The American Revolution (1775-1783) was a war against British imperialism. The radical leftist and republican Thomas Paine — who was the preeminent American author of that age — argued it was absurd that an island (Britain) should rule a continent (America). The revolution was largely precipitated when the London based East India Tea Company, a giant trading monopoly, got a bail out from Parliament which lowered its taxes and gave it rebates. This enabled it to dump low price tea on the American market which undercut both established merchants and smugglers. Activists in Boston responded with corporate vandalism, dumping 342 chests of tea into the Boston Harbor. (The tea was destroyed — not stolen — so that the smugglers and established merchants could still make their sales.) The British Parliament then closed the port of Boston until the corporate vandalism was paid for. In less than two years, the revolution against British imperialism started in that area.

Just as the British Navy helped British businesses, from this nation’s inception, the U.S. Navy helped U.S. businesses. In 1801, U.S. naval forces were sent to Tripoli, Libya (The Marines Hymn begins “From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli …”). The U.S. Navy was essential for the U.S. businesses involved with foreign markets; in just the 1800s military forces were sent abroad over 100 times not counting the Mexican-American War and the Spanish American War. In 1922, the Office of Naval Intelligence prepared a very straightforward bulletin titled “The U.S. Navy as an Industrial Asset.” This report details services rendered by the Navy in protecting American business interests and in seeking out commercial and investment opportunities which the Navy brings to the attention of U.S. businessmen.

Trump’s favorite president has been Andrew Jackson (1829-1837), perhaps because he arrogantly defied the Supreme Court and often acted in a cruel and dictatorial fashion. The record of the decade where he was the dominant political figure indicates U.S. military forces traveled thousands of miles to protect the business interests of the capitalist class.

• 1831-32 — Falkland Islands: to investigate the capture of three American sealing vessels and protect American interests.
• 1832 — Sumatra: to punish natives for depredations on American shipping.
• 1833 — Argentina: Forces were ashore at Buenos Aires to protect the interests of the United States.
• 1835-36 — Peru: Marines protected American interests during an attempted revolution.
• 1836 — Mexico: To help Texas.
• 1838-39 — Sumatra: To punish natives for depredations on American shipping.
• 1840 — Fiji Islands: to punish natives for attacking American exploring parties.

The year Jackson left office an economic downturn began that lasted for six years. Millions struggled to find jobs and food. But the government, which was ready to help the merchant class, gave no help to ordinary people.

In 1846, the U.S. government launched an imperialist war against Mexico. The war was vigorously denounced by Abraham Lincoln and other anti-imperialists, but the U.S. acquired half of Mexico’s land. By the 1890s the U.S. wanted to emulate and compete with its mother country, Britain, which had a global empire. For the U.S. to have such an empire, it would require coal stations in distant lands to refuel naval ships; the U.S. was able to take the Spanish empire in the Spanish-American War with only 379 battle deaths. After quickly defeating Spain, the U.S. invaded the Philippines to crush their independence movement. This war was at least 10 times as deadly for the U.S. as a Spanish-American war had been. The U.S. was guilty of horrific war crimes; it slaughtered probably several hundred thousand poorly armed Filipinos. General Smith, who oversaw some of the operations there, told his men to take no prisoners and to kill “Everything over ten.” The slaughter the U.S. inflicted was heavily condemned by Mark Twain and Harvard philosopher William James, who declared: “God damn the U.S. for its vile conduct in the Philippine Isles.”

Most Americans greatly underestimate the damage U.S. imperialism has done to the world. U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara (1961-1968) maintained the U.S. killed 3.4 million Vietnamese. The population of Utah is 3.4 million; imagine losing every man, woman and child in this state.

George Orwell observed: “The nationalist not only does not disapprove of atrocities committed by his own side, but he has a remarkable capacity for not even hearing about them.” Nationalists condemn imperialism only when it is done by a nation other than their own. They are like the person who only sees wrongdoing in others and considers themselves perfect. (“The greatest of faults is to be conscious of none.” — Thomas Carlisle). The authors of our Declaration of Independence were hostile to the nationalist approach; the first paragraph indicates “a decent respect to the opinions of mankind.” This approach leaves no room to judge matters of fact on the basis of one’s place of residence. Facts do not permit a Russian, or anyone else, to claim Ukraine caused Russia’s invasion of it three years ago. Unfortunately, nationalism has often given patriotism a bad name. Linus Pauling, one of the very few winners of two Nobel prizes, declared: “Patriotism is an acceptance of national immorality.”

It’s shameful and embarrassing that Donald Trump, abysmally ignorant of history and apparently oblivious to the untold suffering that imperialism has caused, has turned his lusty eye toward Panama, Canada, Greenland and Gaza. His comments should not be taken lightly because, as several dozen women will attest, Trump is quick to cast aside all moral and legal restraints to attain his desires. With the epidemic of political cowardice among Republican leaders, now is the time for ordinary Americans to condemn all imperialism.

Rick Jones is a retired adjunct professor of economic history from Weber State University who now lives in West Haven.