The effort to acquire Greenland is more than a hemispheric strategy; it signals the US may be joining Russia and China in seeking to coercively redraw borders. This shift from all three major powers challenges the post-1945 international order that has largely prohibited forcible conquest, a change not seen since the 1930s.

History demonstrates that dominance over seemingly mundane but critical resources is a foundational element of national power. The Roman Empire's control of salt and 19th-century America's pursuit of guano (bird fertilizer) laid the groundwork for their military and economic dominance.

Despite being a champion of limited government and a strict interpretation of the Constitution, Jefferson's most celebrated achievement, the Louisiana Purchase, was likely unconstitutional. He chose pragmatic national expansion over his own ideological purity.

In an attempt to acquire Greenland, US officials discussed offering every Greenlander a lump-sum payment up to $100,000. This strategy framed a complex geopolitical negotiation as a direct financial transaction, akin to a corporate acquisition, totaling a potential $5.7 billion.

Unlike historical victors who demanded reparations, the U.S. provided substantial aid to former enemies after WWII. This generosity is not weakness but America's most effective strategic asset. It turns adversaries into allies and builds long-term goodwill, yielding a far greater return on investment than military force can achieve.

Conquistador expeditions were entrepreneurial ventures, not state campaigns. Leaders like Pizarro formed partnerships, raised private funds, and invested in high-risk "island hopping" operations hoping for massive returns. This model privatized both the risk of failure and the rewards of success, mirroring modern venture capital.

Despite political instability and antagonistic rhetoric from the Trump administration, US investment in Latin America has boomed. This is not due to traditional economic incentives but is a strategic countermove to China's established presence, turning the region into a financial battleground for global powers.

The US government's "checkerboard" land grants to railroads in the 1800s, designed to spur Westward expansion, inadvertently created over 8 million acres of public land that remain inaccessible to the public because they are locked by surrounding private property.

The Constitution's framework for admitting new states (Article 4, Section 3) does not set any upper limit on the size of the union. This design implicitly allows for continuous growth and territorial expansion, a feature that contrasts with the nation's self-perception of not being an expansionist or colonial power.