The Worst Things America Has Done

From using nuclear power to kill civilians to taking away basic human rights, America has done some awful things.  Here are the top 6 worst things that America has ever done, and what happened as a result.  This list is not in any order.  All of these things are horrible in their own way.  So read ahead...at your own risk.

1) Mass Genocide of Native Americans

Did you know that the Americans that colonized North America were actually stomping on claimed soil? Before European colonists set sail to New England, there were over 10 million Native Americans that lived there--here! Everyone knows that the diseases and senseless slaughterings of Native Americans was senseless, but few Americans today have a deep appreciation and gratuity for the land that we basically stole.  Yes, though natives and the colonists had a few treaties here and there, most of them were overruled or declared invalid by the white settlers.  The US would even go on to make legislation removing Indians from the land that their ancestors appropriated (which is to say, the Indian Removal Act of 1830).

2) Slavery & Segregation

Ever since the first slaves were hauled to America in 1619, slavery has made its mark on America.
Lincoln ratified the end of slavery in 1865, but segregation and racial violence has been going on for centuries.  There has been a tremendous amount of work to reconcile race relations, particularly during the Civil Rights Era, but a failure of some citizens to recognize the Black Lives Matter movement just shows that we still have a long way to go.

3) Environmental Destruction

Did you know that only 5% of the Bay Area's wetlands still exist in 2017?
Deforestation has been a huge problem in American history, which has helped trigger global warming.  The issues of fracking, overfishing, wasting water, and wasting resources have plagued America in the past few decades.  Today, the Americans are 5% of the global population but are using 30% of its resources.

It wasn't until the Environmental movement f the 60s with Rachel Carson's book, A Silent Spring, that (some) Americans truly started to care about the environment.  President Nixon took some environmental measures, such as halting all dumping on the Great Lakes in 1969, but historically the Republicans and the industrialists have had a negative reaction to the environmental movement.  In mid 2017, a new oil pipeline will be built, called the Keystone XL Pipeline.  Pipelines such as this have encouraged the use of fossil fuels, lowered the price of gas, and posed dangers for wildlife if the pipeline should break.  America isn't the sole culprit for global warming, but the country's culture of consumerism and wastefulness shows our country's lack of responsibility.

4) The colonization of Hawaii

Queen Liliuokalani could tell you herself that the United States has done a lot of awful things.  She was the first woman to ever rule Hawaii, but in 1893 she lost her throne to a coup staged by European and American businessmen! Grover Cleveland, apathetic to human rights, offered her reinstatement to her thrown if she would give amnesty to those who overthrew her... She hesitantly agreed.  However, she was denied reinstatement because a provisional government had formed after Queen Liliuokalani left... A provisional government whose president was none other than Sanford Dole.
Sanford Dole = Head of Dole fruit company

Yes, this actually happened.  The Dole Fruit company literally overthrew the Hawaiian government to grow cheap pineapples and bananas.  Talk about business gone rampant, but that was, ostensibly, the age of the 1890's.

5) Animal Slavery and Cruelty

#5 and #6 are one of the more controversial parts on this list.  Animal slavery has been a problem all throughout history instead of just an isolated event.  In 1906, Upton Sinclair wrote The Jungle, a book which still holds truth in the crimes of the meat packing industry.

As a result of The Jungle, animal welfare did not improve much, but better health conditions were soon established, including the Meat Inspecting Act.

Today, an unfathomable 150 billion animals are killed for meat each year, most of them living in conditions so awful that they extract diseases related to malnutrition, or die as a result of their family dying.

However, there are more vegetarians on the planet than ever before, and a rising population of vegans who are making strides to prevent the cruel treatment of animals outlined in Sinclair's book.

6) Poor treatment of Immigrants

America is a nation of immigrants, so it especially concerning that America has been guilty for being exclusive to immigrants many times in the past.  Although America's foundation started from immigrant migration, most of these immigrants were European, who had an easier entry due to quota systems that favored them.  In 1882, America passed its first legislation restricting immigrants known as the Chinese Exclusion Act.

The quota acts were discontinued in 1965, but it seems that even today factions of the U.S. are unwilling to open the borders.  As we all know, our new president is vehemently advocating for building a wall between the southern U.S. border.  He has already issued a ban on Syrian refugees that sent the country in turmoil.

 It is important to recognize the efforts made by the opposition to the terrible things America has done and hope that the head officials in America will try to put their kinder foot forward in the future.

After reading about all these terrible things, it isn't easy to have faith in the American system.  But think on the bright side, the year is 2017 and the sky is the limit.  We are all young, and have the power to change what we don't like if we are dedicated.

Sources: https://www.treehugger.com/clean-technology/20-gut-wrenching-statistics-about-the-destruction-of-the-planet-and-those-living-upon-it.html

http://www.ontheissues.org/celeb/Richard_Nixon_Environment.htm

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/04/white-house-trump-syria-john-mccain-236859

http://freefromharm.org/animal-products-and-culture/animal-slavery-and-other-comparisons/

http://hortsci.ashspublications.org/content/47/10/1390.full

http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/dole-food-company-inc-history/

http://www.american-historama.org/1866-1881-reconstruction-era/segregation-history.html