Setting A Navy During The 18th Century Essay

“For the Common Defense, a military history of the United States from 1607-2012” is a military historic book written by Allan R. Millet, Peter Maslowski, and William B. Feis. Millet is a historian and a retired colonel of the Marine Corps. Maslowski is a professor at the University of Nebraska. Feis is a professor at Buena Vista University. This book was published in September 2012. It focuses on chronologically describing the changes of the United States military for over 400 years. Even though that is the main purpose, it does include political information. Although this book does not have an exact thesis, its purpose is to inform readers of the creation and enhancements of the US military. At almost 700 pages, this book educates about

The United States of America has not always been the world superpower that it is today. The same goes for its Navy. In the first several years of existence, the United States Navy was not a formidable fighting force. The young nation was hesitant to invest in a navy for many reasons, one of them being to prevent provoking the world powers of the time, France and Britain. On top of that, navies were very expensive to build and required a significant amount of resources to maintain, which the U.S. did not have at the time. To say that the United States Navy was ill prepared for war would be a dramatic understatement. The U.S. had a total of fifteen ships in its entire naval fleet compared to the might of the Royal Navy which possessed over six hundred warships. Even with the odds stacked against the U.S., President Madison declared war on 18 JUN 1812. The lack of size and power of the navy at the time would make it extremely difficult to satisfy the needs of the newly founded nation.

He quotes, “The history of sea power is, largely, though by no means solely, a narrative of contests between nations, of mutual rivalries, of violence frequently culminating in war.” Mahan saw sea power as thoroughly intertwined with war. His argument was that a great navy was essential for national prosperity through military and economic expansion.

Navy Federal Credit Union headquarters is located in Vienna, Virginia. NFCU is the Largest Credit Union in the World, but when it was formed in 1933 it only consisted of 7 members. Now it has 7 million members with an outstanding workforce of over 15,000. It’s largest facility is in Pensacola, Florida. Navy Federal is currently on the “top 100” employer in America.

In the book 1812: The Navy’s War, Author George C. Daughan gives the reader an inside look into the events that led to the War of 1812 and war itself. Within the book, Mr. Daughan analyzed the conflict between the recently discovered Unites States and Great Brittan. The book gives in detail the short-term consequences of the War, as well as the lingering effects the war brought to the United States. By the end of Mr. Daughan historic text it is abundantly clear that the War of 1812 forever impacted the way the United States military operated. Mr. Daughan gives an outstanding synopsis of the United State’s rise as a military power, specifically the United States Navy. Daughan gives the reader an in-depth look of these gruesome battles, by using letters, journal writing, and other first-hand accounts of those directly involved in the war.

Between the years of 1894 and 1914, America’s investments overseas have increased five-fold; however, German U-boats and the Great Britain’s naval blockade threaten our foreign interests. Thus, the United States must join the Allies in The Great War and defend our country, her interests and her allies overseas in Europe. In this paper the reader will be introduced to the pros and cons of America joining the fight against the Central Powers, and why it is essential that the country put up a strong fight against the enemy and become involved with the war.

The term the "doctrine of the interest of states" shows up several times throughout Gilbert’s work. Using this term he emphasizes the doctrine as a guiding principle for statesman to strive for the nation’s “true interest”, or rather the fundamental question of whether England had to take an active part in the struggles for maintaining a European balance of power or whether she could remain a disinterested spectator was enlivened by current and practical political issues. Pg (25) A "balance of power" was the only way in which to avoid perpetual war in a world naturally characterized by naked power politics.

The two different visions of assembly of Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton conveyed understandings of American power and the American people. For Hamilton, America's quality lay in the business industry. His America was one of delegates, specialists, speculators and banks. His party anticipated those would help these people battle in an overall business focus. Hamilton was suspicious of state governments, obliged as they were to slim neighborhood interests.

In opposition to its preference, the United States became engaged in European affairs as the Napoleonic War was fought, interrupting with American shipping and trade. At last, the Untied States went to war with Great Britain to protect its right to “freedom of the seas.” Federalists, who were now out of power in the executive branch and a minority in the

“…however wonderful our individual ships are we must face the fact that if we go to war against

The Union and Confederate Navies were founded during the Civil War. Each Navy had its advantages and disadvantages. The Union represented the northern states. The Confederacy represented the southern states. The Union had a lot more advantages at the beginning of the conflict. First of all, they had more people, ships, and supplies. They were more organized and had hundreds of ships with many captains to guide them around enemy territories. The main thing that they lacked was cotton trading. This was a disadvantage because cotton was a main export during that time. Other than that, they really had no problem in fighting the Confederates. The Union captains needed training, because they did not have proper navigation skills.

The contents of this paper reflect my own personal views and are not necessarily endorsed by the Navy War College or the Department of the Navy

In the late 18th century, the United States of America faced many challenges such as foreign affairs and economic policy. Hamilton and Jefferson influenced these policies by incorporating their contrasting views in the context of allies and trading. Hamilton created many policies that solved many financial problems and helped shaped our nation. Although, the founding fathers such as Andrew Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson had opposing views on these subjects the main goal was to create a strong government.

Mr. Hamilton was especially interested in France and England. He came to realize that it was England’s economic structure that would provide him with a sturdy basis for creating an acceptable economic system. (Todd 1-2)

In the American nation, he developed love of regulation, efficiency and organization. Hamilton strongly showed that America must possess credit for the development of government operations, trade, industry and business activities. He stressed the importance of the central government to take over the debts of the state that were unpaid in the Revolutionary period (Scott, 2008). The central government was endorsed by the American Constitution to charge and collect taxes as well as pay liabilities (Robertson, 2005). Such operations can be professionally handled by a central bank. Therefore, Hamilton was characterized by thinking creatively and critically as he observed the potential of the trade industry’s immense power (Pancake, 1974).