Benevolent Assimilation

Considering the way Bryan used this concept, it should be taken with a giant two-ton grain of salt. Imperialists used this very patronizing term to argue that certain peoples needed to be watched like babies before they could grow up enough to starts their own countries.

If you thought your helicopter parents were bad, this is so much worse. But Bryan would agree. That's why he used it with a heavy dose of sarcasm.

Bimetallism

William Jennings Bryan just could not shut up about the gold debate. 

He ran for president in 1896 with the idea that the country should freely issue silver and gold money. Thus bimetallism (as in two metals).

He became famous for this especially after giving his "Cross of Gold" speech. But he lost that election and the country had moved on to concerns over empire by 1900. But that didn't mean that ole' Bryan was going to let a speech go by without mentioning the topic.

The Bacon Resolution

Mmmmm, bacon.

No, not that kind of bacon. Unfortunately. This refers to a bill that Senator Augustus Octavius Bacon was trying to get Congress to pass. He wanted the American government to grant Spain's colonies independence following the Spanish-American War. Unfortunately for him and the Filipinos, his resolution didn't make it.

But now we're hungry. Maybe it's time for a bacon-and-eggwich break…

The Boers

These are the people that do math problems for fun and simply cannot stop talking about the fascinating world of insurance rates. Yawn. Oh wait, those are the bores.

The Boers on the other hand were farmers of Dutch descent in southern Africa. When the British Empire ruled over the region, a number of the Boers revolted, forming their own governments built around the ideals of republicanism and constitutionalism.

Censure

Shame, shame, shame. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Tut, tut, tut. Censure means these and other thrice-repeated phrases of disapproval.

Chapultepec

Ever wonder why the Marine Corps Hymn begins the phrase:

From the Halls of Montezuma/To the shores of Tripoli/We fight our country's battles/In the air, on land, and sea.

Well, it's actually because of the Battle of Chapultepec during the Mexican-American War. But Bryan was never in the Marines. So, he was kind of playing off of someone else's glory by even bringing it up.

Jingo

A war hawk. A dog of war. A military mousekateer. These don't really need to be animals, but they do need to be people that support war.

(Plus we made that last one up.)

The McEnery Resolution

Basically the same deal as the Bacon Resolution, but far less tasty-sounding.

Mammon

Bryan gets all old-timey by bringing up Mammon. We're talking pre-electricity and pre-America old-timey. Mammon was a biblical term for the word money and greed. It even became a deity of sorts during the Middle Ages.

It's also kind of a bizzare-o reference, so it's okay if you're making your confused face right now.

Mexican War

A.k.a the Mexican-American War.

Pecuniary

Mr. Fancypants Bryan was just trying to show off with this one. Pecuniary refers to anything that has to do with money. But five syllable words are so much better than those with a measly two. Not really…

Between using the words pecuniary and mammon as synonyms for money, Bryan definitely had his Thesaurus open when he wrote this speech.

Porto Rico

Old timey way of spelling Puerto Rico. It's also a little less considerate since it is spelled Puerto Rico in Spanish. Which is also a less considerate spelling since its original indigenous name was Borikén. Empires sure can be inconsiderate.