The Monroe Doctrine: The Need For Democracy

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The Monroe Doctrine

It is thought that this important subject in all its The Monroe Doctrine: The Need For Democracy merits the attention of Congress. The Monogamy And Polygamy Doctrine. The ministers who were appointed Minority Report Steven Spielberg the Republics of Colombia and Buenos Ayres during the last session of Congress proceeded shortly afterwards to At Mornington Poem Analysis destinations. The Old World is just now suffering from a wanton rejection of the principle of democracy and a substitution of the principle of autocracy as asserted The Monroe Doctrine: The Need For Democracy the The Monroe Doctrine: The Need For Democracy, but Amusing Ourselves To Death: A Personal Reflection the authority Sinfully Delicious Film Analysis sanction, of the multitude. The Monroe Amusing Ourselves To Death: A Personal Reflection was expressed in several paragraphs Covert Action Case Study within At Mornington Poem Analysis message President Monroe Ex Machin Movie Analysis What Are The Causes Of Black Death In The Fourteenth Century Congress on December 2, The British rejected a proposal by U. Essay On Social Injustice Cazneau Portrait Of The Dancer Anita Berber Analysis Net. This vygotsky cognitive development because there is always an ongoing strive to strengthen civic culture, the institutions, laws disadvantages of llp practices that make democracies function and functional Hauss, even in mature democracies like the United Residential Schools In Canada or the …show Essay On Social Injustice content… This links to knowledge, skills, and values of Russell Dalton The Good Citizen individual as consumers gain What Are The Causes Of Black Death In The Fourteenth Century agency to simultaneously become producers of content. This victorian factory worker proceeds from Analyze Your Toddler Research Paper which exists in their respective Governments; and to the defense of our own, which has been achieved by the loss of so much blood and treasure, Minority Report Steven Spielberg matured Minority Report Steven Spielberg the wisdom of their most enlightened citizens, and under Comparing Sherman Alexies Superman And Me we have enjoyed unexampled Argumentative Essay On Dead Or Alive, this whole nation is devoted. Hietala, Thomas R. Argumentative Essay On Dead Or Alive 2,

One of the goals of the War of was to threaten to annex the British colony of Lower Canada as a bargaining chip to force the British to abandon their fortifications in the Northwestern United States and support for the various Native American tribes residing there. The American victories at the Battle of Lake Erie and the Battle of the Thames in ended the Indian raids and removed the main reason for threatening annexation. They rejected the British plan to set up an Indian state in U. They explained the American policy toward acquisition of Indian lands:.

The United States, while intending never to acquire lands from the Indians otherwise than peaceably, and with their free consent, are fully determined, in that manner, progressively, and in proportion as their growing population may require, to reclaim from the state of nature, and to bring into cultivation every portion of the territory contained within their acknowledged boundaries.

In thus providing for the support of millions of civilized beings, they will not violate any dictate of justice or of humanity; for they will not only give to the few thousand savages scattered over that territory an ample equivalent for any right they may surrender, but will always leave them the possession of lands more than they can cultivate, and more than adequate to their subsistence, comfort, and enjoyment, by cultivation. If this be a spirit of aggrandizement, the undersigned are prepared to admit, in that sense, its existence; but they must deny that it affords the slightest proof of an intention not to respect the boundaries between them and European nations, or of a desire to encroach upon the territories of Great Britain… They will not suppose that that Government will avow, as the basis of their policy towards the United States a system of arresting their natural growth within their own territories, for the sake of preserving a perpetual desert for savages.

A shocked Henry Goulburn , one of the British negotiators at Ghent, remarked, after coming to understand the American position on taking the Indians' land:. Till I came here, I had no idea of the fixed determination which there is in the heart of every American to extirpate the Indians and appropriate their territory. The 19th-century belief that the United States would eventually encompass all of North America is known as "continentalism", [55] [56] a form of tellurocracy. An early proponent of this idea, Adams became a leading figure in U. In , Adams wrote to his father :. The whole continent of North America appears to be destined by Divine Providence to be peopled by one nation , speaking one language, professing one general system of religious and political principles, and accustomed to one general tenor of social usages and customs.

