Here's the answers you've been waiting for...
The year is 1902. Teddy Roosevelt is the Republican President. The Phillipine insurrection is largely at an end though Islamic fanatic Moros continue to cause problems for years. William Howard Taft (future president) is the Governor General. General Smith orders Maj. Waller to kill all men who are capable of wielding a weapon. This includes children as young as ten, men and women. He is thereafter dubbed "Kill and Burn" Jake Smith because he told Waller that he would be pleased "the more you kill and the more you burn".
The army had been somewhat persistent in identifying "cruelty" and prosecuting offenders up to that date. Including identification of 44 cases and 39 convictions through courts martial. However, this case is much bigger and was ordered by a commanding officer and indicates that there may have been a more persistent problem.
General Nelson Miles, Commanding General of the Army, has a serious grudge against Roosevelt and Roosevelt liked him just as little. Roosevelt, serving with Miles in the Spanish-American war, considered Miles a "brave peacock". He liked to walk around dressed in his fullest uniform with "more braid, silver stars and polished leather than seemed necessary for national security". Miles was previously considered the hero of the Indian Campaigns.
However, Miles was planning to run for president in 1904. His opposition to Roosevelt and adherence to the Democrat party was sealed when Roosevelt publicly rebuked him for commenting on a naval dispute and for "criticizing" Roosevelt's administration. He is also officially reprimanded. General Miles never forgets.
He knows there is embarrassing information that Secretary of War Root is supressing. He presses to go to the Phillipines to investigate the insurrection, but his request is refused. Roosevelt suspects him of having political motives. However, Roosevelt pushes Root to confirm the allegations, particularly those made in the Gardener Report.
When his trip is refused, he tells Democrats in congress about their existence, though not the details. Democrats in Congress demand its release. Roosevelt stalls as long as possible to try to protect the Army, but he can no longer hold back the information. Lodge's committee on the Phillipines eventually releases the information. The Anti-Imperialist League runs with it, publicly denouncing US policy.
Civil War veterans protest the continued presence in Cuba and the Phillipines. The Civil War has only ended 40 years previously. The Grand Old Army is still very active. They protest the war on the grounds that the US, having fought a revolution for independence and a Civil War to free slaves insists that the Filipinos should have independence to make their own decisions. The generals in charge argue that the Filipinos and the nation in general are not capable of governing themselves.
It is the veterans of Cuba, members of Roosevelt's Rough Riders, who support the continued war effort. Having fought the Spanish and liberated Cuba, they believe that the Phillipines are also important to American security and that the US has an obligation to turn the Phillipines into a stable and functioning nation.
Which Taft eventually succeeds in doing though the country is continually plagued by insurrections by the Moro Islamic natives and the army continues to put down the rebellion, often in extremely brutal ways. Some of the notable officers who serve in the Phillipines includes Gen. MacArthur (Sr_the latter MacArthur of WWII fame's father), Gen. Leonard Wood and, eventually, John J. Pershing, eventually General "Black Jack" Pershing who presides over the victory of the American Expeditionary Forces in WWI.
To show that the United States is not "Imperial", Roosevelt pushes an act through congress to give Cuba its freedom (against military advice and later even Roosevelt believes he may have been too hasty when Cuba falls into a civil war a few years later).
The energy resource that is in short supply is coal. There is a miner's strike that goes on for months. The Robber Barons control the mines, the railroads and Standard Oil. As the strike continues, Roosevelt eventually negotiates a compromise between the mine owners and the workers. However, there is a great unrest in the public over the continuing monopoly of these corporations, their control over public and political life as well as the economy where they control much of the pricing for produce and transport.
Venezuela is in debt up to its eyeballs to the British and the Germans. Both nations send naval and land forces to blockade Venezuela and potentially take control of their shipping. The United States sends the Navy to conduct "wargames" near by while Roosevelt "speaks softly" (ie, sends verbal, undocumented messages) to both nations reminding them of the Monroe Doctrine and his intent to enforce it. He eventually convinces all to back down and makes Venezuela promise to pay its debts.
The United States and Germany come very close to actual war.
Colombia is on its 45th rebellion. In the past, the United States sent troops to secure territory or provide weapons and supplies to the government to put down these rebellions. However, Roosevelt has been attempting to get a treaty with Colombia to build the Panama Canal across the isthmus that is still Colombian territory. When Colombia continues to drag their feet, Roosevelt supports the Panamanian rebels against the Colombian government. A treaty is signed and the Panama Canal becomes part of history.
During this time, a popular song is written. People sing it everywhere. It is "In the good ol' summertime". As the coal strike went on and fears of a freezing winter without fuel started plaguing the population, song lyrics were sometimes modified:
In the good old Summertime,
In the good old Sumertime!
