ADDRESSES,
MESSAGES, AND REPLIES
by Thomas Jefferson
Response to the Citizens of
GENTLEMEN,
The testimony of esteem with which you are pleased to honour my return to my native country fills me with
gratitude and pleasure. While it shews that my
absence has not lost me your friendly recollection, it holds out the
comfortable hope that when the hour of retirement shall come, I shall again
find myself amidst those with whom I have long lived, with whom I wish to live,
and whose affection is the source of my purest happiness. Their favor was the door thro' which I was
ushered on the stage of public life; and while I have been led on thro' it's varying scenes, I could not be unmindful of those who
assigned me my first part.
My feeble and obscure exertions in their service, and in the
holy cause of freedom, have had no other merit than that they were my
best. We have all the same. We have been fellow-labourers
and fellow-sufferers, and heaven has rewarded us with a happy issue from our
struggles. It rests now with ourselves alone to enjoy in peace and concord the blessings
of self-government, so long denied to mankind: to shew
by example the sufficiency of human reason for the care of human affairs and
that the will of the majority, the Natural law of every society, is the only
sure guardian of the rights of man. Perhaps even this my
sometimes err. But it's
errors are honest, solitary and short-lived. -- Let us then, my dear friends,
for ever bow down to the general reason of the society. We are safe with that, even in it's deviations, for it soon returns again to the right
way. These are lessons we have learnt
together. We have prospered in their
practice, and the liberality with which you are pleased to approve my
attachment to the general rights of mankind assures me we are still together in
these it's kindred sentiments.
Wherever I may be stationed, by the will of my country, it
will be my delight to see, in the general tide of happiness, that yours too
flows on in just place and measure. That
it may flow thro' all times, gathering strength as it goes, and spreading the
happy influence of reason and liberty over the face of the earth, is my fervent
prayer to heaven.
First Inaugural Address,
FRIENDS AND FELLOW-CITIZENS,
Called upon to undertake the duties of the first executive
office of our country, I avail myself of the presence of that portion of my
fellow-citizens which is here assembled to express my grateful thanks for the
favor with which they have been pleased to look toward me, to declare a sincere
consciousness that the task is above my talents, and that I approach it with
those anxious and awful presentiments which the greatness of the charge and the
weakness of my powers so justly inspire.
A rising nation, spread over a wide and fruitful land, traversing all
the seas with the rich productions of their industry, engaged in commerce with
nations who feel power and forget right, advancing rapidly to destinies beyond
the reach of mortal eye -- when I contemplate these transcendent objects, and
see the honor, the happiness, and the hopes of this beloved country committed
to the issue and the auspices of this day, I shrink from the contemplation, and
humble myself before the magnitude of the undertaking. Utterly, indeed, should I despair did not the
presence of many whom I here see remind me that in the other high authorities
provided by our Constitution I shall find resources of wisdom, of virtue, and
of zeal on which to rely under all difficulties. To you, then, gentlemen, who are charged with
the sovereign functions of legislation, and to those associated with you, I
look with encouragement for that guidance and support which may enable us to
steer with safety the vessel in which we are all embarked amidst the
conflicting elements of a troubled world.
During the contest of opinion through which we have passed
the animation of discussions and of exertions has sometimes worn an aspect
which might impose on strangers unused to think freely and to speak and to
write what they think; but this being now decided by the voice of the nation,
announced according to the rules of the Constitution, all will, of course,
arrange themselves under the will of the law, and unite in common efforts for
the common good. All, too, will bear in
mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all
cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the
minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to
violate would be oppression. Let us, then, fellow-citizens, unite with one
heart and one mind. Let us restore to social intercourse that harmony and
affection without which liberty and even life itself are but dreary things. And
let us reflect that, having banished from our land that religious intolerance
under which mankind so long bled and suffered, we have yet gained little if we
countenance a political intolerance as despotic, as wicked, and capable of as
bitter and bloody persecutions. During
the throes and convulsions of the ancient world, during the agonizing spasms of
infuriated man, seeking through blood and slaughter his long-lost liberty, it
was not wonderful that the agitation of the billows should reach even this
distant and peaceful shore; that this should be more felt and feared by some
and less by others, and should divide opinions as to measures of safety. But
every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle. We have called by different names brethren of
the same principle. We are all
Republicans, we are all Federalists. If
there be any among us who would wish to dissolve this
Let us, then, with courage and confidence pursue our own
Federal and Republican principles, our attachment to union and representative
government. Kindly separated by nature
and a wide ocean from the exterminating havoc of one quarter of the globe; too
high-minded to endure the degradations of the others; possessing a chosen
country, with room enough for our descendants to the thousandth and thousandth
generation; entertaining a due sense of our equal right to the use of our own
faculties, to the acquisitions of our own industry, to honor and confidence
from our fellow-citizens, resulting not from birth, but from our actions and
their sense of them; enlightened by a benign religion, professed, indeed, and
practiced in various forms, yet all of them inculcating honesty, truth,
temperance, gratitude, and the love of man; acknowledging and adoring an
overruling Providence, which by all its dispensations proves that it delights
in the happiness of man here and his greater happiness hereafter -- with all
these blessings, what more is necessary to make us a happy and a prosperous
people? Still one thing more,
fellow-citizens -- a wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from
injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own
pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of
labor the bread it has earned. This is
the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our
felicities.