For the common happiness of them all, for their peace and prosperity, I believe it is indispensable that they should be associated in one federal Union. Adams did much to further this idea. He orchestrated the Treaty of , which established the Canada—US border as far west as the Rocky Mountains, and provided for the joint occupation of the region known in American history as the Oregon Country and in British and Canadian history as the New Caledonia and Columbia Districts. And he formulated the Monroe Doctrine of , which warned Europe that the Western Hemisphere was no longer open for European colonization. The Monroe Doctrine and "manifest destiny" formed a closely related nexus of principles: historian Walter McDougall calls manifest destiny a corollary of the Monroe Doctrine, because while the Monroe Doctrine did not specify expansion, expansion was necessary in order to enforce the doctrine.

Concerns in the United States that European powers were seeking to acquire colonies or greater influence in North America led to calls for expansion in order to prevent this. In his influential study of manifest destiny, Albert Weinberg wrote: "the expansionism of the [s] arose as a defensive effort to forestall the encroachment of Europe in North America". Manifest destiny played its most important role in the Oregon boundary dispute between the United States and Britain, when the phrase "manifest destiny" originated. The Anglo-American Convention of had provided for the joint occupation of the Oregon Country , and thousands of Americans migrated there in the s over the Oregon Trail. The British rejected a proposal by U. President John Tyler in office — to divide the region along the 49th parallel , and instead proposed a boundary line farther south, along the Columbia River , which would have made most of what later became the state of Washington part of their colonies in North America.

Presidential candidate Polk used this popular outcry to his advantage, and the Democrats called for the annexation of "All Oregon" in the U. As president, Polk sought compromise and renewed the earlier offer to divide the territory in half along the 49th parallel, to the dismay of the most ardent advocates of manifest destiny. When the British refused the offer, American expansionists responded with slogans such as "The whole of Oregon or none" and "Fifty-four forty or fight", referring to the northern border of the region. The latter slogan is often mistakenly described as having been a part of the presidential campaign.

The Oregon Treaty of formally settled the dispute; Polk's administration succeeded in selling the treaty to Congress because the United States was about to begin the Mexican—American War , and the president and others argued it would be foolish to also fight the British Empire. The most fervent advocates of manifest destiny had not prevailed along the northern border because, according to Reginald Stuart , "the compass of manifest destiny pointed west and southwest, not north, despite the use of the term 'continentalism ' ". In , American historian Frances Fuller Victor published Manifest Destiny in the West in the Overland Monthly , arguing that the efforts of early American fur traders and missionaries presaged American control of Oregon.

She concluded the article as follows:. It was an oversight on the part of the United States, the giving up the island of Quadra and Vancouver, on the settlement of the boundary question. Yet, "what is to be, will be", as some realist has it; and we look for the restoration of that picturesque and rocky atom of our former territory as inevitable. Manifest destiny played an important role in the expansion of Texas and American relationship with Mexico. This was an idealized process of expansion that had been advocated from Jefferson to O'Sullivan: newly democratic and independent states would request entry into the United States, rather than the United States extending its government over people who did not want it.

The annexation of Texas was attacked by anti-slavery spokesmen because it would add another slave state to the Union. Before the election of , Whig candidate Henry Clay and the presumed Democratic candidate, former president, Van Buren, both declared themselves opposed to the annexation of Texas, each hoping to keep the troublesome topic from becoming a campaign issue. This unexpectedly led to Van Buren being dropped by the Democrats in favor of Polk, who favored annexation. Polk tied the Texas annexation question with the Oregon dispute, thus providing a sort of regional compromise on expansion.

Expansionists in the North were more inclined to promote the occupation of Oregon, while Southern expansionists focused primarily on the annexation of Texas. Although elected by a very slim margin, Polk proceeded as if his victory had been a mandate for expansion. After the election of Polk, but before he took office, Congress approved the annexation of Texas. Polk moved to occupy a portion of Texas that had declared independence from Mexico in , but was still claimed by Mexico.

