The USA was never a joke as a country. It was never a minor power and it always had powerful allies.

The surrender of Cornwallis closed the military battle for the independence of the USA. The year was 1781. The Declaration of Independence was written in 1776, but, the resistance occurred long before the document became a reality.



The US Constitution would not be signed until 1787.

Timeline of the Revolutionary War (click here)

Once the USA's borders were established numbering 13 colonies, a peace treaty was signed with Great Britain. Remarkably, the two countries would resolve their differences, quite possibly due to the fact the colonists were actually descendents of the Brits. 

Regardless of the peace, there would be a new challenge to the new nation; it would be it's debt to France. The monarchy insisted the USA pay it's debt after the nation was established and building an economy. The USA was no minor economy even then. It was the new world after all. The country was rich with natural resources and very productive southern plantations. The import-export economy was thriving and internally the country was more than comfortable. But, in the face of all the wealth of the country there was still no way to pay the national debt. It sparked a quasi war with France by means of piracy. The French crown would have his merchants and military take what it felt was theirs. That would go on for two years with 25 USA vessels and the assistance of the Royal Navy.

The nation would enact a Whiskey Tax to pay the national debt.

Then there was the Barbary Wars with north Africa along the Mediterranean. The nations of Libya, Tunisia and Algeria demanded payment for use of the waters and ports. When they didn't get it pirates would seek to remove goods from US ships. That went on for something like five years with a naval response. The slogan then was, ""Millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute." There were two such wars simply because the first was not sincerely settled. The raids on ships with US colors continued until the second war in 1815. These nations were considered a part of the Ottoman Empire. After being pirated and/or paying tribute the US was joined by the UK and the Netherlands to end the practices. They succeeded. The pirating was curtailed and tribute was no longer paid. 

Shortly afterward the British decided the USA was not able to be autonomous and getting more of what they considered their economy. The War of 1812 was born and it was considered the second war for independence. It was a huge war involving native americans as allies along with Canada. With 2,260 killed in action, 4,505 wounded and an estimated 15,000 dead from all causes the war ended in a stalemate and the countries would eventually negotiate a peace. The USA was still autonomous and now establishing borders beyond the 13 colonies.

The next wars were primarily internal and established borders and economy, the Creek War between the USA and Creek Indians from 1813 to 1814. 

The the War for Texas Independence from Mexico in the year 1836. It was the war at the Alamo due to immigrants from the USA into Mexico that wanted slavery. As their sovereignty grew over that of Mexico a war broke out. President James Polk would annex Texas in 1945. That would not settle the issue and a war between Mexico and the USA started in 1946 and would continue until 1948. This was a war fought by the treasury and blood of the entire of the USA, it wasn't just the people of Texas. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo would end it in 1848,

Of course there was the USA Civil War of 1861 through 1965.

The last war by the USA in the 19th century was the Spanish American War of 1898. It began over an explosion of an American ship in a Cuban port. The USA declared war but would later find out the explosion was an accident in reality. The Spanish-American War was a populous war.

A new word would enter into the vocabulary of the USA. "Yellow Journalism." 

During the 1890s, (click here) journalism that sensationalized—and sometimes even manufactured—dramatic events was a powerful force that helped propel the United States into war with Spain. Led by newspaper owners William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer, journalism of the 1890s used melodrama, romance, and hyperbole to sell millions of newspapers--a style that became known as yellow journalism. 

The moralizing of Yellow Journalism ended up in a war for independence of Cuba from Spain. Imagine that, the USA is responsible for the independent country of Cuba.

When William McKinley approached Congress to declare war against Spain, they agreed only if Cuba was promised independence. The Teller Amendment was passed with this in mind and helped to justify the war.

The Spanish American war would end with a permanent presence of the USA in Cuba. At the end of the Spanish-American War, the Teller Amendment demanded that the U.S. would give Cuba its independence. The Platt Amendment, however, was passed as part of the Cuban constitution. This gave the U. S. Guantanamo Bay as a permanent military base.

Then there were the wars of the early 20th century, namely World War I and World War II.and the Korean War which was a conflict left over from WWII. The north was primarily a controlled by Stalin and the Soviet Union. The South was viewed as independent much as today with the USA as an ally. The North decided with the assistance of China they would declare the Korean Peninsula independent of any foreign influence and the rest is history with over 54,000 Americans died and well over 1 million Korean and Chinese dead. However, the war did directly lead to a massive military buildup per a secret document NSC-68 that greatly increased defense spending by the USA. The point of this order was the ability to continue to wage the quite expensive Cold War. The Korean War was the impetus to the modern military posture.