This list is a response to the one published a couple of days ago with the topic of ’10 great moments’ in American history. A lot of people objected and asked for a list with ’10 worst moments’ in American history. So here it is, just to present both sides of American history, good & bad. It is in chronological order and if you have any suggestions to make, feel free to do so & constructive criticism is appreciated while argument for the sake of arguing will not lead us anywhere. Anyway, here it is:
The Trail of Tears was the relocation and movement of Native Americans, including many members of the Cherokee, Creek, Seminole, and Choctaw nations among others in the United States, from their homelands to Indian Territory (present day Oklahoma) in the Western United States. The phrase originated from a description of the removal of the Choctaw Nation in 1831. Many Native Americans suffered from exposure, disease, and starvation while en route to their destinations, and many died, including 4,000 of the 15,000 relocated Cherokee. By 1837, 46,000 Native Americans from these southeastern nations had been removed from their homelands thereby opening 25 million acres for settlement by European Americans
The Dred Scott Decision was a decision by the United States Supreme Court that ruled that people of African descent imported into the United States and held as slaves, or their descendants—whether or not they were slaves—were not protected by the Constitution and could never be citizens of the United States. It also held that the United States Congress had no authority to prohibit slavery in federal territories. The Court also ruled that because slaves were not citizens, they could not sue in court. Lastly, the Court ruled that slaves—as chattel or private property—could not be taken away from their owners without due process.
The battle of Antietam, fought on September 17, 1862, near Sharpsburg, Maryland, and Antietam Creek, as part of the Maryland Campaign, was the first major battle in the American Civil War to take place on Northern soil. It was the bloodiest single-day battle in American history, with about 23,000 casualties. The Union had 12,401 casualties with 2,108 dead. Confederate casualties were 10,318 with 1,546 dead. This represented 25% of the Federal force and 31% of the Confederate. More Americans died on September 17, 1862, than on any other day in the nation’s military history. Several generals died as a result of the battle, including Maj. Gens. Joseph K. Mansfield , Israel B. Richardson and Brig. Gen. Isaac P. Rodman on the Union side (all mortally wounded), and Brig. Gens. Lawrence O. Branch, William E. Starke on the Confederate side (killed).
A massive drop in value of the stock market helped trigger the Great Depression which lasted until the increased economic activity spurred by WW2 got us going back in the right direction. The Great Depression had devastating effects in virtually every country, rich and poor. Personal income, tax revenue, profits and prices dropped, and international trade plunged by a half to two-thirds. Unemployment in the United States rose to 25% and in some countries rose as high as 33%. Cities all around the world were hit hard, especially those dependent on heavy industry. Construction was virtually halted in many countries. Farming and rural areas suffered as crop prices fell by approximately 60 percent.
The US government came to the conclusion that interning Japanese-American citizens was the best of a number of bad options. Roughly a hundred thousand Japanese-Americans ended up in camps. U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs Executive Order 9066 on February 19, uprooting Japanese Americans on the west coast to be sent to Internment camps. The order led to the internment of Japanese Americans or AJAs (Americans of Japanese Ancestry) in which some 120,000 ethnic Japanese people were held in internment camps for the duration of the war. Of the Japanese interned, 62% were Nisei (American-born, second-generation Japanese American and therefore American citizens) or Sansei (third-generation Japanese American, also American citizens) and the rest were Issei (Japanese immigrants and resident aliens, first-generation Japanese American).
A decision was taken to drop atomic bombs on Japanese civilians killing roughly 200,000 people in total to ‘shorten’ the war. ( It completely ignored the fact that war is between armies, not civilians). On Monday, August 6, 1945, at 8:15 AM, the nuclear bomb ‘Little Boy’ was dropped on Hiroshima by an American B-29 bomber, the Enola Gay, directly killing an estimated 80,000 people. By the end of the year, injury and radiation brought total casualties to 90,000-140,000. Approximately 69% of the city’s buildings were completely destroyed, and about 7% severely damaged. On August 9, 1945, Nagasaki was the target of the world’s second atomic bomb attack (and second plutonium bomb; the first was tested in New Mexico, USA) at 11:02 a.m., when the north of the city was destroyed and an estimated 40,000 people were killed by the bomb nicknamed “Fat Man.” According to statistics found within Nagasaki Peace Park, the death toll from the atomic bombing totaled 73,884, as well as another 74,909 injured, and another several hundred thousand diseased and dying due to fallout and other illness caused by radiation.
