This article addresses a little known consequence of global warming. We have to oppose this new use of the "doctrine of discovery."
-----
The New Land Rush
By Robert J. Miller <www.alternet.org/authors/8347/> ,
TomPaine.com <www.tompaine.com/> . Posted May 7, 2007
<www.alternet.org/ts/archives/
e[d]=07&act=Go/> .
Nations are racing to plant flags and claim the "new world" of
islands and sea routes that are emerging as Arctic ice melts.
Recent news reports state that global warming and the shrinking
Arctic icecaps are opening new sea lanes and making barren
islands suddenly very valuable. In fact, the international
community might experience a new race of exploration, conquest
and acquisition for this "new world" -- these newly available
lands and sea routes. Conflicts could arise over shipping lanes,
islands, fish stocks, minerals and oil that are now becoming
accessible and commercially exploitable.
Governments are even now engaged in asserting their sovereignty
over these areas and assets. Canada, Denmark and the United
States are already involved in diplomatic disputes over these
issues. For example, Canada and Denmark have sent diplomats and
warships to plant their flags on tiny Hans Island near
northwestern Greenland.
In 1984, Denmark's Minister for Greenland Affairs landed on the
island in a helicopter and raised the Danish flag, buried a
bottle of brandy, and left a note that said "Welcome to the
Danish Island."
Canada was not amused by this assertion of Danish sovereignty. In
2005, the Canadian Defense Minister and troops landed on the
island and hoisted the Canadian flag. Denmark lodged an official
protest. In addition, Canada, Russia and Denmark are claiming
waters all the way to the North Pole.
Moreover, the United States and Canada are disputing Canadian
claims that the emerging Northwest Passage sea route is in its
territory. The U.S. insists the waters are neutral and open to
all but Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper states that he
will place military icebreakers in the area "to assert our
sovereignty and take action to protect our territorial
integrity."
This kind of conduct is nothing new. It mirrors exactly the
actions taken by European and American governments in the 15th --
20th centuries in their race to claim the lands and the assets of
the New World of the Americas, Africa, and other areas.
That race was conducted under the international legal principle
known today as the Doctrine of Discovery. Under various papal
bulls, Spain and Portugal could establish claims to the lands of
indigenous, non-Christian, non-European peoples by merely
"discovering" the lands.
Spanish, Portuguese, and later English and French explorers
engaged in numerous types of Discovery rituals upon encountering
new lands. The hoisting of their flag and the cross and leaving
evidence that they had been there was part of the Discovery
process.
In 1776-78, for example, Captain Cook established English claims
to British Columbia by leaving English coins in buried bottles.
In 1774, he erased Spanish marks of ownership and possession in
Tahiti and replaced them with English ones. Upon learning of
this, Spain dispatched explorers to restore its marks of
possession. Furthermore, in 1742-49, French military expeditions
buried lead plates throughout the Ohio country to reassert the
French claims of discovery dating from 1643. The plates stated
that they were "a renewal of possession."
Americans also engaged in discovery rituals. The Lewis & Clark
expedition marked and branded trees and rocks in the Pacific
Northwest to prove the American presence and claim to the region.
They also left a memorial or memo at Fort Clatsop in March 1806
and gave copies to Indians to deliver to any whites that might
arrive to prove the U.S. presence and claim to the Northwest.
The memorial stated that its "object" was that "through the
medium of some civilized person ... it may be made known to the
informed world" that Lewis & Clark had crossed the continent and
lived at the mouth of the Columbia River on the Pacific Ocean.
This was nothing less than a claim of discovery and possession of
the region and a claim of ownership under the Doctrine of
Discovery.
A decade later, as the U.S. and England argued over the Pacific
Northwest and the possession of Fort Astoria at the mouth of the
Columbia, Secretary of State John Quincy Adams and President
James Monroe took actions based directly upon the principles of
Discovery.
