How to Hide an Empire: The Story of the Greater United States

Look at a map of the United States and you’ll see the familiar cluster of states in North America, plus Hawai’i and Alaska in boxes. But what about Puerto Rico? What about American Samoa? The country has held overseas territory-lands containing millions of U.S. nationals-for the bulk of its history. They don’t appear often in textbooks, but the outposts and colonies of the United States have been central to its history.
Boston Public Library President David Leonard and talks with Daniel Immerwahr to explore what U.S. history would look like if it weren’t just the history of the continental states but of all U.S. land: the Greater United States. They are joined by Garrett Dash Nelson, Curator Of Maps And Director Of Geographic Scholarship at the Leventhal Map Center.
This conversation at the Boston Public Library, with the Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library, is part of the esteemed Lowell Lecture Series. The event is free to the public.
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[@tigertoker]

As a Filipino I really appreciate this. I am definitely buying the book

[@onetakehoovie5955]

It's an amazing read

[@Tonystarkes888]

I didn't realize Philippinos could read, I thought they could only talk fast.

[@safuwanfauzi5014]

@@Tonystarkes888 Hawaiian, Samoa, North Mariana Island, Guam and small island in Polynesian[join with Hawaii, like Wake Island] should be independent from US.

[@tonyromano6220]

@@safuwanfauzi5014 why?

[@safuwanfauzi5014]

@@tonyromano6220 because all these ethnic have right to keep their culture, langauge and land. so they do not be like australia aboriginal, native america and new zealand maori when they become minority less 20% of population. maybe native polynesia do not care and love to assimilated

[@marileesteele1804]

Fascinating, thanks for insightful perspective!! Determinant of survival, where you were born, myopic framing of Pearl Harbor & 9/11 & moon & military bases, etc. Politics, cartography, geography, empire building, historic memory, dividing up who gets what on a finite, fragile planet. Amazing how little we know with so much to learn in fleeting time.

[@larryoloane7579]

What a great program! As an Alaskan resident, and a life-long map junkie, could not help but feel the sway of history as portrayed by these maps.

[@mereese1]

"Who is the actor and who is acted upon, once you figure that out, you've gotten to the bottom of it..." that's pretty deep stuff...

[@AutoHoax]

Welcome to Boston public library Green Screens

[@SquareSquared2]

I bought the book a while back. It's a very interesting read.

[@reneeperez6441]

Right on Daniel you think for yourself. Love the way you questioned.

[@anonymike8280]

I missed part of this video, but let's be clear about one thing. Independence is a viable solution to the status of the populated territories of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam and the Northern Marianas. Along with this can come a commonwealth status which will preserve the American citizenships right of the peoples of these nations. Citizenship rights means the right of American citizenship for those who wish to live in the United States. It means, the right to vote, the right to hold office, the right to work, the right to serve in the Armed Forces as either an enlisted member or an officer and the right to study in American educational institutions without need for a visa. Anything less stand against the arc of world history and anything less also stands as an brazen effort to create one-party control of the Senate and the Electoral College.

[@susanarupolo2212]

Listening your conversation ( wonderful studies, thanks) now I can see is the same narrative of Israel and Palestine .I am happy I have understood what is happening.

[@Pfs709]

fascinating

[@forcedanonymity1791]

I’m vary AWARE that I’m watching three liberals speak about putting our country into context and there are likely many things we disagree on, but I didn’t find a single comment to be inaccurate or offensive in the way they went about the discussion. I appreciated the discussion. They should have mentioned ANTARCTICA claims though, as several countries including the US are in a race for resources and military gamesmanship there currently (though quietly). It’s worth mentioning however that China currently has 16 different border disputes currently (including fishing territories), stemming from their Communist ideology and the US chose to feed that monster under Nixon until present. They are just as, if not more threatening than Russia (both expansionist nuclear armed countries). Trump 2024!

[@nesepo]

And who's stopping the expansionist and nuclear armed monster called the United States?

[@usx06240]

@Meme Memeson When you speak like a child, you will be treated as one.

