The Trump administration, at its highest civilian and military levels, is directing genocidal military actions against Cuba, Iran, and Palestine. It sustains various forms of war, interventionism, colonialism, and neocolonialism in more than 80 countries across five continents. Within its own country, it implements discriminatory policies against the non-white population and maintains a policy of terror against migrants.
In this context, and within the framework of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence, the Trump administration has announced a series of celebrations under the slogan “Freedom 250.” Beyond the cynicism and the obvious contradictions of this slogan with the current government, what can be commemorated in these 250 years of existence? Are the multiple wars and invasions throughout these 250 years merely accidents in the nation’s trajectory? Where does the history of its people fit in?
As part of the dominant culture and ideology, a middle ground can be found between the accumulation of crimes and the great contributions. More than one person will highlight positive aspects and events that, without the American imprint, would portray contemporary history as insufficient, incomplete, or flawed. The slightest hint of questioning the history of a nation and its people, based solely on a few crimes and nefarious figures, will be deemed unjust and harsh.
In his theses on the concept of history, Walter Benjamin argued that “There is no document of civilization which is not at the same time a document of barbarism” (Thesis 7). From his perspective, that which explains historical development as a continuum of events under which human history progresses cannot be explained without the inherent burden of violence and destruction under which the oppressed of all eras are subjected.
In his theses, written at a time when the rise of fascism threatened to triumph, the German-Jewish thinker was able to formulate a critical conception of history that shatters the notions of checks and balances inherent in the Western bourgeois worldview, which sees the dominant outcome of history as linear and perfectible.
If we were to follow Benjamin in thinking about the 250 years of the United States, we would have to understand that its birth is inseparable from the genocide of the native population and from commercial piracy. A country that, before proclaiming its independence, prioritized creating its Marine Corps. A nation that recognized in its Constitution the right of its citizens to bear arms 75 years before abolishing slavery.
This critical perspective would allow us to see in George Washington the model of the enterprising American politician: a land speculator and owner of plantations based on slave labor; in Thomas Jefferson the founder of the country’s foreign policy, defining it as “extensive empire and self-government”; And in Abraham Lincoln, the ideologue of its immigration policy, when, faced with the problem of slavery, he thought the best solution would be to expel Black people from the country so they could populate Belize and the Guianas.
The strength of that country cannot be explained without its precocity in initiating wars of invasion and dispossession. It was 36 years old as a nation when it led its first invasion of another continent (against Indonesia and the Polynesian islands). At 47, it proclaimed the Monroe Doctrine, asserting that the entire American continent and the Caribbean belonged to it. At 70, it began the dispossession of half of Mexico’s territory (the largest territorial theft ever committed against a country).
The former colony emerged as a new power in the heat of its participation in the world wars. Thus, it established itself as the new imperial hegemon. To maintain this position, it wages a permanent multidimensional war against any multipolar effort.
Since World War II, the US has invaded or intervened in 96 countries. Since 2001, under the pretext of its war on terror, the United States has deployed military operations in 85 countries. According to the Philippine foundation IBON, the human toll of US military aggression worldwide could reach 32 million people.
Furthermore, it maintains political, economic, and military control over 14 colonies (euphemistically called “Unincorporated Territories”). What in the 250 years of the United States “appears as a chain of events—to paraphrase Benjamin—actually corresponds to a single catastrophe” (Thesis 9).
Is this view unfair or disproportionate? Does it preclude the possibility of recognizing grassroots efforts to give that country a different history?
Benjamin also wrote, ““Only for a redeemed mankind has its past become citable in every single moment. Every moment it has lived becomes a point in the order of the day. ” (Thesis 3).
Original article by Magdiel Sanchez at La Jornada, June 26th, 2026.
Translated by Schools for Chiapas.