expedient to establish strong posts at the mouth of Yellow Stone River and
at the Mandan village on the Missouri, and at the mouth of St. Peters on
the Mississippi, at no great distance from our northern boundaries. It can
hardly be presumed while such posts are maintained in the rear of the
Indian tribes that they will venture to attack our peaceable inhabitants. A
strong hope is entertained that this measure will likewise be productive of
much good to the tribes themselves, especially in promoting the great
object of their civilization.
Experience has clearly demonstrated that independent savage communities can
not long exist within the limits of a civilized population. The progress of
the latter has almost invariably terminated in the extinction of the
former, especially of the tribes belonging to our portion of this
hemisphere, among whom loftiness of sentiment and gallantry in action have
been conspicuous. To civilize them, and even to prevent their extinction,
it seems to be indispensable that their independence as communities should
cease, and that the control of the United States over them should be
complete and undisputed. The hunter state will then be more easily
abandoned, and recourse will be had to the acquisition and culture of land
and to other pursuits tending to dissolve the ties which connect them
together as a savage community and to give a new character to every
individual. I present this subject to the consideration of Congress on the
presumption that it may be found expedient and practicable to adopt some
benevolent provisions, having these objects in view, relative to the tribes
within our settlements.
It has been necessary during the present year to maintain a strong naval
force in the Mediterranean and in the Gulf of Mexico, and to send some
public ships along the southern coast and to the Pacific Ocean. By these
means amicable relations with the Barbary Powers have been preserved, our
commerce has been protected, and our rights respected. The augmentation of
our Navy is advancing with a steady progress toward the limit contemplated
by law.
I communicate with great satisfaction the accession of another State
(Illinois) to our Union, because I perceive from the proof afforded by the
additions already made the regular progress and sure consummation of a
policy of which history affords no example, and of which the good effect
can not be too highly estimated. By extending our Government on the
principles of our Constitution over the vast territory within our limits,
on the Lakes and the Mississippi and its numerous streams, new life and
vigor are infused into every part of our system. By increasing the number
of the States the confidence of the State governments in their own security
is increased and their jealousy of the National Government proportionally
diminished.
The impracticability of one consolidated Government for this great and
growing nation will be more apparent and will be universally admitted.
Incapable of exercising local authority except for general purposes, the
General Government will no longer be dreaded. In those cases of a local
nature and for all the great purposes for which it was instituted its
authority will be cherished. Each Government will acquire new force and a
greater freedom of action within its proper sphere.
Other inestimable advantages will follow. Our produce will be augmented to
an incalculable amount in articles of the greatest value for domestic use
and foreign commerce. Our navigation will in like degree be increased, and
as the shipping of the Atlantic States will be employed in the
transportation of the vast produce of the Western country, even those parts
of the United States which are most remote from each other will be further
bound together by the strongest ties which mutual interest can create.
The situation of this District, it is thought, requires the attention of
Congress. By the Constitution the power of legislation is exclusively
vested in the Congress of the United States. In the exercise of this power,
in which the people have no participation, Congress legislate in all cases
directly on the local concerns of the District. As this is a departure, for
a special purpose, from the general principles of our system, it may merit
consideration whether an arrangement better adapted to the principles of
our Government and to the particular interests of the people may not be
devised which will neither infringe the Constitution nor affect the object
which the provision in question was intended to secure. The growing
population, already considerable, and the increasing business of the
District, which it is believed already interferes with the deliberations of
Congress on great national concerns, furnish additional motives for
recommending this subject to your consideration.
When we view the great blessings with which our country has been favored,
those which we now enjoy, and the means which we possess of handing them
down unimpaired to our latest posterity, our attention is irresistibly
drawn to the source from whence they flow. Let us, then, unite in offering
our most grateful acknowledgments for these blessings to the Divine Author
of All Good.
***
State of the Union Address
James Monroe
December 7, 1819
Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives:
The public buildings being advanced to a stage to afford accommodation for
Congress, I offer you my sincere congratulations on the recommencement of
your duties in the Capitol.
In bringing you to view the incidents most deserving attention which have
occurred since your last session, I regret to have to state that several of
our principal cities have suffered by sickness, that an unusual drought has
prevailed in the Middle and Western States, and that a derangement has been
felt in some of our moneyed institutions which has proportionably affected
their credit. I am happy, however, to have it in my power to assure you
that the health of our cities is now completely restored; that the produce
of the year, though less abundant than usual, will not only be amply
sufficient for home consumption, but afford a large surplus for the supply
of the wants of other nations, and that the derangement in the circulating
paper medium, by being left to those remedies which its obvious causes
suggested and the good sense and virtue of our fellow citizens supplied,
has diminished.