[@stevel9200]

It’s ironic that you stress the word AWARE in your first sentence. Whatever awareness you may gave certainly foes not extend to ANY of the Franky ignorant opinions about China. Even more ironic than your claim to being AWARE is the ideologically driven rant that China’s border disputes derive from China’s “Communist ideology”. I will expose what utter nonsense this is momentarily. First I’d offer an opinion, no more than an opinion formed on a short, though hugely revealing comment to a KZbin video. It seems to me that you state “facts” on China which are in fact not true about China, but fascinatingly are true about the United States. For example, I noted the irony of claiming Chin’s action are ideologically driven, and yet the ideology of American Exceptionalism drives USA disregard for borders and openly states “Regime Change” as the objective for military invasion os sovereign states recognised by the UN. From Korea to Afghanistan, Vietnam to Libya, Iraq to Syria. And let’s not forget the proxy wars too numerous to mention but typified in the barbaric US and shamefully UK backed War in Yemen, and of course, the determination of “the West”, led by the USA, to fight for Ukraine and to teach Putin a lesson - something we will do to the very last Ukranian. Bravo the President of Mexico for calling this out as immoral, something the Pope has nor said. out the without any moral You state China has 16 border disputes because of "Communist ideology”. In fact, more accurately, territorial disputes, but that’s an issue of accuracy, something you appear to have little care for). But there’s a FACT that exposes both that you’ could not be more wrong, and shows but that it is you who is the ideologue, fixated with a McCartthian fixation that anything and everything ‘communist' is bad. That fixation is so strong that you write communist as Communist. According to the constitutions of BOTH the “Communist” People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the “democratic” Republic of China (ROC) commonly called Taiwan, there is but one China and Taiwan is a part of it. There is no disagreement on that, rather the disagreement is over who is the legitimate government of that one China. We have a unique situation where we do not need to imagine what either a so-called communist goverbnebt of China or Western-style democratic government of China would do. Both, de facto, exist. So how do the two compare when it comes to territorial disputes? Well, you’ll have guessed that it’s not looking good for the veracity of your claim these border disputes exist because of (PRC) China’s “Communist ideology”. Historically the territorial disputes of both PRC and ROC are identical except with Mongolia. The disputes are identical because they are all historical disputes that existed before the PRC was established, and which the PRC inherited. The one exception is Mongolia which became independent from China in 1921. The PRC recognises Mongolia as an independent nation. ROC does not. List A below it contains the seven countries the PRC has current territorial disputes. List B shows the ten countries with whom PRC has settled (peacefully) territorial disputes. ROC does not recognise any settlements of territorial disputes made by PRC. These are, therefore countries that ROC has ongoing territorial disputes which total 17. “Communist” PRC current territorial disputes = 7 Western-style democratic ROC territorial disputes - 17 Ditch the ideological bias, seek truth from facts...I won’t say any more. List A (7 countries) India Bhutan (as a vassal state of India, Bhutan’s foreign relations are exclusively managed by India) Japan Philipines Vietnam Brunei Singapore List B (10 countries) Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Lao Mongolia Myanmar Nepal North Korea Pakistan North Korea Tajikistan

[@NeetchianQueen]

Thank You.

[@forcedanonymity1791]

FDR verbally pressured (maybe coerced) Churchill to decolonize DURING WWII after lend-lease was in place. I believe there should be TWO maps: one with the full legal picture of mainland, states and colonies and another including Japan and Western Europe, because to some extent, if another countries flag flies in your country and they operate a military within your borders, on some level you are a vassal state, regardless as to whether or not you want them there. Germany, the UK, Japan… and more, all love the US maintaining a base on their borders (and indeed in those cases very likely owe their sovereignty to the US through military conquering or allied support and the Marshall plan to follow), providing implicit protection without NECESSARILY needing to maintain an investment into their own military.