About to enter, fellow-citizens, on the exercise of duties
which comprehend everything dear and valuable to you, it is proper you should
understand what I deem the essential principles of our Government, and
consequently those which ought to shape its Administration. I will compress them within the narrowest
compass they will bear, stating the general principle, but not all its
limitations. Equal and exact justice to
all men, of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political; peace,
commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with
none; the support of the State governments in all their rights, as the most
competent administrations for our domestic concerns and the surest bulwarks
against antirepublican tendencies; the preservation
of the General Government in its whole constitutional vigor, as the sheet
anchor of our peace at home and safety abroad; a jealous care of the right of
election by the people -- a mild and safe corrective of abuses which are lopped
by the sword of revolution where peaceable remedies are unprovided;
absolute acquiescence in the decisions of the majority, the vital principle of
republics, from which is no appeal but to force, the vital principle and
immediate parent of despotism; a well-disciplined militia, our best reliance in
peace and for the first moments of war till regulars may relieve them; the
supremacy of the civil over the military authority; economy in the public
expense, that labor may be lightly burthened; the
honest payment of our debts and sacred preservation of the public faith;
encouragement of agriculture, and of commerce as its handmaid; the diffusion of
information and arraignment of all abuses at the bar of the public reason;
freedom of religion; freedom of the press, and freedom of person under the
protection of the habeas corpus, and trial by juries impartially selected. These principles form the bright
constellation which has gone before us and guided our steps through an age of
revolution and reformation. The wisdom
of our sages and blood of our heroes have been devoted to their attainment.
They should be the creed of our political faith, the text of civic instruction,
the touchstone by which to try the services of those we trust; and should we
wander from them in moments of error or of alarm, let us hasten to retrace our
steps and to regain the road which alone leads to peace, liberty, and safety.
I repair, then, fellow-citizens, to the post you have
assigned me. With experience enough in
subordinate offices to have seen the difficulties of this the greatest of all, I have learnt to expect that it will rarely fall to the
lot of imperfect man to retire from this station with the reputation and the
favor which bring him into it. Without
pretensions to that high confidence you reposed in our first and greatest
revolutionary character, whose preeminent services had entitled him to the
first place in his country's love and destined for him the fairest page in the
volume of faithful history, I ask so much confidence only as may give firmness
and effect to the legal administration of your affairs. I shall often go wrong through defect of
judgment. When right,
I shall often be thought wrong by those whose positions will not command a view
of the whole ground. I ask your
indulgence for my own errors, which will never be intentional, and your support
against the errors of others, who may condemn what they would not if seen in
all its parts. The approbation implied
by your suffrage is a great consolation to me for the past, and my future
solicitude will be to retain the good opinion of those who have bestowed it in
advance, to conciliate that of others by doing them all the good in my power,
and to be instrumental to the happiness and freedom of all.
Relying, then, on the patronage of your good will, I advance
with obedience to the work, ready to retire from it whenever you become
sensible how much better choice it is in your power to make. And may that
Infinite Power which rules the destinies of the universe lead our councils to
what is best, and give them a favorable issue for your peace and prosperity.
To Elias Shipman and Others, a Committee of the Merchants of
GENTLEMAN,
I have received the remonstrance you were pleased to address
to me, on the appointment of Samuel Bishop to the office of collector of
Of the various executive duties, no one excites more anxious
concern than that of placing the interests of our fellow citizens in the hands
of honest men, with understandings sufficient for their station. No duty, at the same time, is more difficult
to fulfil. The knolege of
characters possessed by a single individual is, of necessity, limited. To seek out the best through the whole
The removal, as it is called, of Mr. Goodrich, forms another
subject of complaint. Declarations by
myself in favor of _political tolerance_, exhortations to _harmony_ and
affection in social intercourse, and to respect for the _equal rights_ of the minority,
have, on certain occasions, been quoted & misconstrued into assurances that
the tenure of offices was to be undisturbed.
But could candor apply such a construction? It is not indeed in the remonstrance that we
find it; but it leads to the explanations which that calls
for. When it is considered, that during
the late administration, those who were not of a particular sect of politics
were excluded from all office; when, by a steady pursuit of this measure,
nearly the whole offices of the U S were monopolized by that sect; when the
public sentiment at length declared itself, and burst open the doors of honor
and confidence to those whose opinions they more approved, was it to be
imagined that this monopoly of office was still to be continued in the hands of
the minority? Does it violate their
_equal rights_, to assert some rights in the majority also? Is it _political intolerance_ to claim a
proportionate share in the direction of the public affairs? Can they not _harmonize_ in society unless
they have everything in their own hands?
If the will of the nation, manifested by their various elections, calls
for an administration of government according with the opinions of those
elected; if, for the fulfilment of that will,
displacements are necessary, with whom can they so justly begin as with persons
appointed in the last moments of an administration, not for its own aid, but to
begin a career at the same time with their successors, by whom they had never
been approved, and who could scarcely expect from them a cordial
cooperation? Mr. Goodrich was one of
these. Was it proper for him to place
himself in office, without knowing whether those whose agent he was to be would
have confidence in his agency? Can the preference of another, as the successor
to Mr. Austin, be candidly called a removal of Mr. Goodrich? If a due participation of office is a matter
of right, how are vacancies to be obtained?
Those by death are few; by resignation, none. Can any other mode than that of removal be proposed? This is
a painful office; but it is made my duty, and I meet it as such. I proceed in the operation with deliberation
& inquiry, that it may injure the best men least, and effect
the purposes of justice & public utility with the least private distress;
that it may be thrown, as much as possible, on delinquency, on oppression, on
intolerance, on incompetence, on ante-revolutionary adherence to our enemies.
