U. S. Military

Posted: March 27th, 2020

U. S. Military

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U. S. Military

Over the years, the United States Military has always been viewed as one of the defining aspects of America’s political and global superiority. As a country that spends a large part of its budget on its armed forces, the United States has managed to create a military force that has played a key role in altering the political landscape of the global community. The involvement of the military in the Cold War, the War against Terror in Iraq, and its current attendance in Syria clearly show the extent to which America’s armed forces possess a rather considerable influence on global policies and political development. Nonetheless, the focus of this discussion involves an understanding of the United States Military. Classified into the Army, the Marine Corps, the Navy, the Air Force, and the Coast Guard, the U. S. military is defined by a rich history cultivated from its creation under the Constitution in 1775, its organizational framework, and its involvement in events and occurrences that shaped the world over the years.

The conception of the United States Military is based on the role that the Constitution of the United States assumed prior to the country’s independence. Accordingly, the Continental Army was the first part of the U. S. military to be created in 1775. The development of the Army was mainly attributed to the country’s need for independence as an outcome of the oppressive regime exercised by the British regime at the time. Even though the start of the American military may be linked to frontier settlers prior to the fight for independence, the official birth of the armed forces was related to the series of repressive laws and regulations that the British passed in an effort to control and suppress the colonists. One of the issues that led to the beginning of the country’s military involved the implementation of martial law on the colony of Massachusetts by the British. At the time, the British implemented the respective regulation in response to the protests carried out by the inhabitants of the colonies against the application of taxes. The event in question would eventually encourage an inclination towards the creation of armed forces.

Consequently, the struggles that took place in Concord and Lexington in the same period drove America further to the creation of the military in 1775. In response to the martial law applied for Massachusetts due to the Boston Tea Party, some of the colonist groups decided to resist against the British by establishing support for Boston hence leading to the Concord and Lexington battles, which have been established as the evidence of America’s starting struggle for independence against the British colonial government. With the American Revolutionary War at hand, George Washington was officially elected as the overall Commander of the Continental Army, which was entirely comprised of militia units from the British colonies. Aside from the Continental Army, response against the British’s oppression encouraged the creation of the Continental Marines and the Continental Navy hence leading to the official establishment of the U. S. military. Through the creation of the respective armed entities, the American colonists were capable of establishing a successful opposing stance against the British as illustrated by the expulsion of the respective colonialists from Boston as well as the remaining colonies hence leading to the independence of the United States in 1776.

Despite the role that the military assumed in the achievement of America’s independence from the British, the organization and stability that the present Armed Forces possesses was attributed largely to amendments made in the U. S. Constitution, specifically after events such as the Treaty of Paris. Accordingly, the forces created by the Continental Congress – the Continental Army, the Continental Navy, and the Continental Marines – were dissolved due to the accord in question, which established the borders between the United States and the British colonial government, which controlled parts of North America at the time. Since the Treaty of Paris was rather generous to the plight of the American government, the temporary forces that were created by the Continental Congress were officially disbanded. Nonetheless, under the Constitution of the United States, Congress was officially provided with the legislative authority to create armies, the navy, and establish regulations aimed at the administration of the naval and terrestrial forces. Aside from this, the Constitution established the President of the United States as the Commander-in-Chief of the American military.

The Constitution is the core aspect involved in the development of the U. S. military. As illustrated by the events leading to and after the Revolutionary War, the Constitution was able to create an official framework responsible for the holistic development of the Armed Forces as a key element of the American government. Under the Constitution, authority over the military units was implemented in respect to the President. Under Article II of the manuscript, the President constitutes the head commanding officer of the entire military force. Consequently, the Constitution also provides platforms that can be utilized by the Commander-in-Chief to attain opinion in respect to issues that affect or require the involvement of the military. Through platforms such as executive departments, the President is actually able to seek advice from the people responsible for heading the offices, specifically principal officers.