[@onetwothree4148]

If you're using the term "colony" to describe a country unilaterally imposing its laws on another territory AND a country permitting a territory to bilaterally approve custom economic and political relationships that they can void independently... Then you're talking about two wildly different things, and it's unnecessarily confusing distinct relationships with dramatic differences. I mean are we going to call NATO and UN participants vassals or colonies too?

[@bluedragon5676]

There is a claim of ownership of the moon though as there was these buyable deeds of moon plots being sold inside shops in the UK.

[@shaneofastrotek]

Long Live Rome #WeRome

[@timothyjohnson1511]

Why is it that no one knows Brillouin Energy has practical, working fusion energy technology available today? Have we all been distracted? Does this change the situation in Europe?

[@WisdomIsPrecious]

Do they turn a profit after accounting for all expenses?

[@mikeholloway4467]

What about Tartary

[@bwalsberg]

I would like to hear this speaker’s view on that, if he would dare speak about it.

[@R2D6_10]

"Social Justice" - How to lose a country in 10 days.

[@usx06240]

@Meme Memeson Thank you Karl Marx.

[@coconutmacaroon4907]

The US wanted all the benefits without any of the draw backs. The empire is useful militarily but the expenditures of maintaining a society is a negative. As long as you get the military benefits alone you are less likely to lose the territory over revolt due to disaffection. The US also had just recently been a colony and had decades of trying to cement their independence. The hypocrisy of a colony striving for freedom and soon starting their own colonies is sour on the palate of the world stage.

[@onedone2011]

The Overton Window is (mostly) closed.

[@rockymntain]

55:27 The Roosevelt Administration purposely chose to focus on Pearl Harbor as the main focus of the attacks on December 7, 1941, due to the immensity of the attack. Pearl harbor sustained the greatest cost in terms of human lives and militarily important equipment. The damage on Clark Field in the Philippines was limited to 18 B-17s as they were being refueled and rearmed. A radar facility was also destroyed at a remote air base, Iba. Most of the airplanes lost such as the Curtis P-40s and others were due to engagement in subsequent battles with other enemy aircraft. "While the surprise Japanese attacks against U.S. military bases in the Hawaiian Islands on December 7, 1941, are certainly the best-known aspect of the opening of hostilities between the two [adversaries,] other less well [known battles in the Pacific that took place,] were the Japanese attacks on Clark Field and Iba Field on the opening day of hostilities in the Philippines. While these raids caused tremendous damage, they did not knock Maj. Gen. Lewis H. Brereton’s United States Far East Air Force out of the war, as is commonly believed." warfarehistorynetwork.com/japanese-attack-on-the-philippines-the-other-pearl-harbor/ Putting the attack at Pearl Harbor in perspective: Of the eight US Navy battleships present, all were damaged, with four sunk. All but USS Arizona were later raised, and six were returned to service and went on to fight in the war. The Japanese also sank or damaged three cruisers, three destroyers, an anti-aircraft training ship, and one minelayer. More than 180 US aircraft were destroyed. 2,403 Americans were killed and 1,178 others were wounded. www.britannica.com/event/Pearl-Harbor-attack The attack on Pearl Harbor was the most significant in terms of the loss of 2,403 lives and the massive destruction of equipment. The attempt to equate the loss in the Philippines to the loss in Hawaii is pure nonsense.

[@onetwothree4148]

I thought the same thing. What a silly theory.

[@jenniferm761]

Russia isn't adding territory except by popular referendum . . . true democracy. Russia has no major military bases outside of its Federation; AND Russia paid off ALL international debt held by former Soviet republics currently not part of the Russian Federation. Actions speak louder than words.

[@joseaamorosalicea6783]

Do we need to distinguish terms between "colonist" (someone from the mainland who goes out to colonize) and a "colonial" (someone who is a native or national of the colonial territory)?

[@matthewperry5121]

Awsome

[@GVanArsdale]

Pretty sure that guy is in front of a green screen.

