When I listen to Obama’s oratory, pass by the ‘star-spangled banners’ fluttering in the doorways or backyards of every other house, or watch America painted by the ablest artists of the popular Hollywood motion pictures, I can’t help but notice the hints of American patriotism and nationalism being dropped at me. Mind wonders in such cases and thoughts wander about. How did this huge nation gain so much of oneness? Was the cause as proximal as 9/11? Distal as Pearl Harbour? Or is the reason any deeper than crises bringing the populace together? I thought it would be a good idea to inspect how the nation became what it is in its present state. I started from the geographical perspective. The question to consider here is, ‘How united states of America became a single nation that consists all 50 of them in their present geographical configuration?’ After surveying the internet content, a couple of Wikipedia pages inter alia (particularly ‘Territorial changes of the United States’ and ‘Territorial Evolution of the United States’) a brief history of the nation suggests the following timeline of prominent events (see the map here):

1. 1776: Declaration of foundation of the American Nation
2. 1783: Recognition of foundation of the American Nation, boundaries agreed upon with the European Imperial Powers in various treaties, like the Treaty of Paris
3. 1803: The Louisiana Purchase; Jefferson bought a huge landmass from Napoleon for USD 15 million in those days.
4. 1845: Republic of Texas merges with the Federation
5. 1848: Landmass containing California, etc. bought from Mexico for USD 15 million in those days after the Mexican-American war
6. 1867: Alaska purchased from Russia
7. 1898: Republic of Hawaii annexed

The chronology suggested me a couple of things: 1) The American nation as we see it today is only about a century and a half old, 2) Major part of the nation was bought from other contemporary Imperial Powers (noteworthy point here is that the nation was ‘Founded’ or ‘Established’, parts of it were ‘bought’).

Now, if I may impose my analysis on the observations it should be as follows: Perfusion of a oneness despite of religious or lingual diversity is a slow process. Any Chinese or Indian can vouch for this. Americans show almost a monolithic oneness in terms of Abrahmic religions and English language because of their almost common European ancestry. Otherwise they have not had enough time to undergo the process of achieving a unity in diversity – it’s a nascent culture compared to, say China, or India. The nationalism of American nation (in its present geographical form) sprang into action for the first time during WW-I (1917, Lusitania sank in 1915, drowning 128 Americans), then it was prominent when WW-II was 2 years old (1941, Pearl Harbour). In more recent times, we have seen the Americans going patriotic (a) over the a significant part of a generation wiped in Korea and Vietnam, (b) over the elite Marines killed in the Gulf war of 1990-91, (c) the losses in the latest Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts, the former being a reaction against the attack on the World Trade Center. And here is the point that I want to convey. The nationalism of America seems crisis-driven to me. It is purely militaristic. This is the kind of nationalism I personally detest.

My guess says that a lack of appreciable amount of history forces an average American to take pride in such national achievements as wars. If at all an American can talk about any history with some affection (other than the 400 years of the nation), it is medieval European, ancient Greek or Roman history; the affection reflects itself abundantly in the architecture of the Capitol and the capital in general.  But in that case, the history lacks nationalism. To deliver the punch-line, the history lacks nationalism and the nationalism lacks history.

Thus, I smile when an American talks (on TV, or podium, or otherwise) of defending their ‘American way of life’ by invading a long list of countries. For, I do not understand the significance of those words in a mere century-old American context. It also makes me sad because such an attitude forces a cascade of events; survival becomes the supreme need for many nations.

PS: If I have hurt any feelings, especially American ones, my apologies. Correction of any factual errors is welcome. E&OE.