Chickamauga

Ambrose Bierce's short story, "Chickamauga," scrutinizes American values, specifically, America's identifying with the natural world.  Bierce is critical of the American association with divine destiny, which has manifested itself throughout history in the form of John Winthrop's “City upon a hill” speech, the notion of the “white man's burden,” and Manifest Destiny.  American history, in the scope of the short story, is one of perceived “rightly” subjugation of others.  Bierce satirizes this philosophy by use of the child as a manifestation of American values that are eventually shown to be feeble and weak.