Conquest of the U.S. by Spain

In this handout William Graham Sumner state, "It is easy to have equality where land is abundant and where the population is small. It is easy to have prosperity where a few men have a great continent to exploit. It is easy to have liberty when you have no dangerous neighbors and the struggle for existence is easy. Democracy is not then a thing to be nursed and defended.... It's rooted and founded in the economic circumstances of the country". He futher goes on to talk about war and how it will be considered a plutocracy. He gives four reasons, "In the first place, war and expansion will favor jobbery, both in the dependencies and at home. Second place, they will take the attention of the people away from what the plutocrats are doing. Third, they will cause large expenditures of the people's money, the return of which will not go into the treasury, but into the hands of a few schemers. Fourth, they will call for a large public debt and taxes and these things, especially tend to make men unequal because any social burden bears more heavily on the weak than on the strong, and so make the weak weaker and the strong, stronger".

Sumner, I believe, is telling us that it is the rich that will survive and the poor that will suffer due to the greed of the rich. To an extent, a survival of the fittest. Not only do I think he is talking about the people of the country but the country as a whole, comparing it to other countries. The country has to survive against other countries and will do and take the actions needed to be victorious.