Stealing Philistia and Palestine
According to the bible, or legend later written up and included in what was called the Bible, God promised the land to the Hebrews but required them to fight for it. Not too literate at the time, the Jews apparently took Moses or someones word for the agreement. This is an excellent example as to why the English and American land law requires (under the Statute of Frauds) that any contract on land not completed within a year, must be in writing, signed, and notorized. Americans have usually been very sensitive about legalitiies when stealing lands from prior inhabitants. After killing the braves, slaughtering the squaws, and murdering or kidnapping the kids, the Army (of Volunteers) would extort the preferred land in exchange for a certain number of blankets and welfare, and smoke a calumet with a few surviving chiefs, to put the seal of legality on it. In Hawaii, for instance, some local haoles stole the entire country (with the support of the American miniister and the Navy), excluded from the vote those who would not pledge loyalty to the Provisional government, and robbed the native people of any control of what had been the land of the king and the nation.
"To the victors belong the spolis," said Andrew Jackson. "Vae victis."
"Woe to the losers" said the Romans. In history, both of these statements have generally been correct. |
