172: The Spanish-American War: Origins
America at War
We have done it! We have reached the end of the nineteenth century with the beginning of the Spanish-American War. In the first of a string of episodes, we will be exploring the country's first overseas venture - war with Spain over its island possessions in the Caribbean and the Pacific. In the aftermath of the Civil War, the United States was already thinking beyond its continental borders. With the purchase of Alaska and new found influence in Samoa and the Hawaiian Islands, the United States was already considering what was next. With Spain's influence on a steep decline, there were...
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171: Reform and Revitalization: The Rise of the Modern Navy, Part II
America at War
The second and final episode of this arc take the story of the new steel navy to the beginning of the Spanish-American War. From the mid-1880s to the 1890s, the necessary infrastructure was put in place to expand the capabilities of the ships joining the fleet. Moreover, there was a shift in ideas on how to use the navy. Rather than focus on coastal defense and commerce raiding, thanks to the writings of Alfred Thayer Mahan, there was an interest in building larger ships that could wrestle the command of the seas from regional adversaries. Rather than concentrate on cruisers, there was growing...
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170: Reform and Revitalization: The Rise of the Modern Navy, Pt. I
America at War
Perhaps one of the most prominent aspects of this period is the rise of the steel navy. After several decades of decline, the navy made a bold move and built a small fleet of steel warships. There was a growing, often fractious, political consensus that the navy needed to move forward. The move toward steel ships triggered the evolution of the American manufacturing base, slowly building the capacity to cast and mold steel, as well as build modern weapons made of the same material. We take the story up to the creation of the first four steel ships and will continue the expansion of the fleet...
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169 Reform and Revitalization: The Endicott and Taft Eras of Harbor Defense
America at War
In this episode we take a look at Harbor Defense in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. One of the most consistent missions of the US Army since the founding of the republic was defending the nation's harbors. The Civil War demonstrated that the granite of bricks of yore were outclassed by modern weapons. After a period of stagnation in the years after the Civil War, in 1886 Secretary of War Endicott released a plan for modern fortifications. While it took more than a decade to appropriate funding, these fortifications would defend the nation's harbors well into the twentieth...
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168 Reform and Revitalization: Emory Upton Part II
America at War
In this episode we will continue and conclude our discussion of Emory Upton. We left off with the beginning of Upton's around the world journey. Upton traveled overseas on a mission to observe the armies of Asia and Europe. It was an important time for Upton. His observations of some of the most modern and, in his mind, backwards armies of the world, allowed him to work out his own notions of how the United States should reform its Army. Inspired by what he saw, Upton wanted a thoroughly professional Army that met the needs of the country. While inspired by, in particular, the German model, he...
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167 Reform and Revitalization: Emory Upton Part I
America at War
We are continuing our exploration of professionalization and what kind of Army would emerge through a long period of introspection. In this episode we are going to explore these issues through the eyes of Emory Upton. A protege of William T. Sherman, Upton's experiences in the Civil War would trigger an intense interest in tactics and the shape of the Army in the future. This episode will focus on the formative stage of Upton's career - his experiences at West Point, serving in the Army during the Civil War, and navigating the pitfalls of the post war army, and how these fueled his interests....
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166: Reform and Revitalization: Professionalization
America at War
We are continuing our exploration of reform and revitalization of the US Army in the decades after the end of the Civil War. This is a critical topic that deserves some coverage if you want to understand the army’s performance in the future. One of the trends that emerged in this time period was an acceleration of moving the army toward a more professional organization. Will look at the key ingredients of this movement, in particular with a focus on education. A component of professionalization is education. We will spend some time looking at the emergence of the post-graduate education...
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165 Reform and Revitalization: The Military and Civil Disorder II
America at War
In this episode, we will continue our story on the military's response to civil unrest. As we spoke of in the previous episode, we concentrated on how and why the National Guard and the US Army responded to civil disorders. We focused on the 1877 strike and in this episode we will talk about the Pullman strike and other actions as the nineteenth century began to draw down. The Army's response to unrest informed what was emerging as one of the chief responses to change. Have a question, comment, concern, or compliment? Contact us at . You can also leave comments and your questions on...
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164 Reform and Revitalization: The Military and Civil Disorder, Part I
America at War
We are back! Our series on the reform and revitalization of the American military continues with a focus on how the military responded to civil disorder. The rise of the factory system and the industrialization of the United States changed the economic landscape of the nation. Wage earners, feeling powerless at time of rampant profits as well as little in the way of protections during economic downturns, used collective action to put a stop to these abuses. Often, these labor stoppages would involve property destruction and violence. In response, both the National Guard and regular army troops...
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163 Reform and Revitalization: The National Guard
America at War
In this episode we kick off the Progressive Era with a brief overview of the National Guard in the late nineteenth century. The National Guard emerged from the volunteer militia's that dominated the scene from before the Civil War until the decades after. We will delve more into their activities in future episodes, namely responding to civil disturbances. In this episode we will introduce the desire for more federal recognition, while preserving its unique allegiance to the states in which they served. Have a question, comment, concern, or compliment? Contact us at . You can also leave...
info_outlineThis episode follows up with the previous. After focusing on what it was like to serve in the west after the Civil War, we close the circle with this episode where we focus on the campagin trail and combat. Rather than fighting standing armies as had occured in the Civil War, the 'wars' more often than not, these brushes with violence could be called skrimishes rather than set piece battles. Regardless of the size of the battles, combat was a very personal and, in many cases, terrifying experience. Some men excelled, others did not. Nevertheless, the crucible of serving on the frontier would propel the army to change at the end of the century.
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