one should compare it with what happened in most parts of Latin America, where a thin stream of white blood was lost amid Indians and negroes, leaving most of the primeval jungle untamed, while the government, such as it was, combined tyranny with anarchy. The Western settlers in the United States had certain collective purpose, of which it was not necessary to speak, because they were instinctive and common to all. They wished first and foremost, to conquer the earth; that done, they desired a community of free equal citizens, submitting to the rule of the majority where rule was necessary, but as far as possible exempt from governmental interference. They succeeded in the conquest of the earth; they succeeded in preserving political freedom; but economic freedom was lost by a process which we can now see to have been inevitable. They did their work well, but their philosophy depended for its success upon the empty spaces, and cannot solve the problems of our more crowded world.
Russell, Bertrand. “The Settlement of the West.” Freedom and Organization. London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd, 1934. 224. Print
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