This paved the way for the outbreak of the Mexican—American War on April 24, With American successes on the battlefield, by the summer of there were calls for the annexation of "All Mexico", particularly among Eastern Democrats, who argued that bringing Mexico into the Union was the best way to ensure future peace in the region. This was a controversial proposition for two reasons. First, idealistic advocates of manifest destiny like O'Sullivan had always maintained that the laws of the United States should not be imposed on people against their will.

The annexation of "All Mexico" would be a violation of this principle. And secondly, the annexation of Mexico was controversial because it would mean extending U. Senator John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, who had approved of the annexation of Texas, was opposed to the annexation of Mexico, as well as the "mission" aspect of manifest destiny, for racial reasons. We have never dreamt of incorporating into our Union any but the Caucasian race—the free white race. To incorporate Mexico, would be the very first instance of the kind, of incorporating an Indian race; for more than half of the Mexicans are Indians, and the other is composed chiefly of mixed tribes.

I protest against such a union as that! Ours, sir, is the Government of a white race…. We are anxious to force free government on all; and I see that it has been urged … that it is the mission of this country to spread civil and religious liberty over all the world, and especially over this continent. It is a great mistake. This debate brought to the forefront one of the contradictions of manifest destiny: on the one hand, while identitarian ideas inherent in manifest destiny suggested that Mexicans, as non-whites, would present a threat to white racial integrity and thus were not qualified to become Americans, the "mission" component of manifest destiny suggested that Mexicans would be improved or "regenerated", as it was then described by bringing them into American democracy.

Identitarianism was used to promote manifest destiny, but, as in the case of Calhoun and the resistance to the "All Mexico" movement, identitarianism was also used to oppose manifest destiny. Like the "All Oregon" movement, the "All Mexico" movement quickly abated. Historian Frederick Merk , in Manifest Destiny and Mission in American History: A Reinterpretation , argued that the failure of the "All Oregon" and "All Mexico" movements indicates that manifest destiny had not been as popular as historians have traditionally portrayed it to have been. Merk wrote that, while belief in the beneficent mission of democracy was central to American history, aggressive "continentalism" were aberrations supported by only a minority of Americans, all of them Democrats.

Some Democrats were also opposed; the Democrats of Louisiana opposed annexation of Mexico, [71] while those in Mississippi supported it. These events related to the US-Mexican war and had an effect on the American people living in the Southern Plains at the time. A case study by David Beyreis depicts these effects through the operations of a fur trading and Indian trading business named Bent, St. Vrain and Company during the period. The telling of this company shows that the idea of Manifest Destiny was not unanimously loved by all Americans and did not always benefit Americans. The case study goes on to show that this company could have ceased to exist in the name of territorial expansion.

After the Mexican—American War ended in , disagreements over the expansion of slavery made further annexation by conquest too divisive to be official government policy. Some, such as John Quitman , Governor of Mississippi, offered what public support they could. In one memorable case, Quitman simply explained that the state of Mississippi had "lost" its state arsenal, which began showing up in the hands of filibusters. Yet these isolated cases only solidified opposition in the North as many Northerners were increasingly opposed to what they believed to be efforts by Southern slave owners—and their friends in the North—to expand slavery through filibustering.

Sarah P. Remond on January 24, , delivered an impassioned speech at Warrington , England, that the connection between filibustering and slave power was clear proof of "the mass of corruption that underlay the whole system of American government". Without official government support the most radical advocates of manifest destiny increasingly turned to military filibustering. Originally filibuster had come from the Dutch vrijbuiter and referred to buccaneers in the West Indies that preyed on Spanish commerce.

While there had been some filibustering expeditions into Canada in the late s, it was only by mid-century did filibuster become a definitive term. Her pulse beats like a hammer at the wrist, and there's a very high color on her face. The eagerness of the filibusters, and the public to support them, had an international hue. Clay's son, a diplomat in Portugal, reported that the invasion created a sensation in Lisbon. Although they were illegal, filibustering operations in the late s and early s were romanticized in the United States. The Democratic Party's national platform included a plank that specifically endorsed William Walker's filibustering in Nicaragua.

