Connor Ellis: Thoughts on Pieces by Beveridge and Roosevelt

After reading “The March of the Flag” by Albert Beveridge and “Expansion and Peace” by Theodore Roosevelt it is clear that both of these men believed that America had a duty as a nation to expand and help those worse off. If they were to talk it is likely that both would agree that American expansion is a good thing but they may not have the same reasons.

Beveridge’s speech showed that he was a believer in the Divine Right of America to take over weaker nations. On many occasions he spoke about how God had created them solely for the purpose of making the world a better place. According to him it would be selfish and cowardly for Americans to not expand and take over weaker people. He refutes the argument that Americans should not govern others without consent by saying that “the rule of liberty…applies only to those who are capable of self-government”. The way that he words this sentence and the surrounding context shows that he thinks that without American intervention the world would be full of savages and brutes.

Roosevelt’s piece is similar to Beveridge’s speech in that he also wants to take over weaker nations but he has different motives. He advocates the use of war to lead to a greater peace. According to him “peace” is not truly peaceful; many nations commit atrocities which could be fixed by a war. One strong quote which conveys his message is that “peace may come only through war”. Roosevelt spoke specifically about the westward expansion of America which led to constant fighting between “settlers and red men”. He felt that it was worth all of this fighting because it led to a period of peace which continued up until the time that his piece was written.

Both men seemed to use repetition often in order to enforce their points. Roosevelt spoke of westward expansion by saying “Under Washington and Adams we expanded…; under Jefferson we expanded…; under Monroe we expanded” and Beveridge attempted to convince voters by saying “will you say that ours is the blood of government; ours the heart of dominion; ours the brain and genius of administration”. This repetition was likely effective for both of them, especially in the setting of a campaign speech where Beveridge surely added strong inflection and visual cues.

While reading these pieces, especially the speech by Beveridge, I could not stop thinking about how well they compare to Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. While the pieces by Beveridge and Roosevelt advocated expansion and control of weaker people Heart of Darkness showed the inherent problems and inhumanity of such rapid, uncontrolled expansion. Beveridge spoke of expansion in order to garner valuable resources much as Kurtz and his Company agents worked to take ivory from the Congo. Conrad’s novel showed the atrocities committed in search of better goods; similar atrocities occurred during the Westward Expansion in to Native American lands.