In 1817, as they despaired that England would voluntarily return
Fort Astoria, Adams and Monroe ordered an American diplomat and
naval captain to sail to Astoria "to assert the [American] claim
of territorial possession at the mouth of Columbia River." Adams
wrote that this mission was designed "to resume possession of
that post, and in some appropriate manner to reassert the title
of the United States."
Accordingly, Monroe and Adams ordered the American diplomat John
Prevost and Captain James Biddle to sail to the Columbia and to
"assert there the claim of sovereignty in the name of ... the
United States, by some symbolical or other appropriate mode of
setting up a claim of national authority and dominion."
The President and Secretary of State were ordering them to engage
in Discovery rituals. Prevost and Biddle did as they were
ordered. In August 1818, Captain Biddle arrived at the north side
of the mouth of the Columbia River and in the presence of Chinook
Indians he raised the U.S. flag, turned the soil with a shovel,
and nailed up a lead plate that read: "Taken possession of, in
the name and on the behalf of the United States by Captain James
Biddle." He repeated this Discovery ritual on the south shore of
the Columbia and hung up a wooden sign declaring American
ownership of the region.
John Prevost arrived at Fort Astoria in September 1818 and with
the cooperation of the English he proceeded to use Discovery
rituals to reclaim the fort for the United States. First, the
English flag was lowered and the U.S. flag was hoisted in its
place. Then the English troops filed a salute, the American flag
was taken down and the Union Jack was returned to its place, and
the American diplomat sailed away with his Discovery mission
accomplished.
In 1823, the United States Supreme Court in Johnson v. M'Intosh
declared that the Doctrine of Discovery had been the law on the
North American continent since the beginning of European
exploration and controlled how Europeans and Americans could
claim and acquire land from the Indian nations.
Discovery is still the law in the United States today and in the
international arena as is well demonstrated by the actions of
modern day countries attempting to claim new lands and assets in
the Arctic. We appear to be at the start of a new race to
establish claims to this "New World" of the Arctic as the icecaps
retreat, and it is evident that the rituals and principles of the
Doctrine of Discovery provide the legal framework for claims to
newly discovered lands and assets.
-----
The New Land Rush
By Robert J. Miller <www.alternet.org/authors/8347/> ,
TomPaine.com <www.tompaine.com/> . Posted May 7, 2007
<www.alternet.org/ts/archives/
e[d]=07&act=Go/> .
Nations are racing to plant flags and claim the "new world" of
islands and sea routes that are emerging as Arctic ice melts.
Recent news reports state that global warming and the shrinking
Arctic icecaps are opening new sea lanes and making barren
islands suddenly very valuable. In fact, the international
community might experience a new race of exploration, conquest
and acquisition for this "new world" -- these newly available
lands and sea routes. Conflicts could arise over shipping lanes,
islands, fish stocks, minerals and oil that are now becoming
accessible and commercially exploitable.
Governments are even now engaged in asserting their sovereignty
over these areas and assets. Canada, Denmark and the United
States are already involved in diplomatic disputes over these
issues. For example, Canada and Denmark have sent diplomats and
warships to plant their flags on tiny Hans Island near
northwestern Greenland.
In 1984, Denmark's Minister for Greenland Affairs landed on the
island in a helicopter and raised the Danish flag, buried a
bottle of brandy, and left a note that said "Welcome to the
Danish Island."
Canada was not amused by this assertion of Danish sovereignty. In
2005, the Canadian Defense Minister and troops landed on the
island and hoisted the Canadian flag. Denmark lodged an official
protest. In addition, Canada, Russia and Denmark are claiming
waters all the way to the North Pole.
Moreover, the United States and Canada are disputing Canadian
claims that the emerging Northwest Passage sea route is in its
territory. The U.S. insists the waters are neutral and open to
all but Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper states that he
will place military icebreakers in the area "to assert our
sovereignty and take action to protect our territorial
integrity."
This kind of conduct is nothing new. It mirrors exactly the
actions taken by European and American governments in the 15th --
20th centuries in their race to claim the lands and the assets of
the New World of the Americas, Africa, and other areas.
