War...the fabric of our lives.

war
n.

1. a. A state of open, armed, often prolonged conflice carried on between nations, states, or
    parties.
    b. The period of such conflict.
    c. The techniques and procedures or war; military science.

2. a. A condition of active antagonism or contention.
    b. A concerted effort or campaign to combat or put an end to something considered
    injurious.


“Cotton...the fabric of our lives” is a popular advertising slogan for Cotton Incorporated. The slogan implies we collectively live our lives in cotton fabric.

One can also say that we collectively live our lives in a state of conflict...in a state of war. Whether it be in actual combat, for example, The Iraq War, or pseudo conflict, The Cold War, war and a war mentality is deeply woven into the fabric, the complex underlying structure, of our lives.

The United States has not formally declared war since entering World War II in 1941. However, we can all name wars that have occurred since then. The 20th Century’s Madison Avenue type marketing of war, has caused our government to stop calling conflicts war, and to instead give military conflicts objective-oriented names like “Operation Iraqi Freedom.”

However, as can be seen from the definitions of war above, “military engagements authorized by congress” are still wars. For much longer than cotton, they have been “the fabric of our lives”.

This piece uses fabric and textile elements to depict our current “military engagement authorized by Congress”.

The following is a list of all the wars—named and unnamed—in which America has taken part:

Formal declarations of war by the United States
War of 1812
Mexican-American War
Spanish-American War
World War I
World War II

Military engagements authorized by Congress
Quasi-War
First Barbary War
Second Barbary War
Raid of slave traffic
Redress for attack on U.S. Navy vessel
Intervention during the Russian Civil War
Protection of Lebanon
Vietnam War
Multinational Force in Lebanon
Invasion of Panama (Operation Just Cause)
Persian Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm)
2001 war in Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom) Ongoing
Iraq War (Operation Iraqi Freedom) Ongoing

Rebellion
The American Civil War was a civil war in the United States of America. Eleven Southern slave states declared their secession from the U.S. and formed the Confederate States of America (the Confederacy). They fought against the U.S. federal government (the "Union"). Both the outgoing and incoming (Lincoln) U.S. administrations rejected secession, regarding it as rebellion.

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