Yankee Tsunami: The Aftermath by Andrew R. DiConti is the final historical novel of the Yankee Tsunami trilogy, which covers a period shortly following the Spanish-American War through December 1900. For America, it is a time of innovation, influence and intrusive power. Her new Navy plays a major role in creating a tidal wave of supremacy that sweeps over much of the Pacific Rim. The trilogy's protagonist, Gamble Crane, has just returned to California following a year's tour of the Pacific after serving as a navigator aboard the USS Boston. Relishing a new assignment in the Bay Area, located only a short distance from Crane's place of birth, his destiny is redirected by a series of surprising events. Unknown forces intervene, and he is reassigned to the Navy Construction Corps, which is involved in the development of America's first operational submarine at the pioneering Union Iron Works Shipyard in San Francisco, California. A submarine in 1900 is as revolutionary as the Stealth aircraft would be today, with both American innovations startling the respective world military establishments of their time. Crane's recent courtship with Emily Chan, an American of Chinese ancestry born in Monterey, California, creates further complications in his life. Marriage between races in America is frowned upon to such a degree that miscegenation laws are being enacted in many states in the country. In San Francisco, although mixed marriages are legal, they are prevented by de facto means, since a license to marry is refused a couple not of the same race. Crane, with assistance from a prominent San Franciscan, is able to circumvent the licensing hurdle, which shortly culminates in a clandestine marriage. Conflicts and tension do not end, as having to live as husband and wife in the shadows takes a serious psychological toll on the recently married couple. Crane, who astonishingly for his age and rating plays a vital role in the development of the submarine, is obliged to use deception to conceal his problematic marriage and yet perform his critical and highly scrutinized duties. Further dilemmas, such as the black plague quarantine of Chinatown where Emily is employed, the treacherous disclosure of their taboo marriage and the Navy's spectacular first war games involving a submarine, test Gamble and Emily's love and steadfastness. Can a couple shielded only by their love survive the scorn of a society that creates laws treating non-whites unequally? Will the force of the Yankee Tsunami, which has relentlessly altered the lives of many in the entire Pacific Rim, be the same force that both exposes and destroys the careers and marriage of Emily and Gamble Crane? Yankee Tsunami: The Aftermath tells that emotional story. Sadly, Gamble and Emily's experience was not unique in times past. Many other Californians, who married another not of their race, were also victims of bias and discrimination.
Today’s Terrorism Against America May Have Beginnings Going Back Over 100 Years. When America drove its modernized fleet into Asian Pacific waters, prior to 1900, that action became a catalyst starting a chain reaction. A legacy of America’s subsequent imperialism may well have been the springboard to terrorist activities in America today. Following the wake of America’s Navy, Christian missionaries flooded into Pacific Rim countries, not unlike the missionaries who accompanied the Spanish conquistadors. The sacrosanct policy of “Manifest Destiny,” may have provided the moral principle for America to impose its will upon its own non-Christian people, as well as the peoples of the Asian Pacific, but it also sent a thinly veiled message, demeaning in nature, that unified the peoples who resisted us. America’s intentions may have been noble and caring, but they were also insulting. Shortly, the consequences of that international policy resulted in America’s involvement in the Boxer Rebellion in China and the Moro Insurrection in the Philippines. The term “benevolent assimilation” was the euphemistic label given by President William McKinley to America’s rationale for the mission of transforming the Pacific Rim peoples of Asia into Christians. In spite of strong opposition to America’s imperialistic Asian Pacific policy, headed by none other than Mark Twain, the movement had little restraint upon America’s quest to “civilize the heathen peoples,” a phrase frequently used by America’s press to describe its foreign mission. Andrew DiConti, in two of a trilogy of sequential novels, reveals that world through the eyes of a young sailor aboard the Boston, a modern man of war. The novels tell a succession of unique tales in each of the Boston’s ports of call, which demonstrate how America’s social order impacted its own non-white peoples, as well as the peoples of the Asian Pacific Rim. Due to a taboo romance with an American of Chinese ancestry by the protagonist, the reader is exposed to the prejudice in America in 1900 and the resultant consequences in a society that was both temperamentally and legally biased against non-white people. Could a society that would not treat its own citizens equally be expected to deal with people in its imperialistic adventures more benevolently? The author’s background as a teacher, an historian, a student of Asian culture and a former sailor gives authority to a novel that depicts how peoples throughout the Asian Pacific Rim were impacted by the influences of America’s leadership, as well as its military establishment. Web Page. www.geocities.com/wsb3499/YankeeTsunami2.html
This will help us customize your experience to showcase the most relevant content to your age group
Please select from below
Login
Not registered?
Sign up
Already registered?
Success – Your message will goes here
We'd love to hear from you!
Thank you for visiting our website. Would you like to provide feedback on how we could improve your experience?
This site does not use any third party cookies with one exception — it uses cookies from Google to deliver its services and to analyze traffic.Learn More.