It is undeniable that America was founded and forged through the fires of war. If we skip through the countless battles fought by the early colonists, not just with the Native Indians but with the other imperialist powers, and take a look at the wars fought by America under a unified national identity as Americans, we of course land at the 1775 American Revolution during which colonists fought to emancipate from British rule. Once the ashes have settled, we shed the identity of British colonists and emerged as the United States of America in 1783. However, American history has not been rainbows and flowers since then. As a nation, the U.S has been involved in armed conflict, foreign and domestic, for much of its history since its freedom from British rule. Let’s take a brief look at some of the significant conflicts fought by Americans below:

1801-1805; 1815 – Barbary Wars. United States vs. Morocco, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli

1812-1815 – War of 1812. United States vs. Great Britain

1846-1848 – Mexican-American War. United States vs. Mexico

1861-1865 – American Civil War. Union vs. Confederacy

1898 – Spanish-American War. United States vs. Spain

1914-1918 – World War I. United States aligning with the Triple Entente in 1917

1939-1945 – World War II. United States and Allies vs. Axis Powers

1950-1953 – Korean War. United States vs. North Korea & China

1955-1975 – Vietnam War. United States vs. North Vietnam

1990-1991 – Gulf War. United States vs. Iraq

2001 – Present – War in Afghanistan. United States vs. Taliban and Al-Qaeda

2003 – 2011 – Iraq War. United States vs. Iraq (1)

These represent the major armed conflicts directly involving American troops over the course of the last 200 years. Of course, the United States were involved and still remain involved in peacekeeping and covert operations all over the world that were omitted from the list. And as we all know, the conflict in the Middle East remains unresolved and America maintains a significant presence in the area as part of its foreign policy.