The remonstrance laments "that a change in the
administration must produce a change in the subordinate officers;" in
other words, that it should be deemed necessary for all officers to think with
their principal. But on whom does this
imputation bear? On those who have excluded
from office every shade of opinion which was not theirs? Or on those who have been so excluded? I lament sincerely that unessential
differences of political opinion should ever have been deemed sufficient to
interdict half the society from the rights and the blessings of
self-government, to proscribe them as characters unworthy of every trust. It would have been to me a circumstance of
great relief, had I found a moderate participation of office in the hands of
the majority. I would gladly have left
to time and accident to raise them to their just share. But their total exclusion calls for prompter
correctives. I shall correct the
procedure; but that done, disdain to follow it, shall return with joy to that
state of things, when the only questions concerning a candidate shall be, is he
honest? Is he capable? Is he faithful to the Constitution?
I tender you the homage of my high respect.
First Annual Message,
FELLOW CITIZENS OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES:
It is a circumstance of sincere gratification to me that on
meeting the great council of our nation, I am able to announce to them, on the
grounds of reasonable certainty, that the wars and troubles which have for so
many years afflicted our sister nations have at length come to an end, and that
the communications of peace and commerce are once more opening among them. While we devoutly return thanks to the
beneficent Being who has been pleased to breathe into them the spirit of
conciliation and forgiveness, we are bound with peculiar gratitude to be
thankful to him that our own peace has been preserved through so perilous a
season, and ourselves permitted quietly to cultivate the earth and to practice
and improve those arts which tend to increase our comforts. The assurances, indeed, of friendly
disposition, received from all the powers with whom we have principal
relations, had inspired a confidence that our peace with them would not have
been disturbed. But a cessation of the
irregularities which had effected the commerce of neutral nations, and of the
irritations and injuries produced by them, cannot but add to this confidence;
and strengthens, at the same time, the hope, that wrongs committed on offending
friends, under a pressure of circumstances, will now be reviewed with candor,
and will be considered as founding just claims of retribution for the past and
new assurances for the future.
Among our Indian neighbors, also, a spirit of peace and
friendship generally prevailing and I am happy to inform you that the continued
efforts to introduce among them the implements and the practice of husbandry,
and of the household arts, have not been without success; that they are
becoming more and more sensible of the superiority of this dependence for
clothing and subsistence over the precarious resources of hunting and fishing;
and already we are able to announce, that instead of that constant diminution
of their numbers, produced by their wars and their wants, some of them begin to
experience an increase of population.
To this state of general peace with which we have been
blessed, one only exception exists.
I wish I could say that our situation with all the other
I lay before you the result of the census lately taken of
our inhabitants, to a conformity with which we are to reduce the ensuing rates
of representation and taxation. You will
perceive that the increase of numbers during the last ten years, proceeding in
geometrical ratio, promises a duplication in little
more than twenty-two years. We contemplate
this rapid growth, and the prospect it holds up to us, not with a view to the
injuries it may enable us to do to others in some future day, but to the
settlement of the extensive country still remaining vacant within our limits,
to the multiplications of men susceptible of happiness, educated in the love of
order, habituated to self-government, and value its blessings above all price.
Other circumstances, combined with the increase of numbers, have
produced an augmentation of revenue arising from consumption, in a ratio far
beyond that of population alone, and though the changes of foreign relations
now taking place so desirably for the world, may for a season affect this
branch of revenue, yet, weighing all probabilities of expense, as well as of
income, there is reasonable ground of confidence that we may now safely
dispense with all the internal taxes, comprehending excises, stamps, auctions,
licenses, carriages, and refined sugars, to which the postage on newspapers may
be added, to facilitate the progress of information, and that the remaining
sources of revenue will be sufficient to provide for the support of government
to pay the interest on the public debts, and to discharge the principals in
shorter periods than the laws or the general expectations had
contemplated. War, indeed, and untoward
events, may change this prospect of things, and call for expenses which the
imposts could not meet; but sound principles will not justify our taxing the
industry of our fellow citizens to accumulate treasure for wars to happen we
know not when, and which might not perhaps happen but from the temptations
offered by that treasure.
These views, however, of reducing our burdens, are formed on
the expectation that a sensible, and at the same time a salutary reduction, may
take place in our habitual expenditures.
For this purpose, those of the civil government, the army, and navy,
will need revisal.
When we consider that this government is charged with the
external and mutual relations only of these states; that the states themselves
have principal care of our persons, our property, and our reputation,
constituting the great field of human concerns, we may well doubt whether our
organization is not too complicated, too expensive; whether offices or officers
have not been multiplied unnecessarily, and sometimes injuriously to the
service they were meant to promote. I
will cause to be laid before you an essay toward a statement of those who,
under public employment of various kinds, draw money from the treasury or from
our citizens. Time has not permitted a
perfect enumeration, the ramifications of office being too multipled
and remote to be completely traced in a first trial. Among those who are
dependent on executive discretion, I have begun the reduction of what was
deemed necessary. The expenses of
diplomatic agency have been considerably diminished. The inspectors of internal revenue
who were found to obstruct the accountability of the institution, have been
discontinued. Several agencies created
by executive authority, on salaries fixed by that also, have been suppressed,
and should suggest the expediency of regulating that power by law, so as to
subject its exercises to legislative inspection and sanction. Other reformations of the same kind will be
pursued with that caution which is requisite in removing useless things, not to
injure what is retained. But the great
mass of public offices is established by law, and, therefore, by law alone can
be abolished. Should the legislature
think it expedient to pass this roll in review, and try all its parts by the
test of public utility, they may be assured of every aid and light which
executive information can yield.