Kennedy’s decision to go forward with the invasion and then deny them air support doomed the entire enterprise to failure. Today, 44 years later, Fidel Castro, a diehard enemy of the United States, is still in power. The plan was launched in April 1961, less than three months after John F. Kennedy assumed the presidency in the United States. The Cuban armed forces, trained and equipped by Eastern Bloc nations, defeated the exile combatants in three days. Bad Cuban-American relations were made worse by the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. The invasion is often criticized as making Castro even more popular, adding nationalistic sentiments to the support for his economic policies. Following the initial attacks by 8 CIA-owned B-26s on Cuban airfields, he declared the revolution “Marxist-Leninist”. There are still yearly nationwide drills in Cuba during the ‘Dia de la Defensa’ (Defense Day) to prepare the population for an invasion.
The United States entered the war to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam as part of their wider strategy of containment. Military advisors arrived, beginning in 1950. U.S. involvement escalated in the early 1960s, with U.S. troop levels tripling in 1961 and tripling again in 1962. The war exacted a huge human cost in terms of fatalities, including 3 to 4 million Vietnamese from both sides, 1.5 to 2 million Laotians and Cambodians, and 58,159 U.S. soldiers. The Case-Church Amendment, passed by the U.S. Congress in response to the anti-war movement, prohibited direct U.S. military involvement after August 15, 1973. U.S. military and economic aid continued until 1975. The capture of Saigon by North Vietnamese army in April 1975 marked the end of Vietnam War. North and South Vietnam were reunified the following year.
Terrorist madmen attack the Twin Towers and Pentagon, kill nearly 3000 Americans, and set off a war on terrorism. (Some accounts suggest it was an inside job, or a horrific case of neglect). Afghanistan invaded to destroy the groups (Taliban & al Qaeda) America itself made, trained & armed to fight the Russian invasion. The campaign is still going on and has spilled into neighboring Pakistan, India & Iran, highlighting the inability of American forces to contain the war. The initial attack removed the Taliban from power, but Taliban forces have since regained some strength. T he war has been less successful in achieving the goal of restricting al-Qaeda’s movement than anticipated. Since 2006, Afghanistan has seen threats to its stability from increased Taliban-led insurgent activity, record-high levels of illegal drug production, and a fragile government with limited control outside of Kabul
The ‘Invasion of Iraq’ on the basis of alleged reports saying Iraq possesses WMD’s. Nothing found but hundreds of thousands of lives shattered. Bush later admitted that “[my] biggest regret of the presidency has to have been the intelligence failure in Iraq. In 2005, the Central Intelligence Agency released a report saying that no weapons of mass destruction had been found in Iraq. The invasion of Iraq was strongly opposed by some traditional U.S. allies, including France, Germany, New Zealand, and Canada. Their leaders argued that there was no evidence of WMD and that invading Iraq was not justified in the context of UNMOVIC’s February 12, 2003 report. On February 15, 2003, a month before the invasion, there were many worldwide protests against the Iraq war, including a rally of three million people in Rome, which is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest ever anti-war rally. According to the French academic Dominique Reynié, between January 3 and April 12, 2003, 36 million people across the globe took part in almost 3,000 protests against the Iraq war, but the decision remained & Iraq was invaded.
McCarthyism is the politically motivated practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. Originally coined to criticize the anti-communist pursuits of U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy, “McCarthyism” soon took on a broader meaning, describing the excesses of similar efforts. During the post–World War II era of McCarthyism, many thousands of Americans were accused of being Communists or communist sympathizers and became the subject of aggressive investigations and questioning before government or private-industry panels, committees and agencies. Many people suffered loss of employment, destruction of their careers, and even imprisonment. Historian Ellen Schrecker wrote that “in this country, McCarthyism did more damage to the constitution than the American Communist Party ever did.”