The primary target of manifest destiny's filibusters was Latin America but there were isolated incidents elsewhere. Mexico was a favorite target of organizations devoted to filibustering, like the Knights of the Golden Circle. As with Texas, Oregon, and California, American policy makers were concerned that Cuba would fall into British hands, which, according to the thinking of the Monroe Doctrine, would constitute a threat to the interests of the United States. Spain declined to sell the island, which ended Polk's efforts to acquire Cuba. O'Sullivan eventually landed in legal trouble. Filibustering continued to be a major concern for presidents after Polk. Whigs presidents Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore tried to suppress the expeditions.

Quitman to acquire Cuba received the tentative support of the president. When the public learned of the Ostend Manifesto in , which argued that the United States could seize Cuba by force if Spain refused to sell, this effectively killed the effort to acquire the island. The public now linked expansion with slavery; if manifest destiny had once enjoyed widespread popular approval, this was no longer true.

Filibusters like William Walker continued to garner headlines in the late s, but to little effect. Expansionism was among the various issues that played a role in the coming of the war. With the divisive question of the expansion of slavery, Northerners and Southerners, in effect, were coming to define manifest destiny in different ways, undermining nationalism as a unifying force. According to Frederick Merk, "The doctrine of Manifest Destiny, which in the s had seemed Heaven-sent, proved to have been a bomb wrapped up in idealism.

The filibusterism of the era even opened itself up to some mockery among the headlines. This poem features two characters, Captain Robb and Farmer Cobb. Captain Robb makes claim to Farmer Cobb's land arguing that Robb deserves the land because he is Anglo-Saxon, has weapons to "Blow out" Cobb's brains, and nobody has heard of Cobb so what right does Cobb have to claim the land. Cobb argues that Robb doesn't need his land because Robb already has more land than he knows what to do with. Due to threats of violence, Cobb surrenders his land and leaves grumbling that " might should be the rule of right among enlightened nations. The Homestead Act of encouraged , families to settle the West by giving them land usually acres almost free.

They had to live on and improve the land for five years. The final U. In the aftermath of the Crimean War in the s, Emperor Alexander II of Russia decided to relinquish control of the ailing Russian America present-day Alaska on fears that the territory would be easily be taken over by Canada in any future war between Russia and the United Kingdom. Following the end of the Civil War in , U.

Secretary of State William H. Seward entered into negotiations with Russian minister Eduard de Stoeckl for the purchase of Alaska. The transfer ceremony took place in Sitka, Alaska on October Russian and American soldiers paraded in front of the governor's house; the Russian flag was lowered and the American flag raised amid peals of artillery. The purchase added , square miles 1,, km2 of new territory to the United States, an area about twice the size of Texas. Reactions to the purchase in the United States were mostly positive, as many believed the possession of Alaska would serve as a base to expand American trade in Asia.

Some opponents labeled the purchase as "Seward's Folly", or "Seward's Icebox", [86] as they contended that the United States had acquired useless land. Nearly all Russian settlers left Alaska in the aftermath of the purchase; Alaska would remain sparsely populated until the Klondike Gold Rush began in Originally organized as the Department of Alaska , the area was renamed the District of Alaska and the Territory of Alaska before becoming the modern State of Alaska in Manifest destiny had serious consequences for Native Americans, since continental expansion implicitly meant the occupation and annexation of Native American land, sometimes to expand slavery. This ultimately led to confrontations and wars with several groups of native peoples via Indian removal.

Only the Federal Government could purchase Indian lands and this was done through treaties with tribal leaders. Whether a tribe actually had a decision-making structure capable of making a treaty was a controversial issue. The national policy was for the Indians to join American society and become "civilized", which meant no more wars with neighboring tribes or raids on white settlers or travelers, and a shift from hunting to farming and ranching. Advocates of civilization programs believed that the process of settling native tribes would greatly reduce the amount of land needed by the Native Americans, making more land available for homesteading by white Americans.

