Chapter I, "The Internal Empire", starts by covering the Wounded Knee Massacre, narrated by survivor Black Elk. It goes on to cover the Robber Barons (specifically J. P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller, Jay Gould, and George Pullman); strikes during 1892 such as the Copper Miners Strike, the New Orleans General Strike, the Railroad Switchmen's Strike, and the Steelworkers' Strike; the 1894 Railroad Strike against the Pullman Palace Car Company and Eugene V. Debs involvement in it; the Monroe Doctrine and the Open Door Policy; the invasion of Hawaii in 1893; and the 103 interventions carried out in other countries by the U.S. between 1798 and 1895, including Japan (1853–54), Nicaragua (1853–54), Uruguay (1855), Argentina (1853–54), and Angola (1860).