What about Holocaust and other genocides?!?!
To everyone who condemns the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, please do not fall into the trap that so many people do of trying to judge the morality of a historical action by the standards of today.
Looking back at World War II, a lot of things seem clearer, like if the Western Allies had grouped with a defeated Germany and gone on to destroy Communist USSR, we wouldn’t have had a Cold War.
The fact is, Hirohito wasn’t in control of Japan by the end of the war, the military leaders like Tojo were. Hirohito was a virtual prisoner in his palace. So yes, it is very sad that half a million people died in two cities, BUT how many more would have died if Operation Olympic the invasion of the Home Islands, would have been carried out instead?
Rename this list “Top Ten worst things I think the US government has done.” (With the exception of 4 and 9)
No Abraham Lincoln assassination? JFK? Pearl Harbor? Nah. This list is merely one person’s collection of the moments they personally find most morally apprehensible to today’s post-modern standards. I’m not defending the trail of tears or the dropping of the bomb mind you… I just think this list is a reason argue online. I guess it works… Listverse gets a boat load of hits, and I get to read my fill of America bashing by noon.
We had to drop the bomb. Japan would have fought until the bitter end otherwise. The amount of casualties that would have resulted from the United States having to invade Japan on both sides would have been astronomical.
Patriot Act deserves to be on this list more than the war in Iraq.
A US invasion of Japan may have cost 3 million lives, but it was hardly even necessary for us to do so. Japan was on the brink of collapse without the bombs getting dropped, but dropping the bombs ensured that the rest of the world would think twice before *****ing with us(a huge message to the Russians).
The Vietnam War was a huge mistake in that it was completely unnecessary or us to have been participating in it to begin with. Honestly, the Communists overtaking a small Asian country was no more harmful to us than subsuming part of Germany during the gerrymandering after WW2 ended, but only became so because we wanted to stop them.
@KingBubbaGump (6):
LOL. Still in denial?
Interesting list. No better or no worse than any other country. Good and Bad everywhere,
The biggest difference though, is being able to acknowledge ones faults and mistakes – a sign of maturity.
None of the above acts are justifiable. Killing countless thousands on the premise of saving millions rings so hollow.
A quick history lesson should educate those that defend the atom bombs dropped on Japan were not done so to end the war, but merely to prevent the Soviets from getting there first.
I think I’m starting to agree with Gabe(122)
I’m an American and I can easily say that we have had many horrific moments in history. Many of which were our own making. It’s not a horrible place to live though. We have freedom and education. We have equality for woman, men, blacks whites, whatever.
There are many other countries which day to day are doing more deplorable things than the US. Or have histories that are more blood stained than ours but I don’t hear any of you ranting about them.
The US had no right to go into Iraq but I can’t say that I’m not happy that Saddam is out of power. Also I believe that the Trail of Tears ranks very high on the list of worst moments in US history.
Forget the 9/11 theories! Forget the Native American land! Imagine if the US had not dropped those bombs? I can imagine most the people on this website would not be alive. Creating and dropping those bombs advanced society beyond anything that we can imagine. The middle east still wants to live in the middle ages, the Russians are still angry at how poor they are, and the Europeans are *****ed they missed out on the land of the free and brave. Give it a rest you dumb people, America has been good to all of us. If you don’t believe that, than just imagine your life with out it?
@ Ben Dover and Ba5tarD
Don’t attempt to turn into one of those many mudslinging blogs which are plaguing the net nowadays.
You should known by now that Listverse is a class apart.
Its not that ranting and abusing is not allowed out here…but it is done in such a way that people actually enjoy reading the comments more than the list itself!
I don’t know what makes America look worse–the items on this list or some of the comments that follow. I don’t understand why this list is controversial. Why is it so wrong to look back at a nation’s history and realize it doesn’t always do the right thing? I would leave off the last two items, simply because they are so recent. But please tell me why people don’t consider mass murder and oppression of whole groups and races of people a bad thing? I’m done with Listverse…or at least the comment section. It makes me too sad.
