The ascendance of Manifest Destiny galvanized the imagination of the nation behind 'national expansion' to the Pacific Ocean as a 'divine right' for Christian citizens of European descent.
Like the book,
Savages and Scoundrels, and the film being made of the
same name, the purpose of this web site is to realign some of the
major themes of the well-known 'narrative' we call The American
Story. Historians Bernard DeVoto and Howard Zinn have joined
many others, including legal historians such as Charles Wilkinson,
David Getches and Robert Williams, in calling for a thorough-going
'realignment' of plotlines in our national narrative. Neither this
web site, the book, or the film, attempts to render a
'soup-to-nuts' overhaul of those themes. That said, all three
make bold strides toward the long process of correcting major flaws
in our nation's widely accepted, but deeply flawed,
'story.'
Each of the
'events and landmarks' we have highlighted on the History Wheel
played an important role in shaping the turbulent and convulsive
'national expansion' that took place during the 'treaty-making
era.' Some of the legal ideas that played leading roles in
shaping the century-long period of 'national expansion' have their
origins in the Crusades of the Middle Ages. Each event and/or
landmark redirected our story down a new path, in a new and
unexpected direction. When combined, they shaped the plot of
our national narrative and animate the extraordinary cast of
characters that made it all happen.
As you
scan the 'events' on the History Wheel, note that some of these
could have also been selected as 'flashpoints'. Alas, the line
between the chicken and the egg is sometimes so fine that the
judgment is best left to those with sensibilities more refined than
ours - people like yourselves.