America's Use of Force

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses how America's empires depended on force, although not only aggressive, colonially-expansive force. The paper relates that the colony and the state/company in charge of the various imperial projects, exerted force in economic, social, religious, political and territorial spheres, which included an ultimate dependence on military force.

From the Paper:

"Edmund Burke, in propounding his theory that imperial rule should serve the interests of the ruled showed in his speech 'On Conciliation with America', that force must only be a temporary measure which is able to subdue a populous for an limited period of time . His scepticism regarding the application of force in a colonial situation highlights how imperial force was exerted in America, with varying success. However, Burke's definition on force seems to weigh more towards military coercion than other uses of force which were present, to varying extents, in each of the European colonies of America. America's empires did not necessitate the wielding of military force, it could simply be one of many tools exercised by imperial masters and subjects. When a broader definition of force is taken, it becomes easier to show the importance of force, and the dependence America's empires had on a variety of forces before the eighteenth century. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Elliott, J. H., Empires of the Atlantic World: Britain and Spain in America 1492-1830, New Haven, Yale University Press, 2006.
• Mills, Kenneth (ed.) Colonial Spanish America: a documentary history, Wilmington, 1998.
• Richter, Daniel Facing east from Indian county: a Native history of early America, Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 2001.
• Shorto, Russell The island at the centre of the world, London, Blackswan, 2005.

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