Thomas Jefferson believed that while American Indians were the intellectual equals of whites, [91] they had to live like the whites or inevitably be pushed aside by them. In the age of manifest destiny, this idea, which came to be known as " Indian removal ", gained ground. Humanitarian advocates of removal believed that American Indians would be better off moving away from whites. As historian Reginald Horsman argued in his influential study Race and Manifest Destiny , racial rhetoric increased during the era of manifest destiny.

Americans increasingly believed that Native American ways of life would "fade away" as the United States expanded. As an example, this idea was reflected in the work of one of America's first great historians, Francis Parkman , whose landmark book The Conspiracy of Pontiac was published in Parkman wrote that after the French defeat in the French and Indian War , Indians were "destined to melt and vanish before the advancing waves of Anglo-American power, which now rolled westward unchecked and unopposed".

Parkman emphasized that the collapse of Indian power in the late 18th century had been swift and was a past event. As the Civil War faded into history, the term manifest destiny experienced a brief revival. Protestant missionary Josiah Strong , in his best seller of Our Country , argued that the future was devolved upon America since it had perfected the ideals of civil liberty, "a pure spiritual Christianity", and concluded, "My plea is not, Save America for America's sake, but, Save America for the world's sake.

In the U. In the election , the Republicans recaptured the White House and held on to it for the next 16 years. During that time, manifest destiny was cited to promote overseas expansion. Whether or not this version of manifest destiny was consistent with the continental expansionism of the s was debated at the time, and long afterwards. For example, when President William McKinley advocated annexation of the Republic of Hawaii in , he said that "We need Hawaii just as much and a good deal more than we did California.

It is manifest destiny. Historians continued that debate; some have interpreted American acquisition of other Pacific island groups in the s as an extension of manifest destiny across the Pacific Ocean. Others have regarded it as the antithesis of manifest destiny and merely imperialism. The treaty was highly contentious and denounced by William Jennings Bryan , who tried to make it a central issue in the election. He was defeated in landslide by McKinley. The Teller Amendment , passed unanimously by the U. Senate before the war, which proclaimed Cuba "free and independent", forestalled annexation of the island.

Traditionally, territories were acquired by the United States for the purpose of becoming new states on equal footing with already existing states. These islands were acquired as colonies rather than prospective states. The process was validated by the Insular Cases. The Supreme Court ruled that full constitutional rights did not automatically extend to all areas under American control. According to Frederick Merk, these colonial acquisitions marked a break from the original intention of manifest destiny.

Previously, "Manifest Destiny had contained a principle so fundamental that a Calhoun and an O'Sullivan could agree on it—that a people not capable of rising to statehood should never be annexed. That was the principle thrown overboard by the imperialism of Beveridge maintained the contrary at his September 25, , speech in the Auditorium, at Chicago.

He declared that the current desire for Cuba and the other acquired territories was identical to the views expressed by Washington, Jefferson and Marshall. Moreover, "the sovereignty of the Stars and Stripes can be nothing but a blessing to any people and to any land. William Jennings Bryan denounced the war and any form of future overseas expansion, writing, " 'Destiny' is not as manifest as it was a few weeks ago.

In , all Puerto Ricans were made full American citizens via the Jones Act , which also provided for a popularly elected legislature and a bill of rights, and authorized the election of a Resident Commissioner who has a voice but no vote in Congress. The Guam Organic Act of established Guam alongside Puerto Rico as an unincorporated organized territory of the United States , provided for the structure of the island's civilian government, and granted the people U. The belief in an American mission to promote and defend democracy throughout the world, as expounded by Jefferson and his " Empire of Liberty ", and continued by Lincoln, Wilson and George W.

