>>All 4 (US, Canada, Mexico and Brazil) expanded without the consent of the native peoples. I would imagine without the majority consent of them today. In North America we drowned out their protest with ethnic cleansing, forced relocation, occupation via settlements. They been swallowed up.
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>What's your point? We are talking about consent of the governed NOW. All human societies have a past full of violence and conquest, and IMHO to spend time wringing hands over it is futile.
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>Grow or die. The law holds true in the natural world as well as the human world. Any species or society can grow only at the expense of another, and when that species or society stops growing, it becomes a target for more active and robust species or societies.

Dan

Personally I'm not saying you should wring your hands over the taking of this vast empire. Britain didn't continue to acquire lands much into the 20th century, and when it became apparent after WW II that the natives weren't happy with British rule, we gradually bowed out, starting with the "Jewel in the Crown", India.

Having subjugated the whole of North America, quietened or anihilated the indigenes, you've been left with a contented populace, happy under the Pax Americana. It worked out - the only one in history! Evan mentioned the Pax Canadia. Well a while back it looked like THAT could be breaking up with the plebiscite on the secession of Quebec.