Truce

The 1800s were an era of big questions, many of which we answered in cruel and selfish ways. Is one race better than another? Is one religion? If so, which one? In what ways? Is one economic system better than another? Is one system of governance like a democratic republic like the US, or socialist, or monarchy, theocracy, communism, best? Some people answered these questions with a resounding "yes". But if we think our people and ways are better than anyone else's, what responsibility do we have to spread those things? Men like Henry Cabot Lodge and Theodore Roosevelt were firm believers in social Darwinism, though their vision of it meant teaching those less "civilized" people our ways. And they were okay with the United States taking power over them. Meanwhile, there were men like William Jennings Bryan who refused to think of others in social Darwinism terms. He spent years fighting that dark philosophy, ultimately prosecuting the Scopes Monkey trial to stop the spread of social Darwinism. But the s