My goal in the essay is to use a well-known historical precedent to illustrate the U.S. Federal government’s untenable indebtedness predicament.
Spain, 1500-1590
In 1500, the New World had just recently been discovered, and Spain had just recently forced the Moorish invaders from the Iberian Peninsula. Expanding their army, expanding their navy, and the lengthy campaign to kick out the Moors had been expensive for the Spanish crown. They also needed to maintain a large army to keep the Islamic North Africans from returning. There were also the expenses of building and supplying a large fleet of ships, in the hopes of bringing back treasure and warding off pirates. And they also needed to arm and equip an army to subdue the various native tribes in the Americas.
When they began seizing territory from largely Stone Age tribesmen in the Americas, the Spanish luckily had the advantages of Spanish steel, matchlock muskets, cannons, and (unwittingly) deadly European microbes on their side. The latter included Swine flu, Smallpox, chickenpox, bubonic plague, measles, typhus, influenza, scarlet fever, pneumonia, and malaria. These germs killed far more native warriors than the Spanish soldiers and sailors ever did.Continue reading“America’s Future Can Be Seen in Spain’s Past”
