I mean, it legally was. The fact that we effectively stole it from the natives, is immaterial to that.

*conquered

No, a lot of it was just outright treaties and contracts that were then later ignored.

And there is/was legal theories of war, which weren't applied to the "savages" back then.

Murder, Forced Labor, Indefinite imprisonment. It was what it was. We can become a better society but not if we turn a blind eye to where we came from.

> I feel like all these discussions should make some mention of how the US government felt this was their land to give

I feel the opposite. It distracts from the topic at-hand.