March 5, 1821
Fellow Citizens:
I shall not attempt to describe the grateful emotions which
the new and very distinguished proof of the confidence of my fellow-citizen,
evinced by my re-election to this high trust, has excited in my bosom. The
approbation which it announces of my conduct in the preceding term affords me a
consolation which I shall profoundly feel through life. The general accord with
which it has been expressed adds to the great and never ceasing obligations
which it imposes. To merit the continuance of this good opinion, and to carry
it with me into my retirement as the solace of advancing years, will be the
object of my most zealous and unceasing efforts.
Having no pretensions to the high and commanding claims of
my predecessors, whose names are so much more conspicuously identified with our
Revolution, and who contributed so pre-eminently to promote its success, I
consider myself rather as the instrument than the cause of the union which has
prevailed in the late election. In surmounting, in favor of my humble
pretensions, the difficulties which so often produce division in like
occurrences, it is obvious that other powerful causes, indicating the great
strength and stability of our Union, have essentially contributed to draw you
together. That these powerful causes exist, and that they are permanent is my
fixed opinion; that they may produce a like accord in all questions touching,
however remotely, the liberty, prosperity, and happiness of our country will
always be the object of my most fervent prayers to the Supreme Author of All Good.
In a government which is founded by the people, who possess
exclusively the sovereignty, it seems proper that the person who may be placed
by their suffrages in this high trust should declare on commencing its duties
the principles on which he intends to conduct the administration. If the person
thus elected has served the preceding term, an opportunity is afforded him to
review its principal occurrences and to give such further explanation
respecting them as in his judgment may be useful to his constituents. The
events of one year have influence on those of another, and, in like manner of a
preceding on the succeeding administration. The movements of a great nation are
connected in all their parts. If errors have been committed they ought to be
corrected; if the policy is sound it ought to be supported. It is by a thorough
knowledge of the whole subject that our fellow citizens are enabled to judge
correctly of the past and to give a proper direction to the future.
Just before the commencement of the last term the United
States had concluded a war with a very powerful nation on conditions equal and
honorable to both parties. The events of that war are too recent and too deeply
impressed on the memory of all to require a development from me. Our commerce had
been in a great measure driven from the sea; our Atlantic and inland frontiers
were invaded in almost every part; the waste of life along our coast and on
some parts of our inland frontiers, to the defense of which our gallant and
patriotic citizens were called, was immense, in addition to which not less than
$120,000,000 were added at its end to the public debt.
As soon as the war had terminated, the nation, admonished by
its events, resolved to place itself in a situation which should be better
calculated to prevent the recurrence of a like evil, and, in case it should
recur, to mitigate its calamities. With this view, after reducing our land
force to the basis of a peace establishment, which has been further modified
since, provision was made for the construction of fortifications at proper
points through the whole extent of our coast and such an augmentation of our
naval force as should be well adapted to both purposes. The laws making this
provision were passed in 1815 and 1816, and it has been since the constant
effort of the Executive to carry them into effect.
The advantage of these fortifications and of an augmented
naval force in the extent contemplated, in a point of economy, has been fully
illustrated by a report of the Board of Engineers and Naval Commissioners
lately communicated to Congress, by which it appears that in an invasion by
20,000 men, with a correspondent naval force, in a campaign of six months only,
the whole expense of the construction of the works would be defrayed by the
difference in the sum necessary to maintain the force which would be adequate
to our defense with the aid of those works and that which would be incurred
without them. The reason of this difference is obvious. If fortifications are
judiciously placed on our great inlets, as distant from our cities as
circumstances will permit, they will form the only points of attack, and the
enemy will be detained there by a small regular force a sufficient time to
enable our militia to collect and repair to that on which the attack is made. A
force adequate to the enemy, collected at that single point, with suitable
preparation for such others as might be menaced, is all that would be
requisite. But if there were no fortifications, then the enemy might go where
he pleased, and, changing his position and sailing from place to place, our
force must be called out and spread in vast numbers along the whole coast and
on both sides of every bay and river as high up in each as it might be
navigable for ships of war. By these fortifications, supported by our Navy, to
which they would afford like support, we should present to other powers an
armed front from St. Croix to the Sabine, which would protect in the event of
war our whole coast and interior from invasion; and even in the wars of other
powers, in which we were neutral, they would be found eminently useful, as, by
keeping their public ships at a distance from our cities, peace and order in
them would be preserved and the Government be protected from insult.
