Unified National Will as an Instrument of National Power

[marct]

In regard to Mexico, there was a substantial "anti-war" faction in the Northeastern and New England states. The Indian situation is a bit more complex, but it's worth remembering that even then there was a domestic opposition to expansion in that area (although some of it was Abolitionist fervor migrated to a new cause).

Interesting. I'm afraid my knowledge of US history is somewhat surface level. I haven't studied it in-depth the way I have ancient history or Canadian history.

Roosevelt's imperial drive is a slightly different beast, but even then some of the tone was different from what was seen with Britain. Much of it was framed by the "Yellow press" as a conflict to free oppressed peoples from the harsh yoke of Spain. Was that the real goal? Not really, but it was pitched that way.

So, was Spain the "Evil Empire" in the yellow press then? Actually, if you know of any good books covering the wars against Spain, especially in the Pacific theatres, I would appreciate the references.

I would tend to agree with you that the Northern victory in the Civil War changed the complexion of many of these policies. My own theory has been that most imperialist urges do emerge from an aristocracy that has an elevated view of itself and tends to look down on others (to include those within their own nation) who do not reach that level. It's also easier to be imperialist when one does not have to take popular urges into account. Also, I think there is a trend within those aristocracies to try to replicate their "dream state" overseas once conditions for it fade domestically. That could explain to a degree why Dutch and French colonial regimes tended to be harsher than those of the British.

I'm not so sure about the "dream state" - I would suspect that it holds better for regimes such as France and Belgium than for, say, England. Then again, England's empire was built by merchant corporations, and used as a dumping ground for second sons, religious minorities, and criminals. It only gradually came under the purview of the government. Certainly by the time "national will" was involved, say around 1860 or so, it was melding in with both unilinear evolutionary theory and a "civilizing" imperative. As a pure side note, I always joked that Britain built the empire to find edible food - note, if you will, that we stopped expanding once we had India fully under control .

Marc