Considering the general tendency to multiply offices and dependencies,
and to increase expense to the ultimate term of burden which the citizen can
bear, it behooves us to avail ourselves of every occasion which presents itself
for taking off the surcharge; that it may never be seen here that, after
leaving to labor the smallest portion of its earnings on which it can subsist,
government shall itself consume the residue of what it was instituted to guard.
In our care, too, of the public contributions intrusted to our direction, it would be prudent to multiply
barriers against their dissipation, by appropriating specific sums to every
specific purpose susceptible of definition; by disallowing applications of
money varying from the appropriation in object, or transcending it in amount;
by reducing the undefined field of contingencies, and thereby circumscribing
discretionary powers over money; and by bringing back to a single department
all accountabilities for money where the examination may be prompt,
efficacious, and uniform.
An account of the receipts and expenditures of the last
year, as prepared by the secretary of the treasury, will as usual be laid
before you. The success which has
attended the late sales of the public lands, shows
that with attention they may be made an important source of receipt. Among the payments, those made in discharge
of the principal and interest of the national debt, will show that the public
faith has been exactly maintained. To these will be added an estimate of appropriations necessary for
the ensuing year. This last will
of course be effected by such modifications of the systems of expense, as you
shall think proper to adopt.
A statement has been formed by the secretary of war, on
mature consideration, of all the posts and stations where garrisons will be expedient,
and of the number of men requisite for each garrison. The whole amount is considerably short of the
present military establishment. For the
surplus no particular use can be pointed out. For defence
against invasion, their number is as nothing; nor is it conceived needful or
safe that a standing army should be kept up in time of peace for that
purpose. Uncertain as we must ever be of
the particular point in our circumference where an enemy may choose to invade
us, the only force which can be ready at every point and competent to oppose
them, is the body of neighboring citizens as formed into a militia. On these, collected from the parts most
convenient, in numbers proportioned to the invading foe, it is best to rely,
not only to meet the first attack, but if it threatens to be permanent, to
maintain the defence until regulars may be engaged to
relieve them. These considerations
render it important that we should at every session continue to amend the
defects which from time to time show themselves in the laws for regulating the
militia, until they are sufficiently perfect.
Nor should we now or at any time separate, until we can say we have done
everything for the militia which we could do were an enemy at our door.
The provisions of military stores on hand will be laid
before you, that you may judge of the additions still
requisite.
With respect to the extent to which our naval preparations
should be carried, some difference of opinion may be expected to appear; but
just attention to the circumstances of every part of the
How far the authority given by the legislature for procuring
and establishing sites for naval purposes has been perfectly understood and
pursued in the execution, admits of some doubt.
A statement of the expenses already incurred on that subject, shall be
laid before you. I have in certain cases
suspended or slackened these expenditures, that the
legislature might determine whether so many yards are necessary as have been
contemplated. The works at this place
are among those permitted to go on; and five of the seven frigates directed to
be laid up, have been brought and laid up here, where, besides the safety of
their position, they are under the eye of the executive administration, as well
as of its agents and where yourselves also will be guided by your own view in
the legislative provisions respecting them which may from time to time be
necessary. They are preserved in such condition, as well the vessels as
whatever belongs to them, as to be at all times ready for sea on a short
warning. Two others are yet to be laid
up so soon as they shall have reserved the repairs
requisite to put them also into sound condition. As a superintending officer
will be necessary at each yard, his duties and emoluments, hitherto fixed by
the executive, will be a more proper subject for legislation. A communication will also be made of our
progress in the execution of the law respecting the vessels directed to be
sold.
The fortifications of our harbors, more or less
advanced, present considerations of great difficulty. While some of them are on a scale
sufficiently proportioned to the advantages of their position, to the efficacy
of their protection, and the importance of the points within it, others are so
extensive, will cost so much in their first erection, so much in their
maintenance, and require such a force to garrison them, as to make it
questionable what is best now to be done.
A statement of those commenced or projected, of the expenses already
incurred, and estimates of their future cost, so far as can be foreseen, shall
be laid before you, that you may be enabled to judge whether any attention is
necessary in the laws respecting this subject.
Agriculture, manufactures, commerce, and navigation, the
four pillars of our prosperity, are the most thriving when left most free to
individual enterprise. Protection from
casual embarrassments, however, may sometimes be seasonably interposed. If in the course of your observations or
inquiries they should appear to need any aid within the limits of our
constitutional powers, your sense of their importance is a sufficient assurance
they will occupy your attention. We cannot, indeed, but all feel an anxious
solicitude for the difficulties under which our carrying trade will soon be placed. How far it can be relieved, otherwise than by
time, is a subject of important consideration.
The judiciary system of the United States, and especially
that portion of it recently erected, will of course present itself to the
contemplation of Congress: and that they may be able to judge of the proportion
which the institution bears to the business it has to perform, I have caused to
be procured from the several States, and now lay before Congress, an exact
statement of all the causes decided since the first establishment of the
courts, and of those which were depending when additional courts and judges
were brought in to their aid.
And while on the judiciary organization, it will be
worthy your consideration, whether the protection of the inestimable
institution of juries has been extended to all the cases involving the security
of our persons and property.
Their impartial selection also being essential to their value, we ought
further to consider whether that is sufficiently secured in those States where
they are named by a marshal depending on executive will, or designated by the
court or by officers dependent on them.