@El the erf (136): I wasn’t attempting it. I really love this blog, and I was just posting comments. After that I was called “fascist bigot”. Do I need to eat it? Sorry, but no way.
Hey, there love your lists on the site, however i would love to see more lists from a British point of view, maybe about history and present day, anyway thanks for the lists!
Iraq does not belong there! Neither does dropping the A-Bomb! Internment camps can be argued back and forth, but at least it prevented the wholesale slaughter of Japanese-Americans in the streets such as what happened in New York City to African-Americans by whites who were fed up with the Civil War. (THAT should be added to the list!)
Substitute the following concerning the 30′s and WWII: Re-electing Franklin Delano Roosevelt not once but three times and his prolongation of the Depression through governmental meddling in the economy and the setting up of Social Security as a pyramid scheme instead of a voluntary, investment-based pension plan; his refusal to allow escaping European Jews to emigrate to America while there was still time; his refusal to order General Eisenhower’s forces to bomb the train tracks leading to Nazi death camps even after their existence was becoming known; and his total disregard for the peoples of eastern Europe by allowing Stalin to install puppet Communist regimes after the war instead of having them become or revert back to democratically elected republics.
@calm_incense (125):
Oh, is that how they feel is it? Is that what’s going on? How the ***** can you say that? How can you claim to speak for any Iraqis whatsoever? Have you spoke to any of them? Gone over there and chatted to them about how they feel with regards to there country being invaded and bombed by a foreign force? No. The only thing you know is what your ridiculously biased media has told you. The fact that you believe America is some sort of friend who’s looking to help out those who are in trouble is *****ing ludicrous. If that is actually your opinion then you’ve FAILED. Try again.
And again, before you start going all ‘Captain America’ on us, and trying to sort out the problems in other countries, by invading them and bringing more death and destruction to them no less, how about you sort out your own *****ing back yard first, yeah?
This comment,
‘I can assure you the federal government has never listened to any of my phone calls. But I wouldn’t give a damn if they did’
shows how useless you really are. You’ve FAILED. Now go back to CNN, i’m sure your missing that report on ‘Gay terrorist, Americas ultimate enemy’ that you so craved to see.
The Dred Scott Decision is included in this list, but there would never have been that decision if slavery itself had not been part of American history. Slavery itself should have been at #2 with the Dred Scott Decision mentioned as a result.
@Giantshredder (21): “Am I the only one that noticed Obama is not on this list?”
No. Here’s my list
1. Barack Obama elected president
(well duh)
2. Armstrong walks on the moon
(Spending lots of money, just to film landing in the Hollywood studio is socialism. Socialism is bad)
3. The Civil Rights Act
(led to 1.)
4. The Marshall Plan
(Spending lots of government money to build socialism in Europe is.. socialism. Socialism is baad)
5. Women’s suffrage
(as result Obama easily won against Hillary)
6. The Emancipation Proclamation
(led to 1. and sounds like bad poetry)
7. Lewis and Clark arrive at the Pacific
(It’s so obvious I won’t explain it)
8. Louisiana Purchase
(spending lots of government money is socialism. Socialism is baaad)
9. Ratification of the Constitution
(led to 1)
10. Declaration of Independence
(the start of it all)
There is a great deal of misinformation regarding McCarthy
There were lots of communists working in Hollywood and in the government. Because the U.S. government did not want the Russians to know they had cracked their spy codes, much of this information was held back from McCarthy so his committee became a joke. The Rosenbergs, who were executed for being spies, were in fact spies. Do your research and don’t simply rely on Google for your knowledge. I have valid proof for what I say You are simply regurgitating common assumptions.
This is not a very good list. This seems like it was created by someone who has absolutely no understanding of American history. I would remove this one ASAP. Usually the lists are awesome, this one is the first that I think was done very poorly.
