Colonialism, genocide and re-education as elements of irregular warfare in the conquest of the North American West

Authors

  • Miguel Madueño URJC

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53351/ruhm.v11i23.862

Keywords:

Indians, North America, genocide, colonialism, re-education

Abstract

This text analyses the direct confrontation between an ordinary US army and native tribal warriors in the context of irregular warfare. On this basis, it is hypothesized that the successive White House governments during much of the 19th century carried out a subjugation of the native peoples of North America by resorting to colonialism, genocide and re-education programs, concepts that would later be embellished by presenting a scenario of struggle between progress and barbarism.

The history of the United States of America has been built on traumatic episodes such as the conquest of the West, a notion that raises a series of questions about legitimacy and rights, which has exempted Washington from responding to concerns regarding concepts such as colonialism and genocide. 

The perception of millions of people, thanks to mass media elements such as television and Western films, has been anchored to a sugar-coated vision of this conquest, according to which American settlers forged their destiny through tenacity and hard work. But before such a mainstream household appliance existed, the American Government had already laid out a plan to present a clear episode of colonialism and subjugation as a mere necessity derived from the progress and development of modern society. The US found itself entangled in a serious contradiction, since its position vis-à-vis other great powers had begun with its own independence and in the years to come it would present itself as the champion of freedom and democracy. Thus, successive governments and their presidents strove to demonstrate that expansionism towards the West was not the result of colonialism as it was attributed to European metropolises and that its consequences could not be labelled as genocide. To this end, they exalted the idea of manifest destiny and enveloped their cause in a divine component as well as in the defence of modernity. In another sense, by virtue of those concepts so opportunely used or denied by the Oval Office cabinet, what took place in the north of the continent was an irregular war between the army of a budding world power and the native American nations, devoid of technological elements or the use of modern warfare tactics.

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Author Biography

  • Miguel Madueño, URJC

    Miguel Madueño Álvarez es doctor en Humanidades por la Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, con Premio Extraordinario con una tesis titulada «El falangismo durante la democracia actual (1977-2019)». Es licenciado en Historia por la UNED y especialista en Historia Militar por el IUGM. Es profesor en el Área de Historia Contemporánea de la URJC y ha impartido materias como Historia del Mundo Actual, Historia de la España Actual, Historia de América, Historia de África y Cultura Contemporánea. Es fundador y director de la Revista Digital Guerra Colonial, dedicada al estudio de las guerras coloniales, los procesos de descolonización y el neocolonialismo. Actualmente se encuentra adscrito a la Cátedra Santander Presdeia donde realiza investigaciones sobre “el exterminio y genocidio de los indios americanos en Norteamérica” y sobre “las relaciones exteriores de la organización terrorista ETA”. Así mismo, es autor de varios artículos y capítulos en obras colectivas sobre el falangismo, el colonialismo y los grupos terroristas e insurgentes como los Tupamaros en Uruguay.

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Published

2023-02-08

Issue

Vol. 11 No. 23 (2022): Guerra irregular en la Edad Contemporánea

Section

Dossier

License

Copyright (c) 2023 Miguel Madueño

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How to Cite

Colonialism, genocide and re-education as elements of irregular warfare in the conquest of the North American West. (2023). Revista Universitaria De Historia Militar, 11(23), 40-61. https://doi.org/10.53351/ruhm.v11i23.862

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