Having informed Congress, on the 27th of February last, that a treaty of
amity, settlement, and limits had been concluded in this city between the
United States and Spain, and ratified by the competent authorities of the
former, full confidence was entertained that it would have been ratified by
His Catholic Majesty with equal promptitude and a like earnest desire to
terminate on the conditions of that treaty the differences which had so
long existed between the two countries. Every view which the subject
admitted of was thought to have justified this conclusion.
Great losses had been sustained by citizens of the United States from
Spanish cruisers more than 20 years before, which had not been redressed.
These losses had been acknowledged and provided for by a treaty as far back
as the year 1802, which, although concluded at Madrid, was not then
ratified by the Government of Spain, nor since, until the last year, when
it was suspended by the late treaty, a more satisfactory provision to both
parties, as was presumed, having been made for them. Other differences had
arisen in this long interval, affecting their highest interests, which were
likewise provided for by this last treaty.
The treaty itself was formed on great consideration and a thorough
knowledge of all circumstances, the subject matter of every article having
been for years under discussion and repeated references having been made by
the minister of Spain to his Government on the points respecting which the
greatest difference of opinion prevailed. It was formed by a minister duly
authorized for the purpose, who had represented his Government in the
United States and been employed in this long-protracted negotiation
several years, and who, it is not denied, kept strictly within the letter
of his instructions. The faith of Spain was therefore pledged, under
circumstances of peculiar force and solemnity, for its ratification.
On the part of the United States this treaty was evidently acceded to in a
spirit of conciliation and concession. The indemnity for injuries and
losses so long before sustained, and now again acknowledged and provided
for, was to be paid by them without becoming a charge on the treasury of
Spain. For territory ceded by Spain other territory of great value, to
which our claim was believed to be well founded, was ceded by the United
States, and in a quarter more interesting to her. This cession was
nevertheless received as the means of indemnifying our citizens in a
considerable sum, the presumed amount of their losses.
Other considerations of great weight urged the cession of this territory by
Spain. It was surrounded by the Territories of the United States on every
side except on that of the ocean. Spain had lost her authority over it,
and, falling into the hands of adventurers connected with the savages, it
was made the means of unceasing annoyance and injury to our Union in many
of its most essential interests. By this cession, then, Spain ceded a
territory in reality of no value to her and obtained concessions of the
highest importance by the settlement of long-standing differences with the
United States affecting their respective claims and limits, and likewise
relieved herself from the obligation of a treaty relating to it which she
had failed to fulfill, and also from the responsibility incident to the
most flagrant and pernicious abuses of her rights where she could not
support her authority.
It being known that the treaty was formed under these circumstances, not a
doubt was entertained that His Catholic Majesty would have ratified it
without delay. I regret to have to state that this reasonable expectation
has been disappointed; that the treaty was not ratified within the time
stipulated and has not since been ratified. As it is important that the
nature and character of this unexpected occurrence should be distinctly
understood, I think it my duty to communicate to you all the facts and
circumstances in my possession relating to it.
Anxious to prevent all future disagreement with Spain by giving the most
prompt effect to the treaty which had been thus concluded, and particularly
by the establishment of a Government in Florida which should preserve order
there, the minister of the United States who had been recently appointed to
His Catholic Majesty, and to whom the ratification by his Government had
been committed to be exchanged for that of Spain, was instructed to
transmit the latter to the Department of State as soon as obtained, by a
public ship subjected to his order for the purpose.
Unexpected delay occurring in the ratification by Spain, he requested to be
informed of the cause. It was stated in reply that the great importance of
the subject, and a desire to obtain explanations on certain points which
were not specified, had produced the delay, and that an envoy would be
dispatched to the United States to obtain such explanations of this
Government. The minister of the United States offered to give full
explanation on any point on which it might be desired, which proposal was
declined. Having communicated this result to the Department of State in
August last, he was instructed, notwithstanding the disappointment and
surprise which it produced, to inform the Government of Spain that if the
treaty should be ratified and transmitted here at any time before the
meeting of Congress it would be received and have the same effect as if it
had been ratified in due time.