That race was conducted under the international legal principle
known today as the Doctrine of Discovery. Under various papal
bulls, Spain and Portugal could establish claims to the lands of
indigenous, non-Christian, non-European peoples by merely
"discovering" the lands.
Spanish, Portuguese, and later English and French explorers
engaged in numerous types of Discovery rituals upon encountering
new lands. The hoisting of their flag and the cross and leaving
evidence that they had been there was part of the Discovery
process.
In 1776-78, for example, Captain Cook established English claims
to British Columbia by leaving English coins in buried bottles.
In 1774, he erased Spanish marks of ownership and possession in
Tahiti and replaced them with English ones. Upon learning of
this, Spain dispatched explorers to restore its marks of
possession. Furthermore, in 1742-49, French military expeditions
buried lead plates throughout the Ohio country to reassert the
French claims of discovery dating from 1643. The plates stated
that they were "a renewal of possession."
Americans also engaged in discovery rituals. The Lewis & Clark
expedition marked and branded trees and rocks in the Pacific
Northwest to prove the American presence and claim to the region.
They also left a memorial or memo at Fort Clatsop in March 1806
and gave copies to Indians to deliver to any whites that might
arrive to prove the U.S. presence and claim to the Northwest.
The memorial stated that its "object" was that "through the
medium of some civilized person ... it may be made known to the
informed world" that Lewis & Clark had crossed the continent and
lived at the mouth of the Columbia River on the Pacific Ocean.
This was nothing less than a claim of discovery and possession of
the region and a claim of ownership under the Doctrine of
Discovery.
A decade later, as the U.S. and England argued over the Pacific
Northwest and the possession of Fort Astoria at the mouth of the
Columbia, Secretary of State John Quincy Adams and President
James Monroe took actions based directly upon the principles of
Discovery.
In 1817, as they despaired that England would voluntarily return
Fort Astoria, Adams and Monroe ordered an American diplomat and
naval captain to sail to Astoria "to assert the [American] claim
of territorial possession at the mouth of Columbia River." Adams
wrote that this mission was designed "to resume possession of
that post, and in some appropriate manner to reassert the title
of the United States."
Accordingly, Monroe and Adams ordered the American diplomat John
Prevost and Captain James Biddle to sail to the Columbia and to
"assert there the claim of sovereignty in the name of ... the
United States, by some symbolical or other appropriate mode of
setting up a claim of national authority and dominion."
The President and Secretary of State were ordering them to engage
in Discovery rituals. Prevost and Biddle did as they were
ordered. In August 1818, Captain Biddle arrived at the north side
of the mouth of the Columbia River and in the presence of Chinook
Indians he raised the U.S. flag, turned the soil with a shovel,
and nailed up a lead plate that read: "Taken possession of, in
the name and on the behalf of the United States by Captain James
Biddle." He repeated this Discovery ritual on the south shore of
the Columbia and hung up a wooden sign declaring American
ownership of the region.
John Prevost arrived at Fort Astoria in September 1818 and with
the cooperation of the English he proceeded to use Discovery
rituals to reclaim the fort for the United States. First, the
English flag was lowered and the U.S. flag was hoisted in its
place. Then the English troops filed a salute, the American flag
was taken down and the Union Jack was returned to its place, and
the American diplomat sailed away with his Discovery mission
accomplished.
In 1823, the United States Supreme Court in Johnson v. M'Intosh
declared that the Doctrine of Discovery had been the law on the
North American continent since the beginning of European
exploration and controlled how Europeans and Americans could
claim and acquire land from the Indian nations.
Discovery is still the law in the United States today and in the
international arena as is well demonstrated by the actions of
modern day countries attempting to claim new lands and assets in
the Arctic. We appear to be at the start of a new race to
establish claims to this "New World" of the Arctic as the icecaps
retreat, and it is evident that the rituals and principles of the
Doctrine of Discovery provide the legal framework for claims to
newly discovered lands and assets.
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