Summary

We Who Dared to Say No to Waruncovers some of the forgotten but compelling body of work from the American antiwar traditionspeeches, articles, poetry, book excerpts, political cartoons, and morefrom people throughout our history who have opposed war. Beginning with the War of 1812, these selections cover every major American war up to the present and come from both the left and the right, from religious and secular viewpoints. There are many surprises, including a forgotten letter from a Christian theologian urging Confederate President Jefferson Davis to exempt Christians from the draft and a speech by Abraham Lincoln opposing the 1848 Mexican War. Among others, Daniel Webster, Mark Twain, Andrew Carnegie, Grover Cleveland, Eugene Debs, Robert Taft, Paul Craig Roberts, Patrick Buchanan, and Country Joe and the Fish make an appearance. This first-ever anthology of American antiwar writing offers the full range of the subject's richness and variety.

Author Biography

Murray Polner has had a rich and varied career as a teacher, college professor, writer and editor. He is the author of When Can I Come Home. His writings have also appeared in the New York Times, Newsday, the Washington Post, Commonweal, The Nation, Village Voice and the Boston Globe. He lives in Great Neck, New York. Thomas E.Woods, Jr. works for the Ludwig von Mises Institute. He is the author of The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History and How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization. His writings have appeared in the Christian Science Monitor, Investor’s Business Daily, and Human Rights Review.

Introduction	p. xi
The War of 1812	p. 1
"The Draft Is Unconstitutional"	p. 3
"What Republicanism Is This?"	p. 9
"With Good Advice Make War"	p. 10
"Thou Hast Done a Deed Whereat Valor Will Weep"	p. 19
The Mexican War	p. 21
"Annexation and War with Mexico Are Identical"	p. 23
"The True Grandeur of Nations"	p. 24
"Mean and Infamous"	p. 28
"The Half-Insane Mumbling of a Fever Dream"	p. 30
"This Is a War for Slavery"	p. 33
"Address on War"	p. 45
The Civil War	p. 55
"The War Method of Peace"	p. 58
"A Christian Appeal to the Confederacy"	p. 61
"War or Constitution"	p. 66
"Do Not Serve as a Chaplain"	p. 78
"Gross, Shameless, Transparent Cheats"	p. 82
The Spanish-American and Philippine-American Wars	p. 87
"A Peace Appeal to Labor"	p. 89
"War Is Kind"	p. 92
"The Conquest of the United States by Spain"	p. 93
A Mother, "A Lament from Kentucky"	p. 97
"The Pesky Anti-Imperialist"	p. 98
"The Paralyzing Influence of Imperialism"	p. 101
"The American Birthright and the Philippine Pottage"	p. 109
World War I	p. 115
"Wealth's Terrible Mandate"	p. 118
"The People Do Not Want This War"	p. 123
"The State"	p. 132
"Strike Against War"	p. 140
"Disarm and Have Peace: A Pacifist Plea to End War"	p. 146
"The Subject Class Always Fights the Battles"	p. 148
"If: A Mother to Her Daughter"	p. 155
"Victory"	p. 156
World War II	p. 159
"Two Votes Against War: 1917 and 1941"	p. 162
"Assumptions about War"	p. 169
"Why We Refused to Register"	p. 173
"Why I Refused to Register in the October 1940 Draft and a Little of What It Led To"	p. 175
"I Think I'll Sit This One Out"	p. 183
The Cold War	p. 195
"A Turning Point in American History"	p. 197
"The President Has No Right to Involve the United States in a Foreign War"	p. 200
Dwight Eisenhower on the Military-Industrial Complex	p. 205
"Those Who Protest: The Transformation of the Conservative Movement"	p. 207
"Real Conservatives Don't Start Wars"	p. 214
"War, Peace, and the State"	p. 217
"Conservative Thoughts on Foreign Policy"	p. 226
The Vietnam War	p. 229
"Against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution"	p. 232
"This Chamber Reeks of Blood"	p. 237
"Let's Mind Our Own Business"	p. 239
Divinity Students' Letter to Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara, 1967	p. 240
"Fighting the Lamb's War: Skirmishes with the American Empire"	p. 242
"The Verdict"	p. 244
"Learning the Hard Way"	p. 245
"Time on Target"	p. 253
"Hunting"	p. 254
"The Fish Cheer & I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag"	p. 255
Iraq and the War on Terror	p. 259
"Against War with Afghanistan"	p. 261
"We Stand Passively Mute"	p. 263
"An Open Letter to My Fellow Veterans"	p. 268
"I Lost My Son to a War I Oppose; We Were Both Doing Our Duty"	p. 270
"Why Did Bush Destroy Iraq?"	p. 274
"It's Mother's Day Again and We're Still at War"	p. 277
"Inaugurating Endless War"	p. 279
Resignation Letter	p. 282
"Iraq Comes Home: Soldiers Share the Devastating Tales of War"	p. 285
Americans Confront War	p. 295
John Quincy Adams on U.S. Foreign Policy	p. 295
"Mother's Day Proclamation"	p. 297
"The Valuation of Human Life in War"	p. 298
"Four Bloody Lies of War, from Havana 1898 to Baghdad 2003"	p. 300
"The Glory of War"	p. 305
"Put Away the Flags"	p. 310
"War Is a Government Program"	p. 313
"Reflections on War and Its Consequences"	p. 315
"Left-Right Alliance Against War?"	p. 318
Great Antiwar Films, A List by Butler Shaffer	p. 325
Bibliography	p. 331
Acknowledgments	p. 339
About the Editors	p. 341
Index	p. 343
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

Supplemental Materials

What is included with this book?

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.