To be honest i’m sick of all the America bashing, yes they do things that are wrong but as have every country in the history of the world, look a the Romans, invaded almost have the world but now we look at them in Awe and marvel at their roads which are better then most of ours today…we don’t really think of the millions they slaughtered and the cities they wiped out ie Carthage…look at british, french, and dutch imperialism…hell want to look at atrocities look at the spanish in cuba, or french in indo china, America isn’t the only country going where it shouldn’t and it won’t be the last, history repeats its self, and it doesnt’ lie. as for the A bomb, well i think thats a travasty that it is on the list..war against opposing militaries? that went out the window long before the 1900′s- and to behonest…looking at the atrocities that the japanese armies committed in places like China, Korea, Burman, Vietnam, etc (also their armies were supported by the Japanese peoples), also look at the treatment of POW’s by Japan, including those who were sent back to Japan…for slave labour. To be honest the A-bombs probably saved more Japanese lives and definitly American and allied lives then a full scale invaison, which was the only other option to end the war! how many lives would have been lost during a complete invaison of a country that instructed every man, woman, child to fight to the death or commit suicide rather then being captured…to prove my arguement look at the invaisons of outer Japanese islands ie Saipan…i think the vast majority of you include the site creator need to log off for a while and try reading a book, preferably a historical one…maybe that way you’d have an understanding of what your talking about!
@Gav (23): If only the native peoples were “just” moved from one place to another, check your history books: “In the winter of 1838 the Cheroke began the thousand mile march with scant clothing and most on foot without shoes or moccasins….The Cherokee were given used blankets from a hospital in Tennessee where an epidemic of small pox had broken out. Because of the diseases, the Indians were not allowed to go into any towns or villages along the way; many times this meant traveling much farther to go around them….[T]hey arrived in Southern Illinois at Golconda about the 3rd of December, 1838. Here the starving Indians were charged a dollar a head to cross the river on ‘Berry’s Ferry’ which typically charged twelve cents. They were not allowed passage until the ferry had serviced all others wishing to cross and were forced to take shelter under “Mantle Rock,” a shelter bluff on the Kentucky side, until ‘Berry had nothing better to do.’ Many died huddled together at Mantle Rock waiting to cross. Several Cherokee were murdered by locals. The killers filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Government through the courthouse in Vienna, suing the government for $35 a head to bury the murdered Cherokee.” (From Wikipedia)
[27]@max (39): Unfortunately in the US the media seems to think they have to give equal time to nut jobs. Thus many rumors take on a life of their own as they are repeated in otherwise logical news stories. Drew Curtis writes in his book, “It’s not News it’s Fark” – “Mass Media feels compelled to insert ‘alternate viewpoints’ into scientific articles from people who are obviously loons.” Sept 11 attacks were perpetrated by outside forces. It’s unfortunate that 7raul7 felt compelled to include this line: “(Some accounts suggest it was an inside job, or a horrific case of neglect)”
@Arsnl (40): “@jfrater: hey what about those submarine stories??” Seriously? For the love of God, let it go already.
It’s a big leap from “I’ve done some seriously wrong things in my life” to “I’m the worst person in the world.” America has done terrible, awful things. That doesn’t make it the worst country in the world. History is a freaking bloodbath. Yes, America had slavery and slavery is unconscionable. But if you go back a few hundred years in history, slavery was the norm. Let’s not forget the past. Those who forget history are condemned to repeat it. But let’s be fair. There’s plenty of evil to go around. America has committed heinous acts, but that doesn’t make it more evil than other countries. It bothers me that this list is being used as an excuse to vilify America.
I’m from Europe and what gets me really freaked out by you americans is the way that i see some of you talking about the atomic bomb and how it was a good thing. Ok it was a good thing on some aspects. But can you really say without any second thoughts that it was, in general, a good thing?? 200 million people died because of those bombs and you’re competitive nature only cares about the fact that you are better and got the bomb first!
Of course, now it’s a matter of nobody else having it so you go into wars with whoever “threatens” your position as world superpower. And that never ending feeling of pretentious world saviors and guardians, my friends, is what is slowly starting to dictate the end of this “american” era, just as other era’s have ended before.
