"The Gigantic Question"
in
Washington Irving's History of New York

European powers carve up the New World

"What right had the first discoverers of America to land, and take possession of a country, without asking the consent of its inhabitants, or yielding them an adequate compensation for their territory?"
(Book I, Chap V)

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 studying the literature of justification

A student project in Prof Edward J. Gallagher's "Early American Literature" class
Lehigh University
Spring 1999