The way they've raised the price of coal
I don't like it at all for mine
-Theodore Rex, Edmund Morris
The year is 1902. Teddy Roosevelt is the Republican President. The Phillipine insurrection is largely at an end though Islamic fanatic Moros continue to cause problems for years. William Howard Taft (future president) is the Governor General. General Smith orders Maj. Waller to kill all men who are capable of wielding a weapon. This includes children as young as ten, men and women. He is thereafter dubbed "Kill and Burn" Jake Smith because he told Waller that he would be pleased "the more you kill and the more you burn".
The army had been somewhat persistent in identifying "cruelty" and prosecuting offenders up to that date. Including identification of 44 cases and 39 convictions through courts martial. However, this case is much bigger and was ordered by a commanding officer and indicates that there may have been a more persistent problem.
General Nelson Miles, Commanding General of the Army, has a serious grudge against Roosevelt and Roosevelt liked him just as little. Roosevelt, serving with Miles in the Spanish-American war, considered Miles a "brave peacock". He liked to walk around dressed in his fullest uniform with "more braid, silver stars and polished leather than seemed necessary for national security". Miles was previously considered the hero of the Indian Campaigns.
However, Miles was planning to run for president in 1904. His opposition to Roosevelt and adherence to the Democrat party was sealed when Roosevelt publicly rebuked him for commenting on a naval dispute and for "criticizing" Roosevelt's administration. He is also officially reprimanded. General Miles never forgets.
He knows there is embarrassing information that Secretary of War Root is supressing. He presses to go to the Phillipines to investigate the insurrection, but his request is refused. Roosevelt suspects him of having political motives. However, Roosevelt pushes Root to confirm the allegations, particularly those made in the Gardener Report.
When his trip is refused, he tells Democrats in congress about their existence, though not the details. Democrats in Congress demand its release. Roosevelt stalls as long as possible to try to protect the Army, but he can no longer hold back the information. Lodge's committee on the Phillipines eventually releases the information. The Anti-Imperialist League runs with it, publicly denouncing US policy.
Civil War veterans protest the continued presence in Cuba and the Phillipines. The Civil War has only ended 40 years previously. The Grand Old Army is still very active. They protest the war on the grounds that the US, having fought a revolution for independence and a Civil War to free slaves insists that the Filipinos should have independence to make their own decisions. The generals in charge argue that the Filipinos and the nation in general are not capable of governing themselves.
It is the veterans of Cuba, members of Roosevelt's Rough Riders, who support the continued war effort. Having fought the Spanish and liberated Cuba, they believe that the Phillipines are also important to American security and that the US has an obligation to turn the Phillipines into a stable and functioning nation.
Which Taft eventually succeeds in doing though the country is continually plagued by insurrections by the Moro Islamic natives and the army continues to put down the rebellion, often in extremely brutal ways. Some of the notable officers who serve in the Phillipines includes Gen. MacArthur (Sr_the latter MacArthur of WWII fame's father), Gen. Leonard Wood and, eventually, John J. Pershing, eventually General "Black Jack" Pershing who presides over the victory of the American Expeditionary Forces in WWI.
To show that the United States is not "Imperial", Roosevelt pushes an act through congress to give Cuba its freedom (against military advice and later even Roosevelt believes he may have been too hasty when Cuba falls into a civil war a few years later).
The energy resource that is in short supply is coal. There is a miner's strike that goes on for months. The Robber Barons control the mines, the railroads and Standard Oil. As the strike continues, Roosevelt eventually negotiates a compromise between the mine owners and the workers. However, there is a great unrest in the public over the continuing monopoly of these corporations, their control over public and political life as well as the economy where they control much of the pricing for produce and transport.
Venezuela is in debt up to its eyeballs to the British and the Germans. Both nations send naval and land forces to blockade Venezuela and potentially take control of their shipping. The United States sends the Navy to conduct "wargames" near by while Roosevelt "speaks softly" (ie, sends verbal, undocumented messages) to both nations reminding them of the Monroe Doctrine and his intent to enforce it. He eventually convinces all to back down and makes Venezuela promise to pay its debts.
The United States and Germany come very close to actual war.
Colombia is on its 45th rebellion. In the past, the United States sent troops to secure territory or provide weapons and supplies to the government to put down these rebellions. However, Roosevelt has been attempting to get a treaty with Colombia to build the Panama Canal across the isthmus that is still Colombian territory. When Colombia continues to drag their feet, Roosevelt supports the Panamanian rebels against the Colombian government. A treaty is signed and the Panama Canal becomes part of history.
During this time, a popular song is written. People sing it everywhere. It is "In the good ol' summertime". As the coal strike went on and fears of a freezing winter without fuel started plaguing the population, song lyrics were sometimes modified:
In the good old Summertime,
In the good old Sumertime!
The way they've raised the price of coal
I don't like it at all for mine
-Theodore Rex, Edmund Morris
Too bad there is no place in today's Army for a character like Fred Funston. Think the HVT's in the F.A.T.A. know about him?