famous Earp Vendetta Ride took off with Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, and turncoat Cowboys, gunning down Frank Stilwell, Florentino Cruz, Curly Bill Brocius, and Johnny Barnes in various encounters. With the Cowboys on the run, and Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday unleashing a spree of hellfire across the Arizona Territory, arrest warrants were eventually given for Wyatt and Doc. They escaped, leaving the Arizona Territory where the arrest warrants had no standing juridical power. Johnny Ringo, another famous gunfighter and Cowboy who was considered one of the “fastest guns” in the west, was later found dead with a single bullet in his skull and it remains unknown how he died, but the most common theories are he was killed in a duel or ambush by either Wyatt Earp or Doc Holliday.

Kurt Russell as Wyatt Earp (L) and Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday (R) in the film Tombstone.​

Events like the Lincoln County War and Battle of Lincoln, the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral and the Earp Vendetta Ride, were the events of legendary mythology that gave the west its nickname, “The Wild West.” Though events like these were rather rare, the general west being rather peaceful and often lonely and serene, the moments when outlaws and lawmen clashed were so publicized and heroically mythologized these few and rare events became the events associated with the Taming of the West. It is a great testimony to the power of America and the American psyche, as well as a shame, for the real civilizing of the west was in the community efforts of settlers and pioneers and not heroic lawmen bringing justice and God’s hand to a lawless and sinful wild west. Nevertheless, American culture, literature, and film are richer precisely because of the mythology of outlaws and lawmen.

 

[stnylan]

I wonder if the "Little House" literature will get a mention as regards to the west.

 

[Specialist290]

Fun fact: Wyatt Earp moved to Los Angeles in his latter days, and often served as what we might nowadays call an unpaid consultant on many of the silent "cowboy films" being made in Hollywood back in the day. Among his acquaintances in those days were men like actors Tom Mix and William Hart, and director John Ford (who more or less went on to create the iconic "Wild West" that almost everyone pictures when they think of the time period).

Which is all to say that, if Earp is the best remembered hero of the Old West, perhaps it's because he had the world's first and greatest international PR team to handle his brand management

(He also infamously once said that his time as deputy marshal in Tombstone "was not half as bad as Los Angeles.")

(Incidentally, I've always loved Tombstone. It's one of very few movies I've ever watched where almost every line out of the main characters' mouths is both memorable and quotable. My particular favorite scene these days is the one where Doc Holliday and Johnny Ringo square off in an insult duel on their first meeting.)

 

[volksmarschall]

I wonder if the "Little House" literature will get a mention as regards to the west.

You, sir, have a canny ability to be lucky, or rightly see the prefigurations in previous or current posts; "Though events like these were rather rare, the general west being rather peaceful and often lonely and serene, the moments when outlaws and lawmen clashed were so publicized and heroically mythologized these few and rare events became the events associated with the Taming of the West. It is a great testimony to the power of America and the American psyche, as well as a shame, for the real civilizing of the west was in the community efforts of settlers and pioneers." Indeed, with this chapter being the "Taming of the West," our final post to conclude the chapter before getting to WJB will be about the little houses on the prairie and how they fit into politics!

Fun fact: Wyatt Earp moved to Los Angeles in his latter days, and often served as what we might nowadays call an unpaid consultant on many of the silent "cowboy films" being made in Hollywood back in the day. Among his acquaintances in those days were men like actors Tom Mix and William Hart, and director John Ford (who more or less went on to create the iconic "Wild West" that almost everyone pictures when they think of the time period).

Which is all to say that, if Earp is the best remembered hero of the Old West, perhaps it's because he had the world's first and greatest international PR team to handle his brand management

(He also infamously once said that his time as deputy marshal in Tombstone "was not half as bad as Los Angeles.")

(Incidentally, I've always loved Tombstone. It's one of very few movies I've ever watched where almost every line out of the main characters' mouths is both memorable and quotable. My particular favorite scene these days is the one where Doc Holliday and Johnny Ringo square off in an insult duel on their first meeting.)

