Bayonet Constitution

**_Martyr_** · 07-06-2005, 20:45

I just happened to read about this today, on the day of its anniversary. Its a pretty dark chapter, how do Americans feel about this?

Bayonet Constitution

**PanzerJaeger** · 07-06-2005, 20:51

Things didnt turn out so bad for them in the long run..

Im not big on the inherited guilt concept, so I really dont care.

**_Martyr_** · 07-06-2005, 20:53

How does this fit in with "freedom and democracy"?

**PanzerJaeger** · 07-06-2005, 21:01

I figured it would come to this..

It happened over 100 freaking years ago. How many governments has America been through?

If you hold America to such standards, what does that say about European nations? I suppose they havent changed their opinion of coercive policies toward native populations either?

**_Martyr_** · 07-06-2005, 21:17

Hey kalm down there tiger. Wasnt out to get you or the states. I simply had never heard of this before, and wanted to see how Americans viewed it... Obviously hit a nerve!

**Crazed Rabbit** · 07-06-2005, 21:18

It wasn't good then, but it worked out in the long run, and I most certainly am not going to lose sleep over it.

EDIT: Most Americans probably don't know, and those that do probably don't care, though I'm sure there's a couple wackos still bitter over it or orginizing some liberal 'awareness of America's evil' event.

Crazed Rabbit

**Alexander the Pretty Good** · 07-06-2005, 21:29

Obviously hit a nerve!

The nerve you hit is the one in which certain groups criticize the United States of today based on past actions. Members of that group often overlook contextual information in an attempt to portray the US as an "Evil Empire." This trend is growing, as is the bump on Panzer's nerve which you so unkindly beat.

While it wasn't right, the current situation is probably acceptable to 99.99% of Americans. This doesn't excuse those actions, but we have not yet developed the technology to change the past.

**Don Corleone** · 07-06-2005, 22:06

Well, I for one think it's a shameful chapter in our history. It's things like that this that almost make me ashamed to be American. And then I look at Japan, denying that they did anything wrong during WWII, or France, letting off secret nuclear tests in Tahiti. And I realize, part of the reason there's so much dirt on the USA is that we bring it out to the open ourselves. Unlike just about any other country out there, where cover-ups and obfuscation are the rule of the day, we openly admit and discuss the darker chapters of our history.

Then I realize, all governments do evil things. Not all admit to them. And while I'm not always happy with the way my government has acted, I realize the only way to hope for better in the future is to acknowledge the sins of the past, and we seem to be one of the best at doing that.

**King of Atlantis** · 07-06-2005, 22:26

I saw a show about this awhile ago. It is sad that americans did it, but it is no worse than what many countries are doing even now.

**bmolsson** · 07-07-2005, 03:37

Originally Posted by PanzerJager

It happened over 100 freaking years ago.

Good point. I will use that more often. Time heals.....

**King Henry V** · 07-07-2005, 18:18

All countries do things like this: it's called politics. However for America, which has prided itself as the Land of the Free since it's birth, it's just a bit hypocritical.

**Red Harvest** · 07-08-2005, 21:43

It was a shameful time. The abuses against the native peoples during expansion were flagrant and awful. I am glad these times are behind us. Unfortunately, not much can be done to right the wrongs. Too much time has passed and too much has changed. It is important to remember them though. It shows how far we have come.

Acts like these were done by most if not all the colonial powers. There was a lot of racism involved in the thinking that permitted nations to behave this way. It isn't all that different from the racism that allowed slavery to exist into near modern times.

**Don Corleone** · 07-08-2005, 21:51

Originally Posted by Red Harvest

It was a shameful time. The abuses against the native peoples during expansion were flagrant and awful. I am glad these times are behind us. Unfortunately, not much can be done to right the wrongs. Too much time has passed and too much has changed. It is important to remember them though. It shows how far we have come.

Acts like these were done by most if not all the colonial powers. There was a lot of racism involved in the thinking that permitted nations to behave this way. It isn't all that different from the racism that allowed slavery to exist into near modern times.

You shouldn't speak of slavery in the past tense. It's alive and well in many corners of the globe.

**Red Harvest** · 07-08-2005, 22:25

Originally Posted by Don Corleone

You shouldn't speak of slavery in the past tense. It's alive and well in many corners of the globe.

Not in any open "modern" portion. There are backwaters with slavery, but nothing that I can think of that would even qualify with the American Civil War level of development--one of the last semi-modern examples that I can think of.

Even China's use of prison labor doesn't quite fit. It is more of a forced impressment rather than perpetual slavery. I'm not going to defend it, but I don't think it fits traditional slavery.