It need scarcely be remarked that these measures have not
been resorted to in a spirit of hostility to other powers. Such a disposition
does not exist toward any power. Peace and good will have been, and will
hereafter be, cultivated with all, and by the most faithful regard to justice.
They have been dictated by a love of peace, of economy, and an earnest desire
to save the lives of our fellow-citizens from that destruction and our country
from that devastation which are inseparable from war when it finds us
unprepared for it. It is believed, and experience has shown, that such a
preparation is the best expedient that can be resorted to to prevent war. I add
with much pleasure that considerable progress has already been made in these
measures of defense, and that they will be completed in a few years,
considering the great extent and importance of the object, if the plan be
zealously and steadily persevered in.
The conduct of the Government in what relates to foreign
powers is always an object of the highest importance to the nation. Its
agriculture, commerce, manufactures, fisheries, revenue, in short, its peace,
may all be affected by it. Attention is therefore due to this subject.
At the period adverted to, the powers of Europe, after
having been engaged in long and destructive wars with each other, had concluded
a peace, which happily still exists. Our peace with the power with whom we had
been engaged had also been concluded. The war between Spain and the colonies in
South America, which had commenced many years before, was then the only
conflict that remained unsettled. This being a contest between different parts
of the same community, in which other powers had not interfered, was not affected
by their accommodations.
This contest was considered at an early stage by my
predecessor a civil war in which the parties were entitled to equal rights in
our ports. This decision, the first made by any power, being formed on great
consideration of the comparative strength and resources of the parties, the
length of time, and successful opposition made by the colonies, and of all
other circumstances on which it ought to depend, was in strict accord with the
law of nations. Congress has invariably acted on this principle, having made no
change in our relations with either party. Our attitude has therefore been that
of neutrality between them, which has been maintained by the Government with
the strictest impartiality. No aid has been afforded to either, nor has any
privilege been enjoyed by the one which has not been equally open to the other
party, and every exertion has been made in its power to enforce the execution
of the laws prohibiting illegal equipments with equal rigor against both.
By this equality between the parties their public vessels
have been received in our ports on the same footing; they have enjoyed an equal
right to purchase and export arms, munitions of war, and every other supply,
the exportation of all articles whatever being permitted under laws which were
passed long before the commencement of the contest; our citizens have traded
equally with both, and their commerce with each has been alike protected by the
Government.
Respecting the attitude which it may be proper for the
United States to maintain hereafter between the parties, I have no hesitation
in stating it as my opinion that the neutrality heretofore observed should
still be adhered to. From the change in the Government of Spain and the
negotiation now depending, invited by the Cortes and accepted by the colonies,
it may be presumed that their differences will be settled on the terms proposed
by the colonies. Should the war be continued, the United States, regarding its
occurrences, will always have it in their power to adopt such measures
respecting it as their honor and interest may require.
Shortly after the general peace a band of adventurers took
advantage of this conflict and of the facility which it afforded to establish a
system of buccaneering in the neighboring seas, to the great annoyance of the
commerce of the United States, and, as was represented, of that of other
powers. Of this spirit and of its injurious bearing on the United States strong
proofs were afforded by the establishment at Amelia Island, and the purposes to
which it was made instrumental by this band in 1817, and by the occurrences
which took place in other parts of Florida in 1818, the details of which in
both instances are too well known to require to be now recited. I am satisfied
had a less decisive course been adopted that the worst consequences would have
resulted from it. We have seen that these checks, decisive as they were, were
not sufficient to crush that piratical spirit. Many culprits brought within our
limits have been condemned to suffer death, the punishment due to that
atrocious crime. The decisions of upright and enlightened tribunals fall
equally on all whose crimes subject them, by a fair interpretation of the law,
to its censure. It belongs to the Executive not to suffer the executions under
these decisions to transcend the great purpose for which punishment is
necessary. The full benefit of example being secured, policy as well as
humanity equally forbids that they should be carried further. I have acted on
this principle, pardoning those who appear to have been led astray by ignorance
of the criminality of the acts they had committed, and suffering the law to
take effect on those only in whose favor no extenuating circumstances could be
urged.