What about the Challenger disaster? Nearly derailed the Shuttle and Space program at the time, not to mention the implications it had on the relationship between engineering and management.
@TJ2017 (139):
Full stops pal. We invented them for a reason.
@135 I can’t help but to agree.
I think there are several other events in US history that should have been included. As a history major, I can say with relative certainty that US history is a large series of mistakes and attempts to make up for said mistakes. A few you really should include:
Native AMerican Wars
Stonewall
Gilded age (I mean, how could you nlt include this one)
Scopes Monkey Trials
Plessy V Ferguson
Darker side of segregation (lynchings, KKK, jim crow)
Recent Lynichings (Matthew Shephard, Jasper)
Guantanimo
Alien and sedition acts of Adams
Espionage and sedition acts of Wilson/ Shenck decision
IMPERIALISM (Panama, Phillipines, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, I mean, come on, this truly is a must)
War prisoners during the civil war
Reganomics (the darker side, if you’re pro regan)
AIDS
The Debacle of George W. Bush
C street
I mean, the list goes on. It makes me feel a bit dissapointed in America. Incomplete list, I must say, I mean, this is a topic you really can’t cover in 10 items…
oooops, I meant “darker side of reconstruction” sorry, segregation was just a big dark side…
Undoubtedly to become a controversial list. I have reservations about the reason for writing this list. Obviously, America-bashing isn’t the best thing out there… but at the same time, one should always understand two sides of one coin.
In any case, interesting list. Some of the comments here sadden me. But as with any diverse pool of individuals, there are bound to be idiots in the crowd.
I hope people in the comments take care to ensure they don’t argue the extreme: i.e. America is all good and no evil, or America is all evil and no good, or that America stands alone in its mistakes, or stands alone in its triumphs.
Happy debating!
ana check your facts about the 200 million, because you are off by a few hundred million!
I’d add the assassinations of Abraham Lincoln (16th President), James A. Garfield (20th President), William McKinley (25th President) and John F. Kennedy (35th President).
The assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. should most certainly be on a list like this.
And maybe even the attempted assassinations of Theodore Roosevelt (26th President)and Ronald Reagan (40th President).
@Moonbeam (149):
Wow! You love assassinations don’t you!? Just as a trivial add, what about the 300+ failed attempts on Castro?
=P
I am American. I do not like lists like these – - not because I disagree them but because they open up a can of worms as far as comments go.
Another lets get together and bash America List, all you people that hate America go ahead and have at it, enjoy the moment. and then some other list will pop up soon enough so that you all can continue in your misery. It would be pointless for me to hate a specific country for no other reason other than they are top of the world…
@151 I am American too. But this “can of worms” is only a fair part of debating the past to make a better future. I’m sure you have no issue debating aspects of the British commonwealth, or the Nazi regime, or any “blemishes” in other places’ history. Furthermore, one cannot deny all of the horrible things in America’s past that need to be examined and that AMerican needs to take responsibility for.
I like the idea behind Listverse. Unfortunately, some things do not translate well into the brevity necessary for a list. Poor writing and research as well as the interjection of the author’s personal views (without support) further detract from what could at least be a springboard for continued research.
It also doesn’t help when the author chooses a title (‘worst moments’) and then fails to adequately define the meaning. “Worst,” but for whom? A nation’s pride? Its citizens? Its enemies? 10 foreign policy blunders, or 10 state department miscues…narrow the focus, define the parameters, do your research, label your opinions and you’d have a much better list.
This is a very interesting list. I’d like to add to No. 5, Internment Camps, that it was not just Japanese-Americans who were sent to interment camps during WWII but some Americans of German and Italian descent as well.
Hey Jfrat! When you delete a comment, it stuffs up the @COMMENTER(#) posts…. is this fixable at all!? I noticed that some comments hyperlinked to comments that no longer correspond to the #.
i.e. Comment 119: @COMMENTER(125), blah blah.
@Rufus (23):
lol.
