Sentence:  The French Government had not taken regular possession of it when the war with England broke out; and Bonaparte hastened to sell that Province to the Americans, who had already cast their eyes upon it, with the view both of preventing the English from <WSD>ravishing</WSD> it from him, and of procuring funds to carry on the war. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  To seize and carry away by violence; to snatch by force.