Great confidence is entertained that the late treaty with
Spain, which has been ratified by both the parties, and the ratifications
whereof have been exchanged, has placed the relations of the two countries on a
basis of permanent friendship. The provision made by it for such of our
citizens as have claims on Spain of the character described will, it is
presumed, be very satisfactory to them, and the boundary which is established
between the territories of the parties westward of the Mississippi, heretofore
in dispute, has, it is thought, been settled on conditions just and
advantageous to both. But to the acquisition of Florida too much importance can
not be attached. It secures to the United States a territory important in
itself, and whose importance is much increased by its bearing on many of the
highest interests of the Union. It opens to several of the neighboring States a
free passage to the ocean, through the Province ceded, by several rivers having
their sources high up within their limits. It secures us against all future
annoyance from powerful Indian tribes. It gives us several excellent harbors in
the Gulf of Mexico for ships of war of the largest size. It covers by its
position in the Gulf, the Mississippi and other great waters within our
extended limits, and thereby enables the United States to afford complete
protection to the vast and very valuable productions of our whole Western
country, which find a market through those streams.
By a treaty with the British Government, bearing date on the
20th of October, 1818, the convention regulating the commerce between the
United States and Great Britain, concluded on the 3d of July, 1815, which was
about expiring, was revived and continued for the term of ten years from the
time of its expiration. By that treaty, also, the differences which had arisen
under the treaty of Ghent respecting the right claimed by the United States for
her citizens to take and cure fish on the coast of His Britannic Majesty's
dominions in America, with other differences on important interests, were
adjusted to the satisfaction of both parties. No agreement has yet been entered
into respecting the commerce between the United States and the British
dominions in the West Indies and on this continent. The restraints imposed on
that commerce by Great Britain, and reciprocated by the United States on a
principle of defense, continue still in force.
The negotiation with France for the regulation of the
commercial relations between the two countries, which in the course of the last
summer had been commenced at Paris, has since been transferred to this city,
and will be pursued on the part of the United States in the spirit of
conciliation, and with an earnest desire that it may terminate in an
arrangement satisfactory to both parties.
Our relations with the Barbary Powers are preserved in the
same state and by the same means that were employed when I came into this
office. As early as 1801 it was found necessary to send a squadron into the
Mediterranean for the protection of our commerce, and no period has intervened,
a short term excepted, when it was thought advisable to withdraw it. The great
interests which the United States have in the Pacific, in commerce and in the
fisheries, have also made it necessary to maintain a naval force there. In
disposing of this force in both instances the most effectual measures in our
power have been taken, without interfering with its other duties, for the
suppression of the slave trade and of piracy in the neighboring seas.
The situation of the United States in regard to their
resources, the extent of their revenue, and the facility with which it is
raised affords a most gratifying spectacle. The payment of nearly $67,000,000
of the public debt, with the great progress made in measures of defense and in
other improvements of various kinds since the late war, are conclusive proofs
of this extraordinary prosperity, especially when it is recollected that these
expenditures have been defrayed without a burthen on the people, the direct tax
and excise having been repealed soon after the conclusion of the late war, and
the revenue applied to these great objects having been raised in a manner not
to be felt. Our great resources therefore remain untouched for any purpose
which may affect the vital interests of the nation. For all such purposes they
are inexhaustible. They are more especially to be found in the virtue,
patriotism, and intelligence of our fellow-citizens, and in the devotion with
which they would yield up by any just measure of taxation all their property in
support of the rights and honor of their country.
