Today Catholic economist Tom DiLorenzo published an article about a speech delivered by William Graham Sumner in 1899. Sumner believed the Spanish-American War was the turning point for the United States, when it changed from a constitutional republic into an empire.

The speech was entitled “The Conquest of the United States by Spain” to denote the fact that the Spanish-American war, an imperialistic war of conquest, was no different from the types of aggressive wars that the old empires of Europe had been waging for centuries.

William Graham Sumner:  “The thirst for glory is an epidemic which robs people of their judgment, seduces their vanity, cheats them of their interests, and corrupts their consciences.”