boat-sailing the title we bought was
derived. "But," you may object, "when whites rob reds or blacks, we call
it Discovery; land-grabbing is when whites rob whites--and that is where
I blame England." For the sake of argument I concede this, and refer you
to our acquisition of Texas. This operation followed some years after
the Florida operation. "By request" we "annexed" most of present
Texas--in 1845. That was a trick of our slaveholders. They sent people
into Texas and these people swung the deal. It was virtually a theft
from Mexico. A little while later, in 1848, we "paid" Mexico for
California, Arizona, and Nevada. But if you read the true story of
Fremont in California, and of the American plots there before the
Mexican War, to undermine the government of a friendly nation, plots
connived at in Washington with a view to getting California for
ourselves, upon my word you will find it hard to talk of England being a
land-grabber and keep a straight face. And, were a certain book to fall
into your hands, the narrative of the Alcalde of Monterey, wherein he
sets down what of Fremont's doings in California went on before his
eyes, you would learn a story of treachery, brutality, and greed. All
this acquisition of territory, together with the Gadsden Purchase a few
years later, brought our continent to its present area--not counting
Alaska or some islands later acquired--2,970,230 square miles.

Please understand me very clearly: I am not saying that it has not been
far better for the world and for civilization that we should have become
the rulers of all this land, instead of its being ruled by the Indians
or by Spain, or by Mexico. That is not at all the point. I am merely
reminding you of the means whereby we got the land. We got it mostly by
force and fraud, by driving out of it through firearms and plots people
who certainly were there first and who were weaker than ourselves. Our
reason was simply that we wanted it and intended to have it. That is
precisely what England has done. She has by various means not one whit
better or worse than ours, acquired her possessions in various parts of
the world because they were necessary to her safety and welfare, just
as this continent was necessary to our safety and welfare. Moreover,
the pressure upon her, her necessity for self-preservation, was far more
urgent than was the pressure upon us. To make you see this, I must once
again resort to some statistics.

England's a