A Warring Nation by Bertram Wyatt-Brown

Author:Bertram Wyatt-Brown [Wyatt-Brown, Bertram]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, United States, Revolutionary Period (1775-1800)
ISBN: 9780813934754
Google: 9dywAAAAQBAJ
Publisher: University of Virginia Press
Published: 2014-01-01T04:12:40+00:00

6

AMERICA AS WORLD POWER, 1898–1918

HONOR, RACE, AND HUMILIATION

Think

Neither fear nor courage saves us. Unnatural vices

Are fathered by our heroism. Virtues

Are forced upon us by our imprudent crimes.

—T. S. ELIOT, “GERONTION”

Maudite soit la guerre —Accursed be war.

—FRENCH WAR MEMORIAL AT GENTIOUX-PIGEROLLES

Given the tragic and costly Southern humiliation in the collapse of the Confederacy, one might expect Southern whites to have opposed further adventures in a European war, particularly under the Union flag. But the nation had fought Spain in 1898, “a splendid little war,” and that may have helped allay some of the conservative Southern fears of entering a costly and centralizing war. Thus, military honor maintained a steady influence, especially on Southerners, through the Cuban intervention, the occupation of the Philippines, and the First World War. Each of these engagements presented a different set of issues. In each, there were moments of severe distress, even inexcusable violations of justice.

Consciousness of honor and what was required of it may have been expressed less often than in the Civil War by military and civilian alike. Nonetheless, the code still persisted among the general populace into the early twentieth century. Southern Populists, however, protested military adventures for fear of unexpected consequences affecting white control of politics. On this question honor still obtained, but how it should be advanced took different forms.

The Cuban situation raised questions in the South especially. Northern jingoists demanded an end to Spanish colonial rule, or misrule, of the island. Some Populists in the former slave states, however, were concerned that a liberated Cuba might export its excess labor to America and increase the so-called dangers that dark-skinned people would bring with them. Moreover, Southerners raised their usual complaints about the further strengthening of a federal bureaucracy, an increase in federal taxes, and a possible return of Union troops to protect and encourage black voting.1 All this would violate the white South’s sense of honor and the age-old rules of white supremacy. There was especially strong opposition to Northern imperial dreams among some Southern congressmen. They feared Wall Street manipulations abroad would solely benefit the corporations and bankers of Manhattan.

“National bankers will profit by this war. The new bonds give them the basis for new banks, and their power is prolonged” wrote Tom Watson of Georgia, a leading Populist who became very racist after his defeat in 1896 for president, in his Populist journal. “What are we going to get out of this war as a nation? Endless trouble, complications, expense. Republics cannot go into the conquering business and remain republics. Militarism leads to military domination, military despotism. Imperialism smooths the way for the emperor.” Indeed, Watson had a point when he observed that Spain was no worse than Great Britain, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, or other imperial powers in their oppression of their subjects.2

On the other hand, some wealthy Southerners came to the conclusion that the acquisition of colonial territory might enhance the prospects of industrialization and growing export interests in cotton textiles. Senator Roger Q. Mills of Texas

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