The Roots of Empire

Mumia writes about the current Iraq war and the roots of American Empire building

The Roots Of American Empire
By Mumia Abu-Jamal (copyright 2003)
Mumia Abu-Jamal's Freedom Journal, www.mumia.com
Apr 14, 2003, 10:30
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There are doubtless many Americans, perhaps millions, who wonder to
themselves, "How did we get into this?"

They look at Americans waging what they firmly believe is an unnecessary,
and perhaps illegal war, and wonder how this came to be, and perhaps equally
as important, what will be the repercussions of this dangerous and
precipitous action?

Perhaps they grit their teeth at the sight of the 'Boy King' as he lumbers
about on the world's stage, and blame him for this present state of affairs,
and long for days past, when things seemed simpler, or, at the very least,
safer. It is hard to resist such a temptation, but resist it we must.

Why? Because this tragic national fit of distemper did not begin with Bush.
It will not end with him. What ails the American body politic is not
personal, but institutional. One need only take a deep look at American
history; not that taught in our high schools, or which thickens our
almanacs. But the history beneath those safe sources, which reflects over
200 years of American conflicts, to find the roots of our imperial
appetites. Over 150 years ago, in an otherwise nondescript case before the
nation's Supreme Court, a man was challenging the constitutionality of the law which prohibited the selling of lotteries in Washington, D.C. Again, it
was not the case that was especially important, but the words used in that
case, by a Chief Justice of the United States, which are indeed memorable.

In *Cohens v. Virginia* (1821), Chief Justice John Marshall described the
powers of the states in an interesting way:

That the United States form, for many, and for most important purposes, a
single nation, has not yet been denied. In war, we are one people.

In making peace we are one people, in all commercial respects, we are one
and the same people.... The people have declared, that in the exercise of
all powers given for these objects it is supreme... The constitution and the
laws of a state, so far as they are repugnant to the constitution and laws
of the United States, are absolutely void.

The states are constituent parts of the United States. *They are members of
one great empire*-- for some purposes sovereign, for some purposes
subordinate. [p. 414]

The words are unmistakable -- "...one great empire..." -- the United States.

It is well to remember here the name of the first federal gathering of the
American colonies in 1776; the 'Continental Congress.' Why not 'National
Congress'? Or 'American Congress?'

To those who began to organize the state, their intentions were to dominate
the entire continent. It was not for naught that the Americans fought wars
with England for Canadian territories, and Mexico for what is now about a
third of the American national territory. Before the Mexican-American War of
1846-48, Arizona, California, and New Mexico were part of Mexico. Before the
war, Texas was part of Mexico, but Texans had set up their own country, the
Republic of Texas.

Americans wanted all of these lands, from the frigid forests of northern
Canada to the tropics of southern Mexico. Again, 'empire.'

This does not mean that Marshall was speaking for everybody when he said
what he said; he was speaking for the wealthy, white elites of which he was
a part. Millions of other people would have violently disagreed with his
'one people' argument. For millions of Blacks, millions of women, for
millions of Indians, Chinese in the mines of California, Mexicans in the
southwest, they knew they were not included or counted among the 'one
people' that Marshall claimed to speak for.

It's been over 175 years since Marshall's imperial dreams, and still he does
not speak for everyone. There are millions of people who are just as opposed
to that idea. Many of them stage demonstrations against the war. Some of
them stage protests against this deeply-held notion of 'empire.' They may
feel comfortable as part of a nation, but have no wishes to lord it over
people in other parts of the world. They want to be neighbors, not masters.

They see themselves as people who want to help heal the nation's ills,
before tackling the troubles of the wide and threatening world. They know
that their jobs aren't safe; that their schools aren't working; that their
streets aren't safe; and that their neighborhood cops are out-of-control.
They know that the nation is in deep trouble. They have no time for empire.

Copyright 2003 Mumia Abu-Jamal =======================================

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Submitted by: Sis. Marpessa Kupendua, nattyreb@comcast.net on 4/14/2003