They preferred to gain their ends by treaty, and with the consent of the Indians; but if this proved impossible, then they intended to gain them by force.
In its essence, and viewed from the standpoint of abstract morality, their attitude was that of the freebooter.

The backwoodsmen lusted for the possessions of the Indian, as the buccaneers of the Spanish main had once lusted for the possessions of the Spaniard.

There was but little more heed paid to the rights of the assailed in one case than in the other.
The Ethics of Such Territorial Conquest.
Yet in its results, and viewed from the standpoint of applied ethics, the conquest and settlement by the whites of the Indian lands was necessary to the greatness of the race and to the well-being of civilized mankind.

It was as ultimately beneficial as it was inevitable.
Huge tomes might be filled with arguments as to the morality or immorality of such conquests.

But these arguments appeal chiefly to the cultivated men in highly civilized communities who have neither the wish nor the power to lead warlike expeditions into savage lands.