History is messy

 Ours has been a messy history.

Americans like to think history is all about the good guys vs the bad guys, and of course we're always the good guys.  Always.  We believe we are clean and pure and virtuous, when in fact, we've stumbled often.  Ours has not been a linear march to greatness.  "Yes it has been" you might say, "except for that slavery thing 150 years ago."  Oh dear, you'd better sit down.

We got off to a fine start when colonists arrived from Europe seeking a new, better life.  They built living quarters, planted crops....and eventually had to resort to sending raiding parties to demand food from the Native Americans, and in the process burn down their homes.  The Native Americans returned the favor by laying siege to Jamestown where many colonists died during the "starving times".  

The original colonists went on to established a democracy that has stood the test of time and been a beacon of hope for the oppressed of the world.  Yea us!  We also spent several Centuries systematically uprooting the Native Americans off "their" land and pushing them west so we could make it "our" land.  It was messy.

Fast forward 150 years to the Revolutionary War period when the locals objected to paying taxes on various commodities to help pay for Britain's war debts and for keeping a force of 10,000 troops in America.  Sam Adam's Sons of Liberty, disguised as Indians, boarded three British ships carrying tea and chunked it into Boston Harbor in protest.  Patriots or delinquents?  Lets just say the King wasn't impressed.  Relations between the colonies and Britain went steadily downhill until the time of the Declaration of Independence....George Washington's Continental Army....we won....big parade. 

Sam Adams, George Washington, and the boys were revered heroes that we still celebrate today.  But had the British won, Sam, George, and all our Founding Father's would have been hunted down and likely executed as traitors.  It could have been very messy.

For the next 75 or so years, the North developed considerable industry while the South remained overwhelmingly agricultural.  The South needed lots of cheap (slave) labor, the North didn't.  The South sent much of their crops to Europe in exchange for finished goods, which upset the Northerners who wanted the South to buy more of their finished goods from them.  The north wanted import tariffs to help their industry, the South didn't.  Great animosity arose. 

Leading up to the Civil War there was certainly tremendous and proper condemnation of the institution of slavery in the North, but an often soft-peddled fact was that the Northern money interests felt they were leaving money on the table, which chapped them greatly.  It was an incredibly sad, messy bit of our history, but thankfully we got it right.

The North of course won, making Grant and Sherman great war heroes, never mind that Sherman slashed and burned his way across the South to the Atlantic.  Hero or villain?  Depends on who you ask.  It was messy.  Then came Reconstruction, a period of great hardship for the average Southerner, and a period of great prosperity for Northern-backed carpetbaggers.  Oh, and how about that little Ku Klux Klan thing?  Nasty messy! 

How about America's industrial coming of age post Civil War?  Andrew Carnegie built an impressive steel empire worth over $300B in current dollars, and gave away much of it to charity, building thousands of libraries that still bear his name to this day.  What a guy, huh?  Oh, and he was a staunch anti-unionist who hired Pinkerton thugs to keep his workers in line, killing more than a few in the process.  His story was a messy one.

John D. Rockefeller cobbled together the modern oil industry, giving us cheap kerosene for lighting and later, gasoline.  His influence was immeasurable, right?  Yes, but he got where he was by "buying out" (under extreme duress) any small refiner who dared to stand in his way.  OK, honestly, he squashed competitors like bugs.  He got what he wanted, by whatever means were necessary.  His story was messy, too.

And don't forget Henry Ford.  He's the guy who established the original "living wage" and created America's middle class, put us all on wheels, which necessitated a large road network, making suburbs possible, and more.  He was a true visionary.  And BTW, he was also a staunch anti-Semite, anti-unionist, and like Carnegie, employed toughs to keep his employees in line, killing many.  Oooo....messy indeed.

FDR's Alphabet Agencies eventually got Americans back working during the Great Depression....the WPA, TVA, CCC....and the FDIC, FHA, and Social Security, as well.  He was admired by millions, and at the same time widely criticized by many (to this day) for leading America down the road to "Socialism".  Hero or villain?  Messy.  There are still fist fights over this one.

We defeated the Nazi's and the cruel Japanese Empire in WWII.  Surely we get a World Class pat on the back for that one, right?  Umm....ask the decedents of the120,000 Japanese Americans who were interred for the war's duration because we were scared of their names.  DOH!  Otherwise, *fist bump*

But we started the Marshall Plan to keep war ravaged Europe from starving and to help them get back on their feet.  Aren't we nice guys?  Absolutely.  Although our ulterior motive was to keep the Soviets out of our post-war sector of influence, and to create markets for US exports as Europe recovered.  Nothing is as cut and dried as it seems.  Messy.

Late 60's and early 70's....tens of thousands of Americans died in Southeast Asia fighting to stop the spread of communism.  We lost.  Yet we still came back home and built a well deserved tribute on The Mall to our soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and Coast Guardsman who died there.  We celebrated defeat?  No, we honored sacrifice.  Win....lose....history is messy.

The world is seldom a simple good vs evil proposition.  Its evolution is essentially two steps forward and one step back.  Don't jump to conclusions, regardless of your views on history.  The truth is messy.  Look at all sides, and be benevolent winners and forgiving losers.  Life is too short to do otherwise.

S