This order was executed, the authorized communication was made to the
Government of Spain, and by its answer, which has just been received, we
are officially made acquainted for the first time with the causes which
have prevented the ratification of the treaty by His Catholic Majesty. It
is alleged by the minister of Spain that his Government had attempted to
alter one of the principal articles of the treaty by a declaration which
the minister of the United States had been ordered to present when he
should deliver the ratification by his Government in exchange for that of
Spain, and of which he gave notice, explanatory of the sense in which that
article was understood. It is further alleged that this Government had
recently tolerated or protected an expedition from the United States
against the Province of Texas. These two imputed acts are stated as the
reasons which have induced His Catholic Majesty to withhold his
ratification from the treaty, to obtain explanations respecting which it is
repeated that an envoy would be forthwith dispatched to the United States.
How far these allegations will justify the conduct of the Government of
Spain will appear on a view of the following facts and the evidence which
supports them:
It will be seen by the documents transmitted herewith that the declaration
mentioned relates to a clause in the 8th article concerning certain grants
of land recently made by His Catholic Majesty in Florida, which it was
understood had conveyed all the lands which until then had been ungranted;
it was the intention of the parties to annul these latter grants, and that
clause was drawn for that express purpose and for none other. The date of
these grants was unknown, but it was understood to be posterior to that
inserted in the article; indeed, it must be obvious to all that if that
provision in the treaty had not the effect of annulling these grants, it
would be altogether nugatory. Immediately after the treaty was concluded
and ratified by this Government an intimation was received that these
grants were of anterior date to that fixed on by the treaty and that they
would not, of course, be affected by it. The mere possibility of such a
case, so inconsistent with the intention of the parties and the meaning of
the article, induced this Government to demand an explanation on the
subject, which was immediately granted, and which corresponds with this
statement.
With regard to the other act alleged, that this Government had tolerated
or protected an expedition against Texas, it is utterly without
foundation. Every discountenance has invariably been given to any such
attempt within the limits of the United States, as is fully evinced by the
acts of the Government and the proceedings of the courts. There being
cause, however, to apprehend, in the course of the last summer, that some
adventurers entertained views of the kind suggested, the attention of the
constituted authorities in that quarter was immediately drawn to them,
and it is known that the project, whatever it might be, has utterly
failed.
These facts will, it is presumed, satisfy every impartial mind that the
Government of Spain had no justifiable cause for declining to ratify the
treaty. A treaty concluded in conformity with instructions is obligatory,
in good faith, in all its stipulations, according to the true intent and
meaning of the parties. Each party is bound to ratify it. If either could
set it aside without the consent of the other, there would be no longer any
rules applicable to such transactions between nations.
By this proceeding the Government of Spain has rendered to the United
States a new and very serious injury. It has been stated that a minister
would be sent to ask certain explanations of this Government; but if such
were desired, why were they not asked within the time limited for the
ratification?
Is it contemplated to open a new negotiation respecting any of the articles
or conditions of the treaty? If that were done, to what consequences might
it not lead? At what time and in what manner would a new negotiation
terminate? By this proceeding Spain has formed a relation between the two
countries which will justify any measures on the part of the United States
which a strong sense of injury and a proper regard for the rights and
interests of the nation may dictate.
In the course to be pursued these objects should be constantly held in view
and have their due weight. Our national honor must be maintained, and a new
and a distinguished proof be afforded of that regard for justice and
moderation which has invariably governed the councils of this free people.
It must be obvious to all that if the United States had been desirous of
making conquests, or had been even willing to aggrandize themselves in that
way, they could have had no inducement to form this treaty. They would have
much cause for gratulation at the course which has been pursued by Spain.
An ample field for ambition is open before them, but such a career is not
consistent with the principles of their Government nor the interests of the
nation.
From a full view of all circumstances, it is submitted to the consideration
of Congress whether it will not be proper for the United States to carry
the conditions of the treaty into effect in the same manner as if it had
been ratified by Spain, claiming on their part all its advantages and
yielding to Spain those secured to her. By pursuing this course we shall
rest on the sacred ground of right, sanctioned in the most solemn manner by
Spain herself by a treaty which she was bound to ratify, for refusing to do
which she must incur the censure of other nations, even those most friendly
to her, while by confining ourselves within that limit we can not fail to
obtain their well-merited approbation.