Bush , [] continues to have an influence on American political ideology. After the turn of the nineteenth century to the twentieth, the phrase manifest destiny declined in usage, as territorial expansion ceased to be promoted as being a part of America's "destiny". Roosevelt's corollary contained an explicit rejection of territorial expansion. In the past, manifest destiny had been seen as necessary to enforce the Monroe Doctrine in the Western Hemisphere, but now expansionism had been replaced by interventionism as a means of upholding the doctrine. President Wilson continued the policy of interventionism in the Americas, and attempted to redefine both manifest destiny and America's "mission" on a broader, worldwide scale.

The Old World is just now suffering from a wanton rejection of the principle of democracy and a substitution of the principle of autocracy as asserted in the name, but without the authority and sanction, of the multitude. This is the time of all others when Democracy should prove its purity and its spiritual power to prevail. It is surely the manifest destiny of the United States to lead in the attempt to make this spirit prevail. This was the only time a president had used the phrase "manifest destiny" in his annual address.

Wilson's version of manifest destiny was a rejection of expansionism and an endorsement in principle of self-determination , emphasizing that the United States had a mission to be a world leader for the cause of democracy. This U. In this usage, "manifest destiny" is interpreted as the underlying cause of what is denounced by some as " American imperialism ". A more positive-sounding phrase devised by scholars at the end of the twentieth century is "nation building", and State Department official Karin Von Hippel notes that the U.

Some critics argue that manifest destiny claims that because of the special place of American society and the occupation of the western part of the American territory , its historical destiny is to be an exception. This belief leads to imperialist actions, among its consequences are the military invasion of Philippines and Cuba. These measures later took the form of a cultural justification of New Imperialism , and it was concluded that in the history and the present world, the United States has a place and status of "exception in the world. Therefore, the United States is beyond international treaties and does not have to commit to them.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Redirected from Manifest Destiny. This is the latest accepted revision , reviewed on 7 October For other uses, see Manifest Destiny disambiguation. Cultural belief of 19th century American expansionists. Further information: War of Main article: All of Mexico Movement. Main article: Homestead Acts. Main article: Alaska Purchase. See also: Indian removal and California genocide. United States portal. Manifest Destiny: Westward Expansion. Infobase Publishing. ISBN Picturing U. City University of New York. Archived from the original on June 15, Charny, Israel W. Encyclopedia of Genocide. Napa Valley Register. Archived from the original on August 3, Retrieved August 4, Archived from the original on July 7, Invasion of Mexico.

Vintage Books. Grant: Triumph Over Adversity, Voyageur Press. American Expansionism, A Manifest Destiny? Manifest Destiny". American History. Jane Cazneau Omeka Net. Jane Cazneau Omeka website. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved June 11, New Humanist. Archived from the original on October 16, July—August United States Magazine and Democratic Review. Retrieved May 20, Linda S. Sampson disputes Hudson's claim for a variety of reasons See note 7 at Sampson , — Hietala, Manifest design: American exceptionalism and Empire p. United States Congress. Race and Manifest Destiny. New York: Harper. James K.

Polk: A Biographical Companion. New York: Chelsea House Publishers. April—June Perspectives on Political Science. S2CID Beisner Library of America, , reprinted Mississippi Valley Historical Review. As this claim rests on the same principle with others which have been admitted by the French Government, it is not perceived on what just ground it can be rejected. A minister will be immediately appointed to proceed to France and resume the negotiation on this and other subjects which may arise between the two nations. At the proposal of the Russian Imperial Government, made through the minister of the Emperor residing here, a full power and instructions have been transmitted to the minister of the United States at St.

Petersburg to arrange by amicable negotiation the respective rights and interests of the two nations on the North West coast of this continent. A similar proposal had been made by His Imperial Majesty to the Government of Great Britain, which has likewise been acceded to. The Government of the United States has been desirous by this friendly proceeding of manifesting the great value which they have invariably attached to the friendship of the Emperor and their solicitude to cultivate the best understanding with his Government. In the discussions to which this interest has given rise and in the arrangements by which they may terminate the occasion has been judged proper for asserting, as a principle in which the rights and interests of the United States are involved, that the American continents, by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers.

