WASHINGTON, _March 8, 1822_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
In transmitting to the House of Representatives the documents called for
by the resolution of that House of the 30th January, I consider it my
duty to invite the attention of Congress to a very important subject,
and to communicate the sentiments of the Executive on it, that, should
Congress entertain similar sentiments, there may be such cooperation
between the two departments of the Government as their respective rights
and duties may require.
The revolutionary movement in the Spanish Provinces in this hemisphere
attracted the attention and excited the sympathy of our fellow-citizens
from its commencement. This feeling was natural and honorable to
them, from causes which need not be communicated to you. It has been
gratifying to all to see the general acquiescence which has been
manifested in the policy which the constituted authorities have deemed
it proper to pursue in regard to this contest. As soon as the movement
assumed such a steady and consistent form as to make the success of the
Provinces probable, the rights to which they were entitled by the law
of nations as equal parties to a civil war were extended to them. Each
party was permitted to enter our ports with its public and private
ships, and to take from them every article which was the subject of
commerce with other nations. Our citizens, also, have carried on
commerce with both parties, and the Government has protected it with
each in articles not contraband of war. Through the whole of this
contest the United States have remained neutral, and have fulfilled with
the utmost impartiality all the obligations incident to that character.
This contest has now reached such a stage and been attended with such
decisive success on the part of the Provinces that it merits the most
profound consideration whether their right to the rank of independent
nations, with all the advantages incident to it in their intercourse
with the United States, is not complete. Buenos Ayres assumed that rank
by a formal declaration in 1816, and has enjoyed it since 1810 free from
invasion by the parent country. The Provinces composing the Republic
of Colombia, after having separately declared their independence, were
united by a fundamental law of the 17th of December, 1819. A strong
Spanish force occupied at that time certain parts of the territory
within their limits and waged a destructive war. That force has since
been repeatedly defeated, and the whole of it either made prisoners
or destroyed or expelled from the country, with the exception of an
inconsiderable portion only, which is blockaded in two fortresses.
The Provinces on the Pacific have likewise been very successful. Chili
declared independence in 1818, and has since enjoyed it undisturbed; and
of late, by the assistance of Chili and Buenos Ayres, the revolution
has extended to Peru. Of the movement in Mexico our information is less
authentic, but it is, nevertheless, distinctly understood that the new
Government has declared its independence, and that there is now no
opposition to it there nor a force to make any. For the last three years
the Government of Spain has not sent a single corps of troops to any
part of that country, nor is there any reason to believe it will send
any in future. Thus it is manifest that all those Provinces are not only
in the full enjoyment of their independence, but, considering the state
of the war and other circumstances, that there is not the most remote
prospect of their being deprived of it.
When the result of such a contest is manifestly settled, the new
governments have a claim to recognition by other powers which ought not
to be resisted. Civil wars too often excite feelings which the parties
can not control. The opinion entertained by other powers as to the
result may assuage those feelings and promote an accommodation between
them useful and honorable to both. The delay which has been observed in
making a decision on this important subject will, it is presumed, have
afforded an unequivocal proof to Spain, as it must have done to other
powers, of the high respect entertained by the United States for her
rights and of their determination not to interfere with them. The
Provinces belonging to this hemisphere are our neighbors, and have
successively, as each portion of the country acquired its independence,
pressed their recognition by an appeal to facts not to be contested, and
which they thought gave them a just title to it. To motives of interest
this Government has invariably disclaimed all pretension, being resolved
to take no part in the controversy or other measure in regard to it
which should not merit the sanction of the civilized world. To other
claims a just sensibility has been always felt and frankly acknowledged,
but they in themselves could never become an adequate cause of action.
It was incumbent on this Government to look to every important fact and
circumstance on which a sound opinion could be formed, which has been
done. When we regard, then, the great length of time which this war has
been prosecuted, the complete success which has attended it in favor
of the Provinces, the present condition of the parties, and the utter
inability of Spain to produce any change in it, we are compelled to
conclude that its fate is settled, and that the Provinces which have
declared their independence and are in the enjoyment of it ought to
be recognized.
Of the views of the Spanish Government on this subject no particular
information has been recently received. It may be presumed that the
successful progress of the revolution through such a long series of
years, gaining strength and extending annually in every direction, and
embracing by the late important events, with little exception, all the
dominions of Spain south of the United States on this continent, placing
thereby the complete sovereignty over the whole in the hands of the
people, will reconcile the parent country to an accommodation with them
on the basis of their unqualified independence. Nor has any authentic
information been recently received of the disposition of other powers
respecting it. A sincere desire has been cherished to act in concert
with them in the proposed recognition, of which several were some time
past duly apprised; but it was understood that they were not prepared
for it. The immense space between those powers, even those which border
on the Atlantic, and these Provinces makes the movement an affair
of less interest and excitement to them than to us. It is probable,
therefore, that they have been less attentive to its progress than we
have been. It may be presumed, however, that the late events will dispel
all doubt of the result.
In proposing this measure it is not contemplated to change thereby in
the slightest manner our friendly relations with either of the parties,
but to observe in all respects, as heretofore, should the war be
continued, the most perfect neutrality between them. Of this friendly
disposition an assurance will be given to the Government of Spain,
to whom it is presumed it will be, as it ought to be, satisfactory.
The measure is proposed under a thorough conviction that it is in
strict accord with the law of nations, that it is just and right as
to the parties, and that the United States owe it to their station
and character in the world, as well as to their essential interests,
to adopt it. Should Congress concur in the view herein presented, they
will doubtless see the propriety of making the necessary appropriations
for carrying it into effect.