Military-Expansion

Custer's Black Hills Expedition Violates Fort Laramie Treaty, Discovering Gold and Triggering Rush to Sioux Sacred Lands

1874-07-02 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 9/10

Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer leads a 1,000-man military expedition into the Black Hills of South Dakota in direct violation of the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty, which guaranteed the Sioux Nation “absolute and undisturbed use and occupancy” of all land west of the Missouri River …

Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer U.S. Army Sioux Nation Horatio Ross (prospector) President Ulysses S. Grant treaty-violations indigenous-genocide military-expansion gold-rush sacred-sites +1 more

Quasi-War Enables Military-Industrial Expansion and Permanent Navy Establishment

1798-07-07 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 7/10

Congress authorizes attacks on French warships and effectively declares an undeclared naval war against France, establishing the foundation for permanent American military expansion and the military-industrial complex. The Quasi-War begins after French privateers attack over 316 American merchant …

President John Adams Secretary of the Navy Benjamin Stoddert U.S. Congress George Washington French privateers military-expansion naval-buildup institutional-capture defense-spending permanent-military