Military Struggles with European Nations - Essay Example

The United s was born as a nation amid wars with the European powers that slowly, certainly allowed the new nation to consoli its territoryand develop its military strength so that it could drive the European powers off the continent and make them given up their dreams of empire in North America. Through a series of wars that included the French and Indian War, The American Revolutionary War, and the War of 1812, the new American nation came to contend with first the French and then the British as colonial powers, as well as with the Native American populations as the existing power, in ways that allowed them to secure their future dominance of the mid continental territory even as they underwent the revolution in ideology that promoted their particular form of government.

In this paper, it will be argued that in many ways the three wars were part of a single, protracted struggle that allowed the United States to drive from the continent the competing British and French powers that, had they not been defeated, may have derailed the new nation before its experiment in republican government ever had a chance to get off the ground. The participants, causes, and outcomes of the three conflicts will be reviewed briefly in order to show a certain progression from dependency and cooperation with the European powers early in the new nation’s history to an increasingly independent role on the continent that included both military and economic self-rule.

The French and Indian War was fought largely between the British and the French, with the new American arrivals fighting on the side of the British and the Native American populations fighting on both sides of the conflict. The war represented a contest between the French and the British for supremacy of the rule of empire on the continent. It began in the St Lawrence River valley, and initial battles were fought near present-day Pittsburgh where rivers controlled by the French and British empires came together, evidencing an effort by both empires to control waterways, trade, and transportation.

Borneman (2006) argues that the immediate end-result of the war was the establishment of the British Empire (p. 306), but points out that the long-term impact was the creation of an American fighting force led by George Washington -- who suffered defeats during the war but had been involved in the initial battle at Jumonville and gained highly valuable experience in commanding his forces (Cave, 2004, p.7). Additionally, the British conquest, in driving out the French and setting up a decades-long struggle with the Native American populations, cleared the way for American westward expansion and created a pretext for the American Revolutionary War by establishing a permanent British occupation and the institutionalization of taxes (to reimburse the British crown for fighting the war) that Americans deeply resented (Marston, 2005, pp.

1-2; Borneman, 2006, pp. 305-208). If the French and Indian War effectively removed the French from consideration as a continental power, its conclusion made it seem as though the British would have unopposed reign. Even the Spanish in Florida left the continent in the wake of the British rule, and the French Canadian populations came to identify solidly with the British crown. It might easily have resulted in the US simply becoming a part of the British power. However, the installation of the British troops in the new world was not as successful as might have been expected.

The American states began to develop their own ideological justification for independence and the population rebelled against British taxes and the imposition of what they saw as unfair rule from an overseas despot (Marston, 2005, pp. 1-2). The American Revolutionary War began, therefore, out the ashes of that earlier conflict, with George Washington once again answering the call to lead the American forces against the British. Having fought alongside the British during the French and Indian War, he had come to know their tactics and devised successful strategies to defeat them.

While the British initially won important victories (such as the battle for Brooklyn) that seemed to show the American weaker than the conquering power, the Americans used their knowledge of the local terrain (Frederickson, 2006, pp. 81, 371), and their commitment to the ideological struggle that was developing in the nascent colonies to inspire them to victory (Marston, 2005, p. 23). They also received help from the French in crucial moments, who offered their support due to the fact that they were still smarting from their earlier defeat.

While the Americans won the Revolutionary War, their independence was still not gained. The British maintained economic superiority and their outposts in the west, maintained through the connections to Canada allowed them to stir up trouble with the Native American populations. The British further flexed their muscle by impressing Americans to serve in the royal navy (Benn and O’Neilly, 2011, p. 9), as they maintained naval supremacy that allowed them to cut French traders off and essentially develop a trade monopoly for American goods (Hickey 1989, pp. 9-10). The War of 1812, therefore, was fought to rid the Americans once and for all of the British rule.

It was fought, once again, with French aid to the Americans, and effectively freed the Americans and their trade routes, so that the nation was not only militarily and politically free, but also economically free. The progression of wars from the mid-1750s to the early-1800s described here was fought with varied results and as a result of different provocations. However, all three wars were part of a piece in that they allowed the American nation to form along lines that allowed for self-rule and included both political and economic freedom.

As such, it can be argued that American Revolution was begun as early the French and Indian War, and not completed until as late as the War of 1812. It was during this time that the American nation learned to stand on its own feet against the colonial powers and grew into its maturity. Therefore, the three wars together may be seen as giving birth to the nation through the accidental results and purposeful resolutions that occurred during this extended wartime. Works Cited Benn, C., and O’Neill, R. (2011). The War of 1812: The Fight for American Trade Rights (New York: Rosen).

Borneman, W. (2006) The French and Indian War: Deciding the Fate of North America (New York: Harper Perennial). Cave, A. (2004). The French and Indian War (Westport, CT: Greenwood). Frederickson, J. (2006). Revolutionary War Almanac (New York: Infobase). Hickey, D. (1989). The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict (Chicago, University of Illinois). Marston, D. (2005). The American Revolution, 1774-1783. (Oxford: Taylor and Francis).