How was the United States founded? Most people don’t know, despite the fact the story is told in history and geography books. American propaganda has succeeded in hiding the truth of how the 50 states joined the union whether by force, seizure, genocide, or purchase.
It seems that even now, President-elect Donald Trump, who will take office beginning Jan. 20, is trying to invoke the evil spirit of America’s Founding Fathers in making claims to new territory.
We saw this in 1803 when President Thomas Jefferson purchased the state of Louisiana for $15 million, a purchase which doubled the size of America at the time. Napoleon Bonaparte signed the agreement without consulting the French Parliament.
President James Monroe took part in 1819 when he purchased Florida from Spain for $5 million after America seized the eastern part of that territory in a military campaign. Andrew Jackson bought Alaska from Russia in 1867 for $7.2 million, the equivalent of 2 cents per acre. People called the deal a folly at the time.
But now Alaska is the largest producer of natural resources. President Woodrow Wilson closed a deal with Denmark in 1917 for $25 million for what is currently known as the Virgin Islands. They are among the Lesser Antilles between the Caribbean and the Atlantic Ocean.
The territory the U.S. acquired included St. Croix, St. Thomas, and St. John, along with a number of other small islands.
Now in the 21st century, Trump is similarly announcing that he want to buy Greenland, a self-governing territory of Denmark. Trump is justifying this by asserting that America needs the island for national security.
However, Greenland’s Prime Minister Mute Egede has rejected Trump’s proposal.
“Greenland belongs to the people of Greenland, we are not for sale and we will not be for sale. We must not lose our struggle for freedom” Egede said.
Trump has also said he’d like to make Canada the 51st state.
Trump further posted on X that he is committed to seizing the Panama Canal on Panamanian territory, a canal that connects the Indian and Atlantic oceans. Trump argued that Panama receives huge sums from a large number of American ships in exchange for their passage through the canal and warned about China trying to control the passage.
Trump asserted that America would be recovering the canal because the U.S. built it in 1914 and it remained under United States’ control for 85 years until 1999, when it was transferred to Panama.
In a quick and powerful response, Panama President Jose Raul Mulino said, “Every square metre of the canal belongs to Panama and will continue to belong. The sovereignty and independence of our country are not negotiable.” Demonstrations against Trump subsequently erupted in front of the American Embassy.
The objections are supported by the poetry inscribed at the base of the Statue of Liberty, created by a French sculptor. The words, written by American poet Emma Lazarus in the 19th century, read:
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
Not only has Trump turned a blind eye to the Founding Fathers who welcomed immigrants regardless of their nationality or where they were born, he has also instructed his advisers to twist the meaning of these verses so they only address European immigrants.
Trump’s term will be full of events, decisions and actions that will distort the U.S. Constitution and affect geographic history around the world. He is exploiting his office and his country’s power to put his plan in place. Will he use the military to do so?
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