1847/02/11

       Democratic (constitutionalist) Representative William F. Giles, of Maryland, speaking on the Mexican-American War advocates the expansion of slavery:

I take it for granted that we will gain territory, and we must gain territory before we shut the gates of the temple of Janus. … We must march from ocean to ocean. … We must march straight from Texas to the Pacific [O]cean. … And be bounded only by its roaring wave. … It is the destiny of the white race; it is the destiny of the Anglo-Saxon race.

       [restored 9/13/2026]

Subsequent Events:

12/22/1847                  1/29/1850

Authority:

References:

Howard Zinn, A People’s History of the United States, (New York: HarperPerennial, 1980), 153.

Current U.s. National Debt:

$40,439,546,016,039

Source