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The Revolutionary War, and War of 1812, that's it. All the rest we could have passed on, and still remained fairly secure, but smaller in size without the Mexican American War. Perhaps there would still be a cold war with the USSR and communist world, if they could have defeated Germany, if not, then a possible cold war with Kaiser Wilhelm, Hitler or whatever government emerged from WW1. Hitler might not even come to power had we sat out WW1 and Germany won.
The communists could not have defeated Germany. They made a deal for an armistice as soon as Lenin returned to Russia. That's why he was allowed to travel through Germany back to Russia.
World War II stands out as a conflict that had to be fought. After 1945 we became fixated by the specter of world wide communism engulfing the world and threatening the United States. In the end communism just fizzled out under it’s own weight. The red flags wave and Lenin, Mao and Ho Chi Minh have their mausoleums. But those scary reds just morphed into authoritarian capitalists like us.
Assuming the Revolution isn't included, I'd count only the Civil War (to preserve the Union) and World War II (to preserve democracy/pluralism as we know it).
I'd probably also include the Korean conflict, but only as a component of the Cold War, which likewise preserved democracy; the Vietnam debacle, OTOH, turned into a disaster -- mostly because we were engaged in an unwinnable conflict with a native insurgency, but Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon's mismanagement of the economy didn't help matters.
So, WWII is one you would have sat out, even after Japan and Germany declared war on us, and proceeded to attack US assets? Not fighting WWII would have resulted in the US mainland being attacked, and severe losses. Far better to have the losses somewhere else.
If we truly had developed an neutral posture in dealing with European powers in WW1, and continued that policy with Japan in the 30's and 40's, Japan probably wouldn't have attacked Pearl Harbor. We would not attempt to cut off oil supply to Japan, which is what got them all huffy in the first place. To the contrary, suppose we sold oil, arms, food and all commodities to whomever agreed to maintain a neutral policy with us, and not encroach upon our territory. Sort of a mercenary type policy (speak softly & carry big stick) where we sell to anyone that has money, no lend lease, cash on the barrel head. Oh, and they have to pick up the merchandise from one of our heavily defended ports. Not responsible for delivery.
If the poster was correct about Germany defeating the communists, and Japan utterly defeats China, then Stalin and Mao never do their thing, No Korean War because Japan owns Korea, China, and probably Vietnam and Australia as well, the whole of SE Asia becomes the domain of Japan. It might be probable that eventually there is a war between Germany & Japan. The atomic bomb is theorized but what countries really have the resources to develop? If Germany gets the bomb via the Berlin Project, then we infiltrate the scientists like Russia did at Los Alimos, steal the technology and develop it 5 years later on the cheap. The US is much smaller without the southwest which is still Mexico, and with no Civil War, the southeast becomes the CSA and may have preferred to remain independent. If so, the CSA probably gets Texas and therefore has all the oil, and much more wealth. Texas may have remained independent, hard to say.
Question:
How many wars did America fight that were absolutely needed to protect the American people?
The war of Independence - which was initially more a civil war - was not needed to protect the American people. Neither was the war of 1812, as they were not under threat - which was a defeat for the USA.
WW1? maybe, as the Germans were attempting to get the Mexicans active against the USA.
Well John UK, the war of independence was necessary to protect us from you guys. If under British rule, then we automatically get drawn into any war England chooses, and become a target for England's enemies. You guys burned down our capitol building looking for Nancy Pelosi (she is very old) and I don't think anyone felt very safe with you redcoats hanging around.
Looking at the Mexican American War and lack thereof, this is a boom for Mexico, they now control Sutter's Mill and the Comstock Lode, SF Bay ect ect. What do they do with the added wealth? But looking more closely, much of the SW is controlled by Indians and Mexico did not have many people who wanted to move there. However, American settlers were not bothered by borders when they moved into Texas, and I suspect much of the same would happen for NM, AZ, NV, CO, with most of the Mexican interest being to hold and populate California. Settlers move into the other states and declare independence like Texas did, possible new countries or part of the US or CSA.
With the CSA, I think relations would become more friendly with the North after slavery passes and the oil boom begins. All the Anglo/English spin off countries have good relations with each other. In the long run, they have similar views and style of government, once independence is achieved, they cooperate with each other.
Taking the Swiss foreign policy approach might have worked even better for the US than it did for Switzerland. Strong defense, but remaining neutral in any war so long as we are not attacked. With our much greater population, I think we could have become a very powerful Switzerland that other countries don't want to mess with.
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