The Palace of Crystal: A World Without War

War has blighted the security and happiness of humanity from time immemorial, but when two hundred years ago the colonies in North America broke away from British rule and established the United States, it was seen as a hopeful promise for the peoples of the world. A new democracy had been launched wherein all (or at least, the majority) were deemed to be created equal in respect of their rights, and were citizens and not subjects, in a land of self-confident individualism, which was not only free of the hereditary-based authoritarianism of the Old World, but more significantly, seemed destined to live at peace with the great nation states beyond their frontiers. It was a nation where government was minimised to ensure freedom in the spheres of commerce, religion, and private life, but the ideals of universal concord were not so easily to be achieved by either the efforts of this new people, or by the world at large.