At nearly every stage in that long story of expansion the Little Americans have either denied the constitutional authority to acquire and govern, or denounced the acquisitions as worthless and dangerous.
Reid notes that critics have consistently denied the constitutional authority for territorial acquisitions.
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Suppose it to be merely a war in defense of our own just rights and interests.
Will you take peace without territory and preserve the integrity of the Constitution of the country?...
The danger commences with the first extra-continental State.
We are all washed under, and the most of us only live peaceable lives by the sufferance of our Rebel neighbors.