Let's Learn Everything about U.S. Non-State Places and Also Cannibalism!

“Is there a provision for acquiring new territories?”
“Interestingly, no. And this famously worried Thomas Jefferson circa 1800 when the French government offered him something like a third of North America at a fire-sale price — what would eventually be called the Louisiana Purchase. Actually, it’s a great moment, because Jefferson — who tended to be very strict in his constitutional interpretation — even went so far as to draft a constitutional amendment empowering him to acquire new territories for the nation. But then he gets cold feet and sticks the draft in a drawer. About that time, he writes a fantastic letter to a friend about all this, and he says, basically, ‘Well, you know, the less said about the constitutional difficulties here the better.’ Which is pretty much contrary to everything he ever said about the Constitution. Oops. That can happen when you become President.”
 — If you enjoy this interview with Christina Duffy Burnett on the subject of U.S. territories, islands and odd places, then you’ll really enjoy this unrelated interview with Cătălin Avramescu, author of An Intellectual History of Cannibalism!