I cannot omit recommending a revisal of the laws on the
subject of naturalization. Considering
the ordinary chances of human life, a denial of citizenship under a residence
of fourteen years is a denial to a great proportion of those who ask it, and
controls a policy pursued from their first settlement by many of these States,
and still believed of consequence to their prosperity. And shall we refuse the unhappy fugitives from
distress that hospitality which the savages of the wilderness extended to our
fathers arriving in this land? Shall
oppressed humanity find no asylum on this globe? The constitution, indeed, has wisely provided
that, for admission to certain offices of important trust, a residence shall be
required sufficient to develop character and design. But might not the general character and
capabilities of a citizen be safely communicated to every one manifesting a _bona
fide_ purpose of embarking his life and fortunes permanently with us? with restrictions, perhaps, to guard against the fraudulent
usurpation of our flag; an abuse which brings so much embarrassment and loss on
the genuine citizen, and so much danger to the nation of being involved in war,
that no endeavor should be spared to detect and suppress it.
These, fellow citizens, are the matters respecting the state
of the nation, which I have thought of importance to be submitted to your
consideration at this time. Some others
of less moment, or not yet ready for communication, will be the subject of
separate messages. I am happy in this
opportunity of committing the arduous affairs of our government to the
collected wisdom of the
To Messrs. Nehemiah Dodge and Others, a Committee of the
Danbury Baptist Association, in the State of
GENTLEMAN,
The affectionate sentiments of esteem and approbation which
you are so good as to express towards me, on behalf of
the Danbury Baptist Association, give me the highest satisfaction. My duties dictate a faithful and zealous
pursuit of the interests of my constituents, and in proportion as they are
persuaded of my fidelity to those duties, the discharge of them becomes more
and more pleasing.
Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies
solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his
faith or his worship, that the legislative powers of government reach actions
only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the
whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make
no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free
exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between church and
State. Adhering to this expression of
the supreme will of the nation in behalf of the rights of conscience, I shall
see with sincere satisfaction the progress of those sentiments which tend to
restore to man all his natural rights, convinced he has no natural right in
opposition to his social duties.
I reciprocate your kind prayers for the protection and
blessing of the common Father and Creator of man, and tender you for yourselves
and your religious association, assurances of my high respect and esteem.
Third Annual Message,
TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED
STATES:
In calling you together, fellow citizens, at an earlier day
than was contemplated by the act of the last session of Congress, I have not
been insensible to the personal inconve-niences
necessarily resulting from an unexpected change in your arrangements. But matters of great public concernment have
rendered this call necessary, and the interest you feel in these will supersede
in your minds all private considerations.
Congress witnessed, at their last session, the extraordinary
agitation produced in the public mind by the suspension of our right of deposit
at the
Previous, however, to this period, we had not been unaware
of the danger to which our peace would be perpetually exposed while so
important a key to the commerce of the western country remained under foreign
power. Difficulties, too, were
presenting themselves as to the navigation of other streams, which, arising within
our territories, pass through those adjacent.
Propositions had, therefore, been authorized for obtaining, on fair
conditions, the sovereignty of New Orleans, and of other possessions in that
quarter interesting to our quiet, to such extent as was deemed practicable; and
the provisional appropriation of two millions of dollars, to be applied and
accounted for by the president of the United States, intended as part of the
price, was considered as conveying the sanction of Congress to the acquisition
proposed. The enlightened government of France
saw, with just discernment, the importance to both nations of such liberal
arrangements as might best and permanently promote the peace, friendship, and
interests of both; and the property and sovereignty of all Louisiana, which had
been restored to them, have on certain conditions been transferred to the
United States by instruments bearing date the 30th of April last. When these
shall have received the constitutional sanction of the senate, they will
without delay be communicated to the representatives also, for the exercise of
their functions, as to those conditions which are within the powers vested by
the constitution in Congress. While the
property and sovereignty of the Mississippi and its waters secure an
independent outlet for the produce of the western States, and an uncontrolled
navigation through their whole course, free from collision with other powers
and the dangers to our peace from that source, the fertility of the country,
its climate and extent, promise in due season important aids to our treasury,
an ample provision for our posterity, and a wide-spread field for the blessings
of freedom and equal laws.
With the wisdom of Congress it will rest to take those
ulterior measures which may be necessary for the immediate occupation and temporary
government of the country; for its incorporation into our Union; for rendering
the change of government a blessing to our newly-adopted brethren; for securing
to them the rights of conscience and of property: for confirming to the Indian
inhabitants their occupancy and self-government, establishing friendly and
commercial relations with them, and for ascertaining the geography of the
country acquired. Such materials for
your information, relative to its affairs in general, as the short space of time
has permitted me to collect, will be laid before you when the subject shall be
in a state for your consideration.
Another important acquisition of territory has also been
made since the last session of Congress.
The friendly tribe of Kaskaskia Indians with
which we have never had a difference, reduced by the wars and wants of savage
life to a few individuals unable to defend themselves against the neighboring
tribes, has transferred its country to the United States, reserving only for
its members what is sufficient to maintain them in an agricultural way. The considerations stipulated are, that we
shall extend to them our patronage and protection, and give them certain annual
aids in money, in implements of agriculture, and other articles of their choice.
This country, among the most fertile within our limits, extending along the
Mississippi from the mouth of the Illinois to and up the Ohio, though not so
necessary as a barrier since the acquisition of the other bank, may yet be well
worthy of being laid open to immediate settlement, as its inhabitants may
descend with rapidity in support of the lower country should future
circumstances expose that to foreign enterprise. As the stipulations in this treaty also involve
matters within the competence of both houses only, it will be laid before
Congress as soon as the senate shall have advised its ratification.
