Page 428 - 1992 - XVIII Congresso Internazionale di Storia Militare

394 ANT6NIO DE JESU.~ BISPO

Securicy was obviously a marrer Q( primary concern. In ali these new states.
the males ar a very yQung age were compelled ro use weapons and co belong tQ
che national milicia, always ready tQ march in the defense of the country. In a strict·
ly srracegic re.rms rhe mal n objeetives of rhese new socieries were those Q( consolidaring
the cerrirorial claims, rhe establishment of secure frQnriers. Through concaru w i rh
che narive culture thc colonist gor che conclu.ded living side by side in thc samc
terricory was in.compatible and the.refore an absolure war was che prevalenc concept.
The revolutiQn in milirary affairs that rook piace in Europe, from tht: sixceenrh
cencury on had ics effecrs on che New World.
The non applicadon of mercenary recruitmenc and tbc necd for scanding a.r·
mies; che social factors on the basis Q[ wltich the armies had the basic notion that
society must ha ve a military obligat.ion; rhe notiQn of service tQ the comunicy; che
concept of discipline, based on obcdlcncc, loyalry and service co rhe state; the com·
binadon of these values wid1 marciai expertise; the new rechnlcal improvements
suc.h as in fìrenrms and forcifìcacions, che mobilicy and the need for smallet unirs;
the highly skilled officers who had a great degree of lnitiadve; learning and drill
requircmcnts wcrc ali issucs which had spccific influcnce on rhesc ncw politica!
units. Coloni11l milicia an.d Bridsh miLirnry force~ const.ituceJ rhe milirary force avo il·
nble. bue thclr missions were slightly diffen::nt, one was d~dlcated more ro rhe
colonist's sccurity and co che coiOI'ty's particular cxpansionary objcctivcs, thc orhcr
was dcdicaccd more co the support of d•e British Empire.
After che second Continencal Congrcss in 1775, rhe emerging polirical powcr
was supporced by ics own forces, subordinaced ro a commnnder-in-chief w ho was
responsiblc for n.U rhe opcraclons up ro rhc rccognicion of inc.lependencc In Pari~
in 1783.
Thc fìrst immediate objecrive wns thc construcdon of a scrong nacional poli ci·
cal powcr. In che words of George Washingcon ir "was nm conccivable rhar peQple
could exisr long as a nntiOfl wkhom havlng lodged somewherc: a power, which would
pervade the whole un io n in as energecic a manner as the authority of the srate govern·
mcnts exrended over the severa! states".
The counrry had co look ar irsclf and rakc its own shapc. The domina m idea,
was thar rhe power of the masscs should be strengthencd through economie liberai·
ism, religious freedom. promotion of praticai education and equa! of opporrunity.
And these ideas grew out of rhc cultura! background and wirh che practical sense
of fac:ing this ncw realiry. Thc salicnt value was rhc survival and rhe dignified pro-
morion ofwcJfare. These common objectivcs had ovcrcomc rhe differences bctwecn
people and had cceared a sense of unity. le was hard m achieve rbis consensus bue
there was no other alternative.
In the incernacional relarions the principle was to avoid cntangling aUiances
and ro maintain neutralicy. Washingcon's basic ai m was m follow a great rule, with
regard tO the nat:ions with which che United Srares had extended commercia] rela·
rionships, that was tO restrict polirical ries ro a minimum and nor to bccome in·
volved in rhe norrnal vicissirudes of their politics.