[@tazmissionplex]

Absolutely

[@bsdiceman]

It looks like a green screen lol

[@johnmaxwell1750]

It is INCORRECT to describe the United States of America TODAY as an "empire." Merriam Webster defines of the word as: 1 a (1): a major political unit having a territory of great extent or a number of territories or peoples under a single sovereign authority 1 a (2): the territory of such a political empire 2: imperial sovereignty, rule, or dominion This man is incorrect from an analytical standpoint because today the established territories of the United States do NOT function as areas or people "under a single sovereign authority." In territories of the United States neither the US President, nor Congress, nor laws of the United States exercise total sovereign authority. Territorial governments pass and execute their own laws. Absent a declared war, the territories of the United States are largely self governing. It is common for leftists to obfuscate the true meaning of the word "empire" by charging that the USA today is an imperial power. Like this man, many lefists who fault US foreign policy claim that the existence of many US military bases on foreign soil worldwide is evidence of US global imperialism. The fact is that the United States today does not forcefully and arbitrarily impose the siting of military bases on these recipent states. There are mutually signed legal basing agreements which allow US forces to operate in and from these installations. Not only is consent procured from foreign governments for basing of US forces, many foreign countries have actively solicited the establishment of US bases within their boundaries. This guy sounds like he is a leftist critic of historical and current US foreign policy, since most of his comments particularly about US basing abroad highlight negatives rather than positives for foreign populations.

[@beadmecreative9485]

You are so wrong!!! 1. India was ruled by the British empire with proxy local rulers, by your logic, the British empire wouldn’t be an empire because they didn’t fully rule at every level of government. 2. Which of the US bases was due to consent of the local population? Which of those bases exist because of authoritarian regimes in those local countries? The US imposed its military bases 36 times in Latin America. After World War II, the US started to become a super power. Countries have only 1 choice, be invaded by US or be an ally of US. Being an Ally of US automatically means they have to have a base in your country. The US bases are to protect strategic interests of US. They are not there to protect the local population. 🤡 3. He talks too much about the Negative rather positives of US imperialism ? Damn he must talk about how people feel about being invaded, waged war on, killed by US? Next you are going to say he should talk about the benefits of Slavery?

[@johnmaxwell1750]

@@beadmecreative9485 - An empire is an exploitative situation in which an imperial power extracts wealth from subservient colonies by means of exercising political and military control over the subservient colonies. As did Britain in Colonial America and in India prior to the dates when each respectively achieved independence from Britain. The US became an imperial power outside of North America for a period following its forceful takeover of former Spanish possessions (Philippines, Puerto Rico) as a result of the Spanish-American War. But the US is not an imperial power today consistent with the dictionary definition of the word "empire." The Philippines were granted independence and now do not have any US military bases. Puerto Rico has the ability to terminate its status as a US territory by majority referendum but has not chosen to do so. Same for Guam and other US territories. Neither the Philippines nor Puerto Rico are subservient US colonies today. Today the countries where the US operates military bases all have signed basing agreements with the US which specify terms of operation and a lease that sunsets by a specified date -- unless the basing agreement is mutually renewed. It is a total falsehood for you to say that the US now forcibly imposes military bases abroad. In reality the US operates many military bases abroad because foreign countries ACTUALLY WANT to be allied with the US politically, militarily, and economically. Certain US military bases are sited in a country after the foreign country REQUESTS the US to establish bases on their lands, not the other way around. Recent requests for US bases have been presented by Norway, the Baltic States, and Poland as a result of widespread fears of Russian aggression now prevailing in thse countries. For many years the worldwide number of foreign US military bases has been drastically reducing...... especially since the end of the Cold War. US troop levels abroad have also substantially declined. This truth doesnt fit with your false leftist viewpoint about the USA!

[@cbrfast]

There are always idiots who use the dictionary to avoid the truth.