Under the present depression of prices, affecting all the
productions of the country and every branch of industry, proceeding from causes
explained on a former occasion, the revenue has considerably diminished, the
effect of which has been to compel Congress either to abandon these great
measures of defense or to resort to loans or internal taxes to supply the
deficiency. On the presumption that this depression and the deficiency in the
revenue arising from it would be temporary, loans were authorized for the
demands of the last and present year. Anxious to relieve my fellow-citizens in
1817 from every burthen which could be dispensed with, and the state of the
Treasury permitting it, I recommended the repeal of the internal taxes, knowing
that such relief was then peculiarly necessary in consequence of the great
exertions made in the late war. I made that recommendation under a pledge that
should the public exigencies require a recurrence to them at any time while I
remained in this trust, I would with equal promptitude perform the duty which
would then be alike incumbent on me. By the experiment now making it will be
seen by the next session of Congress whether the revenue shall have been so
augmented as to be adequate to all these necessary purposes. Should the
deficiency still continue, and especially should it be probable that it would
be permanent, the course to be pursued appears to me to be obvious. I am
satisfied that under certain circumstances loans may be resorted to with great
advantage. I am equally well satisfied, as a general rule, that the demands of
the current year, especially in time of peace, should be provided for by the
revenue of that year.
I have never dreaded, nor have I ever shunned, in any
situation in which I have been placed, making appeals to the virtue and
patriotism of my fellow-citizens, well knowing that they could never be made in
vain, especially in times of great emergency or for purposes of high national
importance. Independently of the exigency of the case, many considerations of
great weight urge a policy having in view a provision of revenue to meet to a
certain extent the demands of the nation, without relying altogether on the
precarious resource of foreign commerce. I am satisfied that internal duties
and excises, with corresponding imposts on foreign articles of the same kind,
would, without imposing any serious burdens on the people, enhance the price of
produce, promote our manufactures, and augment the revenue, at the same time
that they made it more secure and permanent.
The care of the Indian tribes within our limits has long
been an essential part of our system, but, unfortunately, it has not been
executed in a manner to accomplish all the objects intended by it. We have
treated them as independent nations, without their having any substantial
pretensions to that rank. The distinction has flattered their pride, retarded
their improvement, and in many instances paved the way to their destruction.
The progress of our settlements westward, supported as they are by a dense
population, has constantly driven them back, with almost the total sacrifice of
the lands which they have been compelled to abandon. They have claims on the
magnanimity and, I may add, on the justice of this nation which we must all
feel. We should become their real benefactors; we should perform the office of
their Great Father, the endearing title which they emphatically give to the
Chief Magistrate of our Union. Their sovereignty over vast territories should
cease, in lieu of which the right of soil should be secured to each individual
and his posterity in competent portions; and for the territory thus ceded by
each tribe some reasonable equivalent should be granted, to be vested in
permanent funds for the support of civil government over them and for the
education of their children, for their instruction in the arts of husbandry,
and to provide sustenance for them until they could provide it for themselves.
My earnest hope is that Congress will digest some plan, founded on these
principles, with such improvements as their wisdom may suggest, and carry it
into effect as soon as it may be practicable.
Europe is again unsettled and the prospect of war
increasing. Should the flame light up in any quarter, how far it may extend it
is impossible to foresee. It is our peculiar felicity to be altogether
unconnected with the causes which produce this menacing aspect elsewhere. With
every power we are in perfect amity, and it is our interest to remain so if it
be practicable on just conditions. I see no reasonable cause to apprehend
variance with any power, unless it proceed from a violation of our maritime
rights. In these contests, should they occur, and to whatever extent they may
be carried, we shall be neutral; but as a neutral power we have rights which it
is our duty to maintain. For like injuries it will be incumbent on us to seek
redress in a spirit of amity, in full confidence that, injuring none, none
would knowingly injure us. For more imminent dangers we should be prepared, and
it should always be recollected that such preparation adapted to the
circumstances and sanctioned by the judgment and wishes of our constituents can
not fail to have a good effect in averting dangers of every kind. We should
recollect also that the season of peace is best adapted to these preparations.