We must have peace on a frontier where we have been so long disturbed; our
citizens must be indemnified for losses so long since sustained, and for
which indemnity has been so unjustly withheld from them. Accomplishing
these great objects, we obtain all that is desirable.
But His Catholic Majesty has twice declared his determination to send a
minister to the United States to ask explanations on certain points and to
give them respecting his delay to ratify the treaty. Shall we act by taking
the ceded territory and proceeding to execute the other conditions of the
treaty before this minister arrives and is heard?
This is a case which forms a strong appeal to the candor, the magnanimity,
and the honor of this people. Much is due to courtesy between nations. By a
short delay we shall lose nothing, for, resting on the ground of immutable
truth and justice, we can not be diverted from our purpose.
It ought to be presumed that the explanations which may be given to the
minister of Spain will be satisfactory, and produce the desired result. In
any event, the delay for the purpose mentioned, being a further
manifestation of the sincere desire to terminate in the most friendly
manner all differences with Spain, can not fail to be duly appreciated by
His Catholic Majesty as well as by other powers. It is submitted,
therefore, whether it will not be proper to make the law proposed for
carrying the conditions of the treaty into effect, should it be adopted,
contingent; to suspend its operation, upon the responsibility of the
Executive, in such manner as to afford an opportunity for such friendly
explanations as may be desired during the present session of Congress.
I communicate to Congress a copy of the treaty and of the instructions to
the minister of the United States at Madrid respecting it; of his
correspondence with the minister of Spain, and of such other documents as
may be necessary to give a full view of the subject.
In the course which the Spanish Government have on this occasion thought
proper to pursue it is satisfactory to know that they have not been
countenanced by any other European power. On the contrary, the opinion and
wishes both of France and Great Britain have not been withheld either from
the United States or from Spain, and have been unequivocal in favor of the
ratification. There is also reason to believe that the sentiments of the
Imperial Government of Russia have been the same, and that they have also
been made known to the cabinet of Madrid.
In the civil war existing between Spain and the Spanish Provinces in this
hemisphere the greatest care has been taken to enforce the laws intended to
preserve an impartial neutrality. Our ports have continued to be equally
open to both parties and on the same conditions, and our citizens have been
equally restrained from interfering in favor of either to the prejudice of
the other. The progress of the war, however has operated manifestly in
favor of the colonies. Buenos Ayres still maintains unshaken the
independence which it declared in 1816, and has enjoyed since 1810. Like
success has also lately attended Chili and the Provinces north of the La
Plata bordering on it, and likewise Venezuela.
This contest has from its commencement been very interesting to other
powers, and to none more so than to the United States. A virtuous people
may and will confine themselves within the limit of a strict neutrality;
but it is not in their power to behold a conflict so vitally important to
their neighbors without the sensibility and sympathy which naturally belong
to such a case. It has been the steady purpose of this Government to
prevent that feeling leading to excess, and it is very gratifying to have
it in my power to state that so strong has been the sense throughout the
whole community of what was due to the character and obligations of the
nation that very few examples of a contrary kind have occurred.
The distance of the colonies from the parent country and the great extent
of their population and resources gave them advantages which it was
anticipated at a very early period would be difficult for Spain to
surmount. The steadiness, consistency, and success with which they have
pursued their object, as evinced more particularly by the undisturbed
sovereignty which Buenos Ayres has so long enjoyed, evidently give them a
strong claim to the favorable consideration of other nations. These
sentiments on the part of the United States have not been withheld from
other powers, with whom it is desirable to act in concert. Should it become
manifest to the world that the efforts of Spain to subdue these Provinces
will be fruitless, it may be presumed that the Spanish Government itself
will give up the contest. In producing such a determination it can not be
doubted that the opinion of friendly powers who have taken no part in the
controversy will have their merited influence.
It is of the highest importance to our national character and indispensable
to the morality of our citizens that all violations of our neutrality
should be prevented. No door should be left open for the evasion of our
laws, no opportunity afforded to any who may be disposed to take advantage
of it to compromit the interest or the honor of the nation. It is
submitted, therefore, to the consideration of Congress whether it may not
be advisable to revise the laws with a view to this desirable result.
It is submitted also whether it may not be proper to designate by law the
several ports or places along the coast at which only foreign ships of war
and privateers may be admitted. The difficulty of sustaining the
regulations of our commerce and of other important interests from abuse
without such designation furnishes a strong motive for this measure.