They’re hunting Communists in China?
*America
Had Japan surrendered when they were asked, their would’ve been no need to nuke them. The invasion of Iraq was a stupid move, one of many made by the stupidest President in years. What of the Waco Texas incident and the Oklahoma City bombing.
also we didnt just randomly bomb the japanese civilians
the japanese placed their primary weapon factories and such in civilian areas
There is a multitude of evidence suggesting that Japan was going to surrender, and besides, a nuke is never the answer, there IS a reason it has only been used once in history…
OMG! OMG!! OMG!!! LOLROFLMAOBBQ!! calm_incense got TOLD! I mean in your FACE! YEAHHHH! How can you not see the TOTAL logic and INEFFABLE righteousness of all these people who DISAGREE with you?!!
*Whew* Sorry about that. I was suddenly overcome by the frat-boy atmosphere. I think most of you need to grow up, actually. I can’t see this comment list as anything more than mental *****; Feels good, accomplishes nothing.
P.S. You can substitute any name you want for calm_incense in the above paragraph. Frat boys, indeed.
Dropping the bomb on Japan was one of the BEST events in U.S. history. It saved countless American lives against an enemy with no qualms about sending their own people on suicide missions.
This is list is a poor one, if only for the error in claiming the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
I hope the writer included it for the purpose of entertainment – like Ballon Boy’s dad exploited his son. Though vain and exploitive, the lie remains a lie and there’s no real intent to confuse the truth.
But, if the writer of this list intended #6 to be taken as sincere, shame on him/her for learning to read and write without also learning the value of truth; no respect ever comes to the person who shouts “Fire!” in a crowded room when there is none.
magnatude of evidence…check history…they were asked twice and full out declined…as well as were in full stride to defence preperation!
@KingBubbaGump (2):
No I dont think so… consider the US already had half a million troops and were being pushed back. Furthermore, when the US leaves, Ho Chi Mihn Invades Burma, who get help by the chinese and vietnam whoops the chinese too in the Sino-Viet war. Shows you nationalism from a country tried of being conquered goes a long way.
@Ana (142): 200 millions?? Its not the black plagur you know?? 200 million is like killing all of japan@Moonbeam (140): you really dont have to read my comments. Really. No im serious you really dont have to. Yes thats true u can move on
Hey … my list is pretty impressive
AND … I’m Paki. Any problems with that?
@KingBubbaGump (3):
This is also wrong, The Japanese had already asked for a surrender with the only condition being sparing the emperor (who had no real power anyways). The use, like it was said after you, was to show up US strength to the growing Soviet Influence which was sweeping through Europe.
Knowing that you are Pakistani does shed some light on the list, true.
Sorry, but the dropping of the atomic weapons on Japan is not a ‘worst moment’ – in reality it saved tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands or perhaps millions of lives overall. Ask the people of the time if THEY think it was a bad moment and they will laugh at the ridiculousness of the question.
Someone needs to study *history* a bit more and think with their head, not heart and understand the overall picture of the time. While it IS sad that so many Japanese were killed or wounded by the weapons, it WAS war, total war.
Do you think any of the Axis powers would have hesitated to use the bombs if they had had them? Do you not think the British (or any other Allied powers) would have used it had they the technology, instead of sitting in bunkers getting bombed day in and day out by aircraft, V1 and V2? I have never heard a single bloke from the WWII era in Britain complain about the dropping of the bombs.
EVERYONE saw the dropping of the bombs on Japan as a GOOD thing back then!!
Also, even tho I am not an American, I see that many of the lists are geared towards America/Americans. Why not do a ‘worst of’ Europe or Asia? They too have done hideous crimes against humanity.