[@usx06240]

'The US had a formidable empire' He should look a map of the extent of the area which Ghengis Khan conquered through bloody conflict. To conflate a purchased Alaska and liberated territories (including paying Spain for the Philippines) with control over peoples in Africa, Asia, and South America and the resultant treatment of them, is wild leftist Zinnism. It could have been an interesting talk. Pearl was a siren because the people were whiter, and not proximity? No. Stupid and typically racist rabble from the left. Not only was our Pacific fleet crippled (a couple of battleships were destroyed and we were lucky to save the carriers which were absent) but we lost over 2,000 people. The Philipines is over 7,000 miles from our coast (over three times the distance as Pearl), and we were not reachable by air without refueling. It was THE home of the Pacific fleet. Stick to cartography. You could be talking about frogs to a neoliberal and they would fit race into it, or oppression by the more populous frog. The US by temporal standards of the past few hundred years has proven the most benign modern nation. A nation freely allows a military base in exchange for economic favor and to defend the Saudis, and one group of religious zealots doesn't like it so it is our fault? Also, Turkey was a sitting duck during a time when an aggressive Soviet Union was looking to spread Communism across the globe; little did Kruschev imagine the American university system would do his work for him. Europe was understandably nervous. Russia took half of Germany as spoils, the allies built back an independent West Germany. A wall that you may have heard of is indicative of the difference between Cuba and Turkey. Puerto Rico is more vulnerable to global warming than Souther Florida? Also, aid doesn't just flow to white people. Culture matters. The Northern wards were rebuilt faster not just because of less damage after Katrina, but because people didn't wait for the government to do everything. 25% of Puerto Ricans work for the government, and waiting for aid costs them dearly after every disaster.yet that part of our "empire" fares far better them the deluded but free Haiti. There was enough spoiled bottled water months after the hurricane in PR to fill multiple pools. If all Democrats were struck blind, half the reason for the parties existence would be nullified as they couldn't see the difference between people.

[@onetwothree4148]

There are examples of military bases that were unilaterally installed (I don't think cuba approves of guantanamo bay), but that is the extent of the comparison, which is quite laughable. Also worth noting that nothing about the term "republic" suggests the US wouldn't be one if it had territories overseas. That word does not mean what he thinks it does, and he made that up or blindly repeated it out of nowhere. I've always found it interesting how academics like to call the US an empire, but nobody ever points out that the USSR was clearly the largest, most expansive empire of the 20th century. You never hear anyone complain that revolutionaries like Che Guevara were famous for fighting wars outside of their own country.

[@MA_KA_PA_TIE]

Nah the US got its borders by right of conquest, not theft. The same way the Indian tribes got their borders and hunting territories from other Indian tribes.

[@DOPEDOGTOPDOG]

Finally I found the one sane person left § seriously I had to stop watching this garbage : every sentence contains either a blatant lie , half truth , lie by omission : all in a depsrate attempt to justify open border policy like we have in Europe : all this is motivated by a deep hatred of white people , their history their civilization and all it represents : there is no logic here just blind hate for anything percieved as " white " this is what ALL academia has been like for the last twenty years : the virus is now reaching the maths and the science department , so the real world consequences of this woke virus will be coming very soon !

[@onetwothree4148]

It is funny to hear the politically correct language in modern history. Nobody ever calls the Aztec, Incan or Mayan empires stolen land, even though they were conquered in the same way (and often more viciously)

[@MA_KA_PA_TIE]

@@onetwothree4148 demanding human sacrifice offerings from your conquered peoples is savage now? Bigot lol 😆 🤣

[@cn9630]

What of The Library of Congress showing Tartaria? Any 100+ year old maps show this land

[@cn9630]

As California was the main headquarters for the Tartarian Empire's military!

[@cn9630]

You can see this mentioned on a KZbin channel (Jon Levi Productions), called THE UNITED STATES OF TARTARY HERE IS THAT LINK: kzbin.info/www/bejne/a4rNlJ6ratNrac0

[@jenniferm761]

We need a new name for our country . . . The Empire of AMERICA INCORPORATED. (!)

