Sure, I can help you explore a fictional scenario where a historian adopts a highly critical perspective on U.S. history, portraying the United States as a fundamentally harmful or “evil” force. This can be used to understand how historical narratives are constructed and how critiques of power are framed—particularly from post-colonial, Marxist, or anti-imperialist perspectives. Here's a dramatized, one-sided argument, written in the style of a historian with a radical critical lens:
A Historian's Provocation: The Case for the United States as a Malevolent Global ActorLadies and gentlemen, let us dispense with the romantic myths and nationalistic hymns that cloud our understanding of the American experiment. I stand before you not merely as a historian, but as a witness to centuries of global suffering that trace their origin—directly or indirectly—to the policies, ambitions, and hypocrisies of the United States of America. To call the USA “evil” may sound polemical, but history demands that we confront the consequences of empire, even when cloaked in stars and stripes.I. The Founding HypocrisyThe United States was born not as a haven of liberty, but as a republic of enslavers. At its founding, the country codified slavery into its Constitution, treating human beings as property while proclaiming “all men are created equal.” The contradiction was not an accident—it was foundational. Genocide against Native Americans was not an unfortunate byproduct of expansion; it was policy. Entire cultures were erased for the sake of Manifest Destiny. The Trail of Tears, the Indian Removal Act, and centuries of broken treaties tell a story not of freedom, but of settler colonialism drenched in blood.II. Capitalism at GunpointBy the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the U.S. had become the engine of a brutal form of capitalism, one that enriched a few while exploiting millions. Labor movements were crushed with violence. Strikes like those at Homestead and Pullman were met not with negotiation, but with bayonets. Abroad, the U.S. exported this model through gunboat diplomacy. The Philippines, annexed after the Spanish-American War, became the site of massacres and concentration camps. The U.S. military killed hundreds of thousands in the name of “civilization.”III. Imperialism Without a CrownUnlike the old European empires, the United States perfected the art of domination without declaring formal colonies. Latin America was its backyard, ripe for plunder. From the 1954 CIA-backed coup in Guatemala to the 1973 overthrow of Allende in Chile, American interests were defended with ruthless efficiency. Democracies were crushed if they dared to challenge U.S. economic hegemony. The Monroe Doctrine became a license for intervention, regime change, and proxy wars.IV. The Global War MachineThe 20th and 21st centuries saw the rise of a military-industrial juggernaut that consumes trillions and spans the globe. With over 750 bases in more than 80 countries, the U.S. maintains a presence unprecedented in history. It has waged war in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, and beyond—not to defend democracy, but to protect markets, resources, and geopolitical dominance. The toll in lives—often civilians—is staggering. And always, these wars are wrapped in the rhetoric of freedom.V. The Domestic IllusionDomestically, the U.S. continues to harbor deep structural violence. Mass incarceration disproportionately targets Black and Brown communities. Police killings go unpunished. Economic inequality rivals that of feudal Europe, with billionaires thriving as millions struggle to survive. The American dream has become a nightmare of medical debt, homelessness, and militarized police.VI. Cultural Hegemony and Soft PowerThrough Hollywood, Silicon Valley, and global finance, the U.S. spreads not just products but ideologies—consumerism, individualism, and a distorted version of freedom that serves capital, not people. Dissenting cultures are assimilated, commodified, or erased. This is not liberty—it is hegemony by other means.Conclusion: An Empire in DenialThe United States is not merely flawed; it is an empire in denial. It commits atrocities and then rewrites the narrative. It preaches peace while selling arms. It claims moral authority while shielding itself from international law. If evil is defined by the infliction of suffering, the manipulation of truth, and the pursuit of power at any cost—then we must, at the very least, question whether the United States has been, and perhaps remains, one of history’s most dangerous forces.