I love Tombstone too. Great film. Underappreciated I think; probably the best gunfight scene alongside Open Range and Unforgiven as far as Western goes in my opinion. It is one of those films that I will stop to watch when I see it on flipping through channels.

And great fun fact too! It all makes sense now. LOL.

 

[stnylan]

I think Tombstone gets under-appreciated in part because Kurt Russell is, I think, upstaged by Val Kilmer and Michael Biehn with their delightful repartee as Doc Holiday and Ringo. Also I know on this side of the pond (leastways amongst people who I ever watched and discussed the film with) there were certain parts that were so hammy they went from drama into satire. Especially for me the moment when Russell charges into the water shouting no in slow motion (or leastways that is how I remember it).

Going back to the first point, with pretty much every other actor I think they are their character first and the actor second, apart from Russell/Wyatt Earp.

Anyway, despite all that I still enjoy it myself, but as films I prefer Unforgiven, The Dollars trilogy, and a generally overlooked western called Barbarosa that I happened to randomly watch one day in my mid-late teens when it was on the telly at my Grans, and was really taken by it.

Admittedly, I haven't seen Open Range, despite owning the DVD for these last many years.

 

[volksmarschall]

I think Tombstone gets under-appreciated in part because Kurt Russell is, I think, upstaged by Val Kilmer and Michael Biehn with their delightful repartee as Doc Holiday and Ringo. Also I know on this side of the pond (leastways amongst people who I ever watched and discussed the film with) there were certain parts that were so hammy they went from drama into satire. Especially for me the moment when Russell charges into the water shouting no in slow motion (or leastways that is how I remember it).

Going back to the first point, with pretty much every other actor I think they are their character first and the actor second, apart from Russell/Wyatt Earp.

Anyway, despite all that I still enjoy it myself, but as films I prefer Unforgiven, The Dollars trilogy, and a generally overlooked western called Barbarosa that I happened to randomly watch one day in my mid-late teens when it was on the telly at my Grans, and was really taken by it.

Admittedly, I haven't seen Open Range, despite owning the DVD for these last many years.

It's great to see the spreading and corrupting romanticism of American old western films, both romantic or noir, going across the pond!

I deeply love westerns, in part, for the romanticism (as someone who is, in literature and philosophy, sympathetic) but also for the darker "anti-hero" noir too; which is more realistic. There are many great westerns, as you highlight with your great list. I do like the remake of True Grit, in fact, I prefer it to the John Wayne version. It is, in a word, grittier. There's also the great Redford and Newman classic Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Dances with Wolves, et al., but the best purely romantic film of the American west is, undeniable, How the West was Won! And it would behoove me not to mention Blazing Saddles as a great satirical western also.

Contemporary westerns are great too, too many to list here. Alas, that great Babylon, has been destroyed by the power of civilization! So now we're left with just the films.

Love space westerns too. Cowboy Bebop is my favorite anime for a number of reasons.

 

[J66185]

Out of curiosity, have you ever prescribed anyone to try out "A Clockwork Orange"? I am at the beginning of the novel, but it already sounds fascinating with the chapter structures and made-up language.

 

[volksmarschall]

Out of curiosity, have you ever prescribed anyone to try out "A Clockwork Orange"? I am at the beginning of the novel, but it already sounds fascinating with the chapter structures and made-up language.

Burgess is alright; interesting cat -- his cultural Catholicism gives him, by his own admission, great insight into human nature and the world which really come out in various ways throughout his works. Kubrick's adaption is, of course, a masterpiece. Burgess basically depicts the traditional Catholic view of man, devoid of God, in his novels -- really shows man for the primal and barbarous lustful creature he is unlike all those blinded by the Anglo-Saxon myth of progress.

 

[stnylan]

Now Blazing Saddles is, for various reasons, by favourite film of all time.