If we turn our attention, fellow-citizens, more immediately
to the internal concerns of our country, and more especially to those on which
its future welfare depends, we have every reason to anticipate the happiest
results. It is now rather more than forty-four years since we declared our
independence, and thirty-seven since it was acknowledged. The talents and
virtues which were displayed in that great struggle were a sure presage of all
that has since followed. A people who were able to surmount in their infant
state such great perils would be more competent as they rose into manhood to
repel any which they might meet in their progress. Their physical strength
would be more adequate to foreign danger, and the practice of self-government,
aided by the light of experience, could not fail to produce an effect equally
salutary on all those questions connected with the internal organization. These
favorable anticipations have been realized.
In our whole system, National and State, we have shunned all
the defects which unceasingly preyed on the vitals and destroyed the ancient
Republics. In them there were distinct orders, a nobility and a people, or the
people governed in one assembly. Thus, in the one instance there was a
perpetual conflict between the orders in society for the ascendency, in which
the victory of either terminated in the overthrow of the government and the ruin
of the state; in the other, in which the people governed in a body, and whose
dominions seldom exceeded the dimensions of a county in one of our States, a
tumultuous and disorderly movement permitted only a transitory existence. In
this great nation there is but one order, that of the people, whose power, by a
peculiarly happy improvement of the representative principle, is transferred
from them, without impairing in the slightest degree their sovereignty, to
bodies of their own creation, and to persons elected by themselves, in the full
extent necessary for all the purposes of free, enlightened, and efficient
government. The whole system is elective, the complete sovereignty being in the
people, and every officer in every department deriving his authority from and
being responsible to them for his conduct.
Our career has corresponded with this great outline.
Perfection in our organization could not have been expected in the outset
either in the National or State Governments or in tracing the line between
their respective powers. But no serious conflict has arisen, nor any contest
but such as are managed by argument and by a fair appeal to the good sense of
the people, and many of the defects which experience had clearly demonstrated
in both Governments have been remedied. By steadily pursuing this course in
this spirit there is every reason to believe that our system will soon attain
the highest degree of perfection of which human institutions are capable, and
that the movement in all its branches will exhibit such a degree of order and
harmony as to command the admiration and respect of the civilized world.
Our physical attainments have not been less eminent. Twenty-five
years ago the river Mississippi was shut up and our Western brethren had no
outlet for their commerce. What has been the progress since that time? The
river has not only become the property of the United States from its source to
the ocean, with all its tributary streams (with the exception of the upper part
of the Red River only), but Louisiana, with a fair and liberal boundary on the
western side and the Floridas on the eastern, have been ceded to us. The United
States now enjoy the complete and uninterrupted sovereignty over the whole
territory from St. Croix to the Sabine. New States, settled from among
ourselves in this and in other parts, have been admitted into our Union in
equal participation in the national sovereignty with the original States. Our
population has augmented in an astonishing degree and extended in every
direction. We now, fellow-citizens, comprise within our limits the dimensions
and faculties of a great power under a Government possessing all the energies
of any government ever known to the Old World, with an utter incapacity to
oppress the people.
Entering with these views the office which I have just
solemnly sworn to execute with fidelity and to the utmost of my ability, I
derive great satisfaction from a knowledge that I shall be assisted in the
several Departments by the very enlightened and upright citizens from whom I
have received so much aid in the preceding term. With full confidence in the
continuance of that candor and generous indulgence from my fellow-citizens at
large which I have heretofore experienced, and with a firm reliance on the
protection of Almighty God, I shall forthwith commence the duties of the high
trust to which you have called me.
SOURCE: Stanislaus M. Hamilton, The Writings of James Monroe, Volume 6: 1817-1823, p. 163-74