America gives the most aid of any country on earth, yet we are criticized. Why do people risk their lives swimming seas, climbing fences, stowing on ships, running through harsh landscapes just to be on our soil? How many of your sad, pathetic, disease ridden, corrupt government, poverty stricken, asses can say that about your country? NONE OF YOU. You bash us because you are jealous of us, plain and simple. YES, we have done some things that we are not proud of BUT lets make a list of the things our country does well and does poorly and then compare them to your third-world, have my hand out, pathetic “countries”. Why do I see middle easterners living here? The white man, as you like to say alot, has advanced this earth more than every other race of human on this earth, yet we get bashed. Where is the technology in Africa? There is none. Despite the billions of dollars spent by AMERICANS, africa is a disease ridden dump. If you all hate us, then, return the billions of dollars in aid and be prepared to be taken down at our border. If not, then, keep the money and show a little goddamn respect. Oh one more thing, just look at the department of justice crime stats and tell me again which race of people in this country are committing the most mass murders. Minority gangs have destroyed this once great nation, not the white people or the EXTINCT kkk. (remember, latinos are considered white in the statistics)
The usage of nuclear weapons on Japan was not a bad moment. If you consider how many lives would have been lost on both sides if the United States had just continued to invade Japan (over one million) versus the lives that were lost from the nuclear weapons (150,000), it was a smart decision and much better than the alternative.
Add McCarthyism in its place and then I will agree with the list.
I would say that one that was not mentioned was Sherman’s march to the sea. It wasn’t a bad event in terms of property damage or loss of life or even psychological or moral damage, but Sherman’s march was the first act of Total War ever. Even worse, it worked very well, and it sparked the idea that total war was a necessary act. This event allowed the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as well as the firebombings of Tokyo and Dresden.
@proudass american (172):
the days of jealousy towards the US have long passed. Maybe 20-30 years ago. But now, in the sunset of your empire, I can understand your frustration. But it happens to the best of us.
I think most have gone beyond the stages of hatred now. Hatred implies power. You need money for power. You have none. Your nation is skint.
Time to move on. The Asian invasion has already conquered – first the Japanese destroyed your industry, and now the Chinese devalue and control your dollar.
Get over it
Re: Japan and the bomb. Considering the atrocities they committed during the war,including torching our soldiers to save bullets, I’d have dropped more than two.
Re: Vietnam: this is what happens when politics runs a war. We are headed for that same thing in Afghanistan.
Re: Interment camps: the polar opposite: Nidal Hasan.
Re: Dred Scott: we made up for that with the civil war.
Re: Native Americans: Yeah, it sucks. We have yet to fix that one to my satisfaction.
Re: Stock market crash. Again, government causes it, prolongs it, gains power from it. Sound familiar?
Re: 911. The only conspiracy I have found was in the Clinton Administration more interested in getting laid and hididng scandal that protecting America.
Re: McCarthy. Verona Papers prove he was right. So does the current proliferation of Communists and Socialists in our government at the moment.
The list is a good list. It does list tragedies. It just doesn’t tell all of the truth.
I am amazed by that many non-Americans find it acceptable to bash ALL Americans. I have traveled to many other countries, worked with and employed many non-Americans…many are my friends. However, I have also been insulted to my face by Europeans, Latinos, and people from India in my own home more than once for being an America. I quote “All Americans are stupid and fat and shop at Walmart” When did it become acceptable to stereotype people by nationality?
The worst thing that happened in the Americas was Europeans coming over and commiting genocide. That and converting Natives into christianity and/or catholicism.
Good list. Killing of civilians can never be justified.
I think the main reason fot the atomic bombing of japan was the fear of soviet invasion of the japanese main islands. Sovs had just beaten the japanese armies in manchuria and were planning to attack Hokkaido. US had to act quickly so that japan wouldn’t fall into soviet hands. And the quickest way to force japan into peace was dropping the bombs.
@archangel (150): No I don’t “love assassinations.” I kept seeing people post about Kennedy, or Lincoln, etc and thought they were missing the fact that four of the US presidents were killed in this way. MLK, Jr seemed like a huge omission from the discourse.
@7raul7 (168): It is a good list, and it has inspired a lot of comments (unfortunately including many sophomoric ones – but what else is new?).
Of course there’s nothing wrong with being “Paki” – My Dad always says, “we’re all in this thing together.” This “thing” being life and “all of us” being brothers and sisters.