Many younger Americans express frustration with what they perceive as a near-constant state of U.S. war and interventionism throughout their lives. However, this perception overlooks a historical reality: conflict and intervention have been integral to the United States since its founding.
The nation was established through war, expanded its territory through conflict, abolished slavery by force, and ascended to superpower status in part due to its military engagements.
Early Encounters with Piracy and Tribute
The U.S. faced its first foreign military challenge from the Barbary States in North Africa—Algiers, Tripoli, and Tunis. These states captured American ships, demanded tribute, and took hostages. Initially, without the protection of the British Royal Navy, President George Washington resorted to paying off the rulers. President John Adams continued this practice, providing ships, weaponry, and annual payments of gold and silver. Despite these concessions, the Barbary States reneged on treaties, continued to capture Americans, and disrupt trade.
Upon taking office in 1801, President Thomas Jefferson halted these payments. His rationale for confronting the Barbary pirates extended beyond mere trade interests. As early as 1785, while serving as ambassador to Britain, Jefferson met with Tripoli's representative, Abdul Rahman Adja. According to a letter Jefferson co-authored with Adams, Adja explained that targeting Americans was a religious duty based on their faith, which dictated war against non-believers and promised paradise to those slain in battle. Jefferson viewed this as a confrontation with Islamic supremacy, predating modern conflicts in the Middle East and the existence of Israel.
Jefferson argued that paying tribute rewarded aggression, diminished America's standing, and contradicted the new nation's ideals. Upon the Marines' victory against Algerians, Jefferson praised their defeat of those who "trample on the sacred faith of treaties, on the rights & laws of human nature." President James Madison later reinforced this stance by sending a naval force to Algiers in 1815 to subdue the corsairs.
Historical Patterns of Intervention
Contrary to the views of some isolationists who claim early American foreign policy was solely driven by immediate national interests devoid of idealism, historical records show a different narrative. Every subsequent generation of Americans has witnessed war.
Early conflicts were often related to Western expansion, but U.S. involvement soon extended globally. Interventions in places like Haiti, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Panama, El Salvador, and Cuba have been consistent features of American foreign policy. The use of "Gunboat Diplomacy" was frequently employed not just to enforce the Monroe Doctrine but to intimidate and suppress internal movements threatening American influence.
Beyond the Americas, the U.S. has also projected power to reshape international trade and policies. In 1852, Commodore Matthew Perry was dispatched to Japan to force an end to its isolationist policies and open trade. In 1871, President Ulysses S. Grant sent a military expedition to Korea for similar reasons. President Grover Cleveland deployed the Navy to Samoa to protect American commercial interests against British and German competitors.
In many of these instances, the nations involved did not pose a direct threat to American sovereignty. Some interventions were driven by moral considerations, while others proved to be counterproductive, unnecessary tragedies, or even backfired. Nevertheless, some actions have contributed to global stability, such as preventing large-scale war in Europe since 1945.
The decision to engage in war or intervention should always be approached with caution. However, the notion that the current era is uniquely characterized by American bellicosity or interventionism is not supported by a review of the nation's extensive history of global engagement.