Reflections on 250 Years of US History

As I join millions around the world to congratulate the US on its 250th Independence Day, I hope humanity can find a way to change its nature. It would be great if it could become a force for peace and development. That would truly make it "God's own country."

Two hundred and fifty years ago, the world welcomed a new country, the United States (US). This happened on 4 July 1776, when it declared independence from Britain. Britain is a small country that has fought against many nations. It has been at war with 171 of the 193 countries in the United Nations. Only 22 countries avoided conflicts with Britain, mostly French colonies and the Vatican.

The US took on a war-like nature from Britain. This shows in how, out of its 250 years of independence, it has been involved in wars or armed conflicts for 230 years. Over this time, it has engaged in more than 500 military actions, averaging two conflicts each year.

The US has a long-standing relationship with armed conflicts, which suggests a war economy. It seems there are people in power who look forward to war. I doubt anyone has ever heard a president threaten to destroy others like the current one. For example, in April he warned Iran that if it did not reopen the Strait of Hormuz, "A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again." Days before that, he said he would be "blasting Iran into oblivion … back to the Stone Ages!!!" On Easter morning, he told Iranians: "Open the F, -in’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell."

The US has contributed much to knowledge, research, space travel, and inventions. But it often turns everything into a business. Sometimes this knowledge harms people. For example, it conducted experiments on smallpox that reduced the indigenous Indian population.

In its Declaration of Independence, the US stated: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness."

But this declaration was false. The only people seen as equal with rights to life and liberty were whites. Others were treated as less than human. Besides the genocide of the indigenous American Indians, many US presidents who were supposed to uphold this Declaration were slave owners. The first president, George Washington, owned over 500 slaves. The main author of the Declaration, Thomas Jefferson, owned more than 600 slaves. James Madison had 100 slaves, and Zachary Taylor had 150 slaves.

The US has little respect for the reasons why the United Nations was created: international peace, equal rights, self-determination of people, and national sovereignty. It sees Latin America as its "backyard," thinking of it as an extension of its territory. The US invaded Nicaragua so many times that in 1855, businessman William Walker thought of vacationing by becoming president of that country.

Presidents James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, James K Polk, Andrew Johnson, and Ulysses S Grant were all slave owners.

Today, American Indians continue to demand equality within the US. Their leader, Leonard Peltier, 80, was released from prison in February 2025 after spending fifty years locked up. Even now, he is still under restriction. African Americans also faced a similar nightmare. Malcolm X said that what African Americans experienced in the 1960s was not the American dream but the "American nightmare." They could not vote until 1965.

At least African Americans can vote, but Puerto Ricans cannot. They still cannot vote in the US presidential elections because Puerto Rico is not a state but a US colony. They also cannot vote in Congress. Puerto Rico was colonized in 1898 after the Spanish-American War and remains a colony. It is one of fifteen territories the US holds, despite claiming that all people are equal and free. The US calls them "overseas territories," but Puerto Rico has an unclear status.

Puerto Rican independence leader, Oscar Lopez Rivera, was freed from prison in May 2017 after thirty-eight years. The USA's closest neighbors are Mexico and Canada, which sometimes face US threats. Mexico has lived the American nightmare since the US took 55 percent of its land by force. The seized areas include today’s California, Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, and Colorado. Canada faced threats from the Trump administration, which considered making it the 51st state.

The US has little regard for the core goals of the United Nations: international peace, equal rights, self-determination of people, and national sovereignty. It sees Latin America as its "backyard." For example, the US has invaded Nicaragua many times. In 1855, William Walker overthrew the Nicaraguan government and ruled for ten months while reinstating slavery. He was removed not by the US government but by a force funded by his fellow businessman, Cornelius Vanderbilt.

President Trump also gave Western Sahara, an African country and founding member of the African Union, to Morocco. The US gives away land it does not own like it is a gift to another country’s king. I do not know of anything more absurd in international relations.

The US has occupied Guantanamo Bay in Cuba since 1903 and has imposed restrictions on Cuba for 64 years. This includes stopping it from trading with other countries and buying food, fuel, and medicine. Trump this year suggested a "friendly takeover" of Cuba.

In the region, the US has overthrown several governments, including Jacobo Arbenz in Guatemala in 1954 and Salvador Allende on 11 September 1973. It seized Grenada in October 1983. In Asia, it overthrew Iran's Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh in 1953.

In Africa, the US worked with Belgium and Britain to remove Patrice Lumumba in September 1960. It also overthrew the visionary Pan-Africanist, President Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, in February 1966. The US and its allies bombed Libya into chaos in October 2011, leading to the execution of President Muammar Gaddafi.

As I join millions around the world to congratulate the US on its 250th Independence Day, I hope humanity can find a way to change its nature. It would be great if it could become a force for peace and development. That would truly make it "God's own country."