With many other Indian tribes, improvements in agriculture
and household manufacture are advancing, and with all our peace and friendship
are established on grounds much firmer than heretofore. The measure adopted of
establishing trading houses among them, and of furnishing them necessaries in
exchange for their commodities, at such moderated prices as leave no gain, but
cover us from loss, has the most conciliatory and useful effect upon them, and
is that which will best secure their peace and good will.
The small vessels authorized by Congress with a view to the
Mediterranean service, have been sent into that sea, and will be able more
effectually to confine the Tripoline cruisers within
their harbors, and supersede the necessity of convoy to our commerce in that
quarter. They will sensibly lessen the
expenses of that service the ensuing year.
A further knowledge of the ground in the north-eastern and
north-western angles of the United States has evinced that the boundaries
established by the treaty of Paris, between the British territories and ours in
those parts, were too imperfectly described to be susceptible of
execution. It has therefore been thought
worthy of attention, for preserving and cherishing the harmony and useful
intercourse subsisting between the two nations, to remove by timely arrangements
what unfavorable incidents might otherwise render a ground of future
misunderstanding. A convention has
therefore been entered into, which provides for a practicable demarkation of those limits to the satisfaction of both
parties.
An account of the receipts and expenditures of the year ending
30th September last, with the estimates for the service of the ensuing year,
will be laid before you by the secretary of the treasury so soon as the
receipts of the last quarter shall be returned from the more distant States. It is already ascertained that the amount
paid into the treasury for that year has been between eleven and twelve
millions of dollars, and that the revenue accrued during the same term exceeds
the sum counted on as sufficient for our current expenses, and to extinguish
the public debt within the period heretofore proposed.
The amount of debt paid for the same year is about three
millions one hundred thousand dollars, exclusive of interest, and making, with
the payment of the preceding year, a discharge of more than eight millions and
a half of dollars of the principal of that debt, besides the accruing interest;
and there remain in the treasury nearly six millions of dollars. Of these, eight hundred and eighty thousand
have been reserved for payment of the first instalment
due under the British convention of January 8th, 1802, and two millions are
what have been before mentioned as placed by Congress under the power and
accountability of the president, toward the price of New Orleans and other
territories acquired, which, remaining untouched, are still applicable to that
object, and go in diminution of the sum to be funded for it.
Should the acquisition of Louisiana be constitutionally
confirmed and carried into effect, a sum of nearly thirteen millions of dollars
will then be added to our public debt, most of which is payable after fifteen
years; before which term the present existing debts will all be discharged by
the established operation of the sinking fund.
When we contemplate the ordinary annual augmentation of imposts from increasing
population and wealth, the augmentation of the same revenue by its extension to
the new acquisition, and the economies which may still be introduced into our
public expenditures, I cannot but hope that Congress in reviewing their
resources will find means to meet the intermediate interests of this additional
debt without recurring to new taxes, and applying to this object only the
ordinary progression of our revenue. Its
extraordinary increase in times of foreign war will be the proper and sufficient
fund for any measures of safety or precaution which that state of things may
render necessary in our neutral position.
Remittances for the instalments of
our foreign debt having been found impracticable without loss, it has not been
thought expedient to use the power given by a former act of Congress of
continuing them by reloans, and of redeeming instead
thereof equal sums of domestic debt, although no difficulty was found in
obtaining that accommodation.
The sum of fifty thousand dollars appropriated by Congress
for providing gun-boats, remains unexpended. The favorable and peaceful turn of affairs on
the
We have seen with sincere concern the flames of war lighted
up again in
Second Inaugural Address,
Proceeding, fellow citizens, to that qualification which the
constitution requires, before my entrance on the charge again conferred upon
me, it is my duty to express the deep sense I entertain of this new proof of
confidence from my fellow citizens at large, and the zeal with which it
inspires me, so to conduct myself as may best satisfy their just expectations.
On taking this station on a former occasion, I declared the
principles on which I believed it my duty to administer the affairs of our
commonwealth. My conscience tells me
that I have, on every occasion, acted up to that declaration, according to its
obvious import, and to the understanding of every candid mind.
In the transaction of your foreign affairs, we have
endeavored to cultivate the friendship of all nations, and especially of those
with which we have the most important relations. We have done them justice on all occasions,
favored where favor was lawful, and cherished mutual interests and intercourse
on fair and equal terms. We are firmly convinced, and we act on that
conviction, that with nations, as with individuals, our interests soundly
calculated, will ever be found inseparable from our moral duties; and history
bears witness to the fact, that a just nation is taken on its word, when
recourse is had to armaments and wars to bridle others.
At home, fellow citizens, you best know whether we have done
well or ill. The suppression of
unnecessary offices, of useless establishments and expenses, enabled us to
discontinue our internal taxes. These
covering our land with officers, and opening our doors to their intrusions, had
already begun that process of domiciliary vexation which, once entered, is
scarcely to be restrained from reaching successively every article of produce
and property. If among these taxes some
minor ones fell which had not been inconvenient, it was because their amount
would not have paid the officers who collected them, and because, if they had
any merit, the state authorities might adopt them, instead of others less
approved.
The remaining revenue on the consumption of foreign
articles, is paid cheerfully by those who can afford to add foreign luxuries to
domestic comforts, being collected on our seaboards and frontiers only, and
incorporated with the transactions of our mercantile citizens, it may be the
pleasure and pride of an American to ask, what farmer, what mechanic, what
laborer, ever sees a tax-gatherer of the United States? These contributions enable us to support the
current expenses of the government, to fulfil
contracts with foreign nations, to extinguish the native right of soil within
our limits, to extend those limits, and to apply such a surplus to our public
debts, as places at a short day their final redemption, and that redemption
once effected, the revenue thereby liberated may, by a just repartition among
the states, and a corresponding amendment of the constitution, be applied, _in
time of peace_, to rivers, canals, roads, arts, manufactures, education, and
other great objects within each state.
