America is an empire. This is Richard Seymour's overarching argument in his book American Insurgents: a Brief History of American Anti-Imperialism. While defining anti-imperialism as the title suggests, Seymour summarizes the consistent occurrences of U.S. imperialism throughout the country's history. Enough so, to take claim that the nature of America's influence and control in other territories as an expander of "democratic" ideas proves it to be an empire. He argues that since the American revolution, the U.S. has taken militant action to secure land to grow the economy, gain stature among other nations, and to both intentionally and unintendedly oppress the native people of select regions. The idea of America as one to "help the little guy" emphasizes the government's need to fix what they feel is broken with other civilizations. Stemming at the root of racism, American conquest has evolved into a never-ending struggle for power.…show more content… Following the nation-building of the U.S. after the American revolution, an "imperial pretention" (Seymour, 2) set in place between Britain and the newly formed America. This is the time in history where Seymour analyzes the roots of imperialism in early America as a starting point for the many territorial disputes to come. An empire is defined by territorial acquisition and influence in countries. Seymour first uses the American war with the Native Americans as evidence of that definition. The hostilities that developed after white Americans sought to influence the Native Americans, eventually lead to relentless manipulation instead of compromise, and the elimination of the native people from their precious and preferred land. Seymour references a Lockean justification for the "desire to complete removal of the Indians" as that the techniques of the Natives were "not considered the normal way by white Americans" (Seymour,