[@lawndart.4481]

All I’m suggesting this Fourth, which is a day I dearly love and honor, is that we start thinking about what we are doing and where we are trying to go in a world that craves us as an example, not an emperor. Americans may not think of themselves as an “empire,” but much of the world does. The average age of empires, according to a specialist on the subject, the late Sir John Bagot Glubb, is 250 years. After that, empires always die, often slowly but overwhelmingly from overreaching in the search for power. The America of 1776 will reach its 250th This can only happen if We the people stand together United The government that's in place now our founding fathers warned us about Always Faithful 🇺🇲 Always Forward🇺🇲

[@onetwothree4148]

This is kind of a dumb take honestly. First of all, with the exception of military bases, the territories the US took by force were colonies when they were acquired. It's debatable if the term "colony" applies to any of them once they were given the option to be independent, which happened fairly quickly in most circumstances. Colonies don't get the option of self rule or popular sovereignty. And he's highlighting that point if he thinks the word "republic" is thereafter inappropriate. I don't think that word means what he thinks it means. Any country without a monarch is a republic. Colony is typically a pejorative description of governments extracting resources, but even with a liberal use of that term, if the US wasn't a republic Cuba would still be a colony, and Puerto Rico wouldn't make its own laws. Or at least neither of these things would have happened like they did, without any violent resistance to them (reminder that resistance to the communist revolution in Cuba didn't happen until over half a century later, and didn't really look any different than the US resistance to it anywhere else) Also, almost all of the crooked borders of states are formed by rivers. Like does this guy think the Louisiana territory was carefully surveyed either?

[@onedone2011]

algorithmic

[@tactlacker]

YA BOI

[@robertthomas4234]

My mind is blown..maps are total lies! Alaska is the size of the logo states? I've been deceived for 30 years by a stoopid, overblown logo of the 'United States'?! Dang!!

[@MaidenRockCoder]

This could have been far more enjoyable without the constant postulation and narrative.

[@TheNewOldNeo]

We Have been so mis informed that most people do not even know that there is a difference between the united states and the united states of America. The 50 states are the united states of America. Now the united states are actually only the islands you speak of and DC... They are not the same at all.. One is American and one is British..

[@dianeavery5614]

Must mention The United States "FOR" America

[@bmx2c4me]

What if we don't live on a ball spinning at mach 1.3 through an infinite vacuum? Research Flat Earth.

[@woodyseekingtruth8058]

Was wondering if I'd see anyone mention Flat Earth. It's truly astounding how academics catty their brainwashing through regardless of the things they uncover. The book about How the Hide an Empire seems to reveal a lot about How the Map Makers have Hidden the Truth of Flat Earth and the hidden Lands beyond the mental boundaries of the GLOBE !. He speaks of the Moon Landings as a real event, the land as being claimable, but yet wasn't because we're wimpy colonialists these days. That damned word "Global" is thrown about as completely unquestionable. He ends warning about "Global Warming" / "Climate Change " !!! I think his research helps answer or yields insight into the Tartarian Empire and Mudfloods. Cami Nodel, David Weiss, Austin Witsett, Jeran, all those exploring the old maps should at minimum review this Interview for many clues concerning the Flat Earth and how it has been hidden.

[@joegutierrez1861]

Speak about Mexican lost territories ....................

[@R2D6_10]

Shouldn't have lost the war. There, done.

[@rockymntain]

@@R2D6_10 The USA technically owned all of Mexico after the troops marched into Mexico City in 1848 at the end of the Mexican-America War. The US had been negotiating the purchase of territory in SW US from Mexico for years. The Mexican government would concede to terms, only to have their government changed mid-course and reverse the terms. After being frustrated by all this, a turf battle ensued and later after the war ended, made the government of Mexico accept an offer they couldn't refuse.

[@4OHz]

Belts and braces is more strategic then your leading your audience to believe.

[@genericyoutube]

from maps to sjw real fast

[@rockymntain]

"Presentism." Viewing history from the perspective of our modern ideals. Title should be "How to hide a leftist narrative in history on the map."

[@DREWKABOOM]

IMAGINE IF THE TITLE WERE DIFFERENT

[@calisingh7978]

First step if diversifying your chat from 3 white males 😂 where are the women in this conversation?

[@erpthompsonqueen9130]

Thank you.