_In time of war_, if injustice, by ourselves or others, must sometimes
produce war, increased as the same revenue will be increased by population and
consumption, and aided by other resources reserved for that crisis, it may meet
within the year all the expenses of the year, without encroaching on the rights
of future generations, by burdening them with the debts of the past. War will then be but a suspension of useful
works, and a return to a state of peace, a return to the progress of
improvement.
I have said, fellow citizens, that the income reserved had
enabled us to extend our limits; but that extension may possibly pay for itself
before we are called on, and in the meantime, may keep down the accruing
interest; in all events, it will repay the advances we have made. I know that the acquisition of
In matters of religion, I have considered that its free
exercise is placed by the constitution independent of the powers of the general
government. I have therefore undertaken,
on no occasion, to prescribe the religious exercises suited to it; but have
left them, as the constitution found them, under the direction and discipline
of state or church authorities acknowledged by the several religious societies.
The aboriginal inhabitants of these countries I have
regarded with the commiseration their history inspires. Endowed with the faculties and the rights of men,
breathing an ardent love of liberty and independence, and occupying a country
which left them no desire but to be undisturbed, the stream of overflowing
population from other regions directed itself on these shores; without power to
divert, or habits to contend against, they have been overwhelmed by the
current, or driven before it; now reduced within limits too narrow for the
hunter's state, humanity enjoins us to teach them agriculture and the domestic
arts; to encourage them to that industry which alone can enable them to
maintain their place in existence, and to prepare them in time for that state
of society, which to bodily comforts adds the improvement of the mind and
morals. We have therefore liberally furnished
them with the implements of husbandry and household use; we have placed among
them instructors in the arts of first necessity; and they are covered with the
aegis of the law against aggressors from among ourselves.
But the endeavors to enlighten them on the fate which awaits
their present course of life, to induce them to exercise their reason, follow
its dictates, and change their pursuits with the change of circumstances, have
powerful obstacles to encounter; they are combated by the habits of their
bodies, prejudice of their minds, ignorance, pride, and the influence of
interested and crafty individuals among them, who feel themselves something in
the present order of things, and fear to become nothing in any other. These persons inculcate a sanctimonious
reverence for the customs of their ancestors; that whatsoever they did, must be
done through all time; that reason is a false guide, and to advance under its
counsel, in their physical, moral, or political condition, is perilous
innovation; that their duty is to remain as their Creator made them, ignorance
being safety, and knowledge full of danger; in short, my friends, among them is
seen the action and counteraction of good sense and bigotry; they, too, have
their anti-philosophers, who find an interest in keeping things in their present
state, who dread reformation, and exert all their faculties to maintain the ascendency of habit over the duty of improving our reason,
and obeying its mandates.
In giving these outlines, I do not mean, fellow citizens, to
arrogate to myself the merit of the measures; that is due, in the first place,
to the reflecting character of our citizens at large, who, by the weight of
public opinion, influence and strengthen the public measures; it is due to the
sound discretion with which they select from among themselves those to whom
they confide the legislative duties; it is due to the zeal and wisdom of the
characters thus selected, who lay the foundations of public happiness in
wholesome laws, the execution of which alone remains for others; and it is due to
the able and faithful auxiliaries, whose patriotism has associated with me in
the executive functions.
During this course of administration, and in order to
disturb it, the artillery of the press has been levelled
against us, charged with whatsoever its licentiousness could devise or
dare. These abuses of an institution so
important to freedom and science, are deeply to be regretted, inasmuch as they
tend to lessen its usefulness, and to sap its safety; they might, indeed, have
been corrected by the wholesome punishments reserved and provided by the laws
of the several States against falsehood and defamation; but public duties more
urgent press on the time of public servants, and the offenders have therefore
been left to find their punishment in the public indignation.
Nor was it uninteresting to the world, that an experiment
should be fairly and fully made, whether freedom of discussion, unaided by
power, is not sufficient for the propagation and protection of truth -- whether
a government, conducting itself in the true spirit of its constitution, with
zeal and purity, and doing no act which it would be unwilling the whole world
should witness, can be written down by falsehood and defamation. The experiment has been tried; you have
witnessed the scene; our fellow citizens have looked on, cool and collected;
they saw the latent source from which these outrages proceeded; they gathered
around their public functionaries, and when the constitution called them to the
decision by suffrage, they pronounced their verdict, honorable to those who had
served them, and consolatory to the friend of man, who believes he may be intrusted with his own affairs.
No inference is here intended, that the laws, provided by
the State against false and defamatory publications, should not be enforced; he
who has time, renders a service to public morals and public tranquillity,
in reforming these abuses by the salutary coercions of the law; but the
experiment is noted, to prove that, since truth and reason have maintained
their ground against false opinions in league with false facts, the press,
confined to truth, needs no other legal restraint; the public judgment will
correct false reasonings and opinions, on a full
hearing of all parties; and no other definite line can be drawn between the
inestimable liberty of the press and its demoralizing licentiousness. If there be still improprieties which this
rule would not restrain, its supplement must be sought in the censorship of
public opinion.
Contemplating the union of sentiment now manifested so
generally, as auguring harmony and happiness to our future course, I offer to
our country sincere congratulations.
With those, too, not yet rallied to the same point, the disposition to
do so is gaining strength; facts are piercing through the veil drawn over them;
and our doubting brethren will at length see, that the mass of their fellow
citizens, with whom they cannot yet resolve to act, as to principles and
measures, think as they think, and desire what they desire; that our wish, as well
as theirs, is, that the public efforts may be directed honestly to the public
good, that peace be cultivated, civil and religious liberty unassailed,
law and order preserved; equality of rights maintained, and that state of
property, equal or unequal, which results to every man from his own industry,
or that of his fathers. When satisfied
of these views, it is not in human nature that they should not approve and
support them; in the meantime, let us cherish them with patient affection; let
us do them justice, and more than justice, in all competitions of interest; and
we need not doubt that truth, reason, and their own interests, will at length
prevail, will gather them into the fold of their country, and will complete
their entire union of opinion, which gives to a nation the blessing of harmony,
and the benefit of all its strength.
I shall now enter on the duties to which my fellow citizens
have again called me, and shall proceed in the spirit of those principles which
they have approved. I fear not that any
motives of interest may lead me astray; I am sensible of no passion which could
seduce me knowingly from the path of justice; but the weakness of human nature,
and the limits of my own understanding, will produce errors of judgment
sometimes injurious to your interests. I
shall need, therefore, all the indulgence I have heretofore experienced -- the
want of it will certainly not lessen with increasing years. I shall need, too, the favor of that Being in
whose hands we are, who led our forefathers, as Israel of old, from their
native land, and planted them in a country flowing with all the necessaries and
comforts of life; who has covered our infancy with his providence, and our
riper years with his wisdom and power; and to whose goodness I ask you to join
with me in supplications, that he will so enlighten the minds of your servants,
guide their councils, and prosper their measures, that whatsoever they do,
shall result in your good, and shall secure to you the peace, friendship, and
approbation of all nations.
Sixth Annual Message,
TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED
STATES IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED:
It would have given me, fellow citizens, great satisfaction
to announce in the moment of your meeting that the difficulties in our foreign
relations, existing at the time of your last separation, had been amicably and
justly terminated. I lost no time in
taking those measures which were most likely to bring them to such a
termination, by special missions charged with such powers and instructions as
in the event of failure could leave no imputation on either our moderation or
forbearance. The delays which have since
taken place in our negotiations with the British government appears to have proceeded
from causes which do not forbid the expectation that during the course of the
session I may be enabled to lay before you their final issue. What will be that of the negotiations for
settling our differences with
The nature of that country requires indispensably that an
unusual proportion of the force employed there should be cavalry or mounted
infantry. In order, therefore, that the
commanding officer might be enabled to act with effect, I had authorized him to
call on the governors of
Having received information that in another part of the
United States a great number of private individuals were combining together,
arming and organizing themselves contrary to law, to carry on military
expeditions against the territories of Spain, I thought it necessary, by
proclamations as well as by special orders, to take measures for preventing and
suppressing this enterprise, for seizing the vessels, arms, and other means
provided for it, and for arresting and bringing to justice its authors and
abettors. It was due to that good faith
which ought ever to be the rule of action in public as well as in private transactions;
it was due to good order and regular government, that while the public force
was acting strictly on the defensive and merely to protect our citizens from
aggression, the criminal attempts of private individuals to decide for their
country the question of peace or war, by commencing active and unauthorized
hostilities, should be promptly and efficaciously suppressed.
Whether it will be necessary to enlarge our regular force
will depend on the result of our negotiation with Spain; but as it is uncertain
when that result will be known, the provisional measures requisite for that,
and to meet any pressure intervening in that quarter, will be a subject for
your early consideration.
The possession of both banks of the Mississippi reducing to
a single point the defence of that river, its waters,
and the country adjacent, it becomes highly necessary to provide for that point
a more adequate security. Some position
above its mouth, commanding the passage of the river, should be rendered
sufficiently strong to cover the armed vessels which may be stationed there for
defence, and in conjunction with them to present an
insuperable obstacle to any force attempting to pass. The approaches to the city of
The gun-boats authorized by an act of the last session are
so advanced that they will be ready for service in the ensuing spring.
Circumstances permitted us to allow the time necessary for their more solid
construction. As a much larger number
will still be wanting to place our seaport towns and
waters in that state of defence to which we are
competent and they entitled, a similar appropriation for a further provision
for them is recommended for the ensuing year.
A further appropriation will also be necessary for repairing
fortifications already established, and the erection of such works as may have
real effect in obstructing the approach of an enemy to our seaport towns, or
their remaining before them.
In a country whose constitution is derived from the will of
the people, directly expressed by their free suffrages; where the principal
executive functionaries, and those of the legislature, are renewed by them at
short periods; where under the characters of jurors, they exercise in person
the greatest portion of the judiciary powers; where the laws are consequently
so formed and administered as to bear with equal weight and favor on all,
restraining no man in the pursuits of honest industry, and securing to every
one the property which that acquires, it would not be supposed that any
safeguards could be needed against insurrection or enterprise on the public
peace or authority. The laws, however,
aware that these should not be trusted to moral restraints only, have wisely
provided punishments for these crimes when committed. But would it not be salutary to give also the
means of preventing their commission?
Where an enterprise is meditated by private individuals against a
foreign nation in amity with the
The states on the coast of
We continue to receive proofs of the growing attachment of
our Indian neighbors, and of their disposition to place all their interests
under the patronage of the
The expedition of Messrs. Lewis and Clarke, for exploring the
river
The attempt to explore the