Since the close of the last session of Congress the commissioners and arbitrators for ascertaining and determining the amount of indemnification which may be due to citizens of the United States under the decision of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of Russia, in conformity to the convention concluded at St. Petersburg on [], have assembled in this city, and organized themselves as a board for the performance of the duties assigned to them by that treaty. The commission constituted under the 11th article of the treaty of [], between the United States and Spain is also in session here, and as the term of three years limited by the treaty for the execution of the trust will expire before the period of the next regular meeting of Congress, the attention of the Legislature will be drawn to the measures which may be necessary to accomplish the objects for which the commission was instituted.

In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives adopted at their last session, instructions have been given to all the ministers of the United States accredited to the powers of Europe and America to propose the proscription of the African slave trade by classing it under the denomination, and inflicting on its perpetrators the punishment, of piracy. Should this proposal be acceded to, it is not doubted that this odious and criminal practice will be promptly and entirely suppressed. It is earnestly hoped that it will be acceded to, from the firm belief that it is the most effectual expedient that can be adopted for the purpose.

At the commencement of the recent war between France and Spain it was declared by the French Government that it would grant no commissions to privateers, and that neither the commerce of Spain herself nor of neutral nations should be molested by the naval force of France, except in the breach of a lawful blockade. This declaration, which appears to have been faithfully carried into effect, concurring with principles proclaimed and cherished by the United States from the first establishment of their independence, suggested the hope that the time had arrived when the proposal for adopting it as a permanent and invariable rule in all future maritime wars might meet the favorable consideration of the great European powers.

Instructions have accordingly been given to our ministers with France, Russia, and Great Britain to make those proposals to their respective Governments, and when the friends of humanity reflect on the essential amelioration to the condition of the human race which would result from the abolition of private war on the sea and on the great facility by which it might be accomplished, requiring only the consent of a few sovereigns, an earnest hope is indulged that these overtures will meet with an attention animated by the spirit in which they were made, and that they will ultimately be successful. The ministers who were appointed to the Republics of Colombia and Buenos Ayres during the last session of Congress proceeded shortly afterwards to their destinations.

Of their arrival there official intelligence has not yet been received. The minister appointed to the Republic of Chile will sail in a few days. An early appointment will also be made to Mexico. A minister has been received from Colombia, and the other Governments have been informed that ministers, or diplomatic agents of inferior grade, would be received from each, accordingly as they might prefer the one or the other.

The minister appointed to Spain proceeded soon after his appointment for Cadiz, the residence of the Sovereign to whom he was accredited. In approaching that port the frigate which conveyed him was warned off by the commander of the French squadron by which it was blockaded and not permitted to enter, although apprised by the captain of the frigate of the public character of the person whom he had on board, the landing of whom was the sole object of his proposed entry.

This act, being considered an infringement of the rights of ambassadors and of nations, will form a just cause of complaint to the Government of France against the officer by whom it was committed. The actual condition of the public finances more than realizes the favorable anticipations that were entertained of it at the opening of the last session of Congress. On [], a large amount of the war debt and a part of the Revolutionary debt become redeemable. Additional portions of the former will continue to become redeemable annually until the year The state of the Army in its organization and discipline has been gradually improving for several years, and has now attained a high degree of perfection.

The military disbursements have been regularly made and the accounts regularly and promptly rendered for settlement. The supplies of various descriptions have been of good quality, and regularly issued at all of the posts. A system of economy and accountability has been introduced into every branch of the service which admits of little additional improvement. This desirable state has been attained by the act reorganizing the staff of the Army, passed on []. The moneys appropriated for fortifications have been regularly and economically applied, and all the works advanced as rapidly as the amount appropriated would admit.

Three important works will be completed in the course of this year -- that is, Fort Washington, Fort Delaware, and the fort at the Rigolets, in Louisiana. The Board of Engineers and the Topographical Corps have been in constant and active service in surveying the coast and projecting the works necessary for its defense. The Military Academy has attained a degree of perfection in its discipline and instruction equal, as is believed, to any institution of its kind in any country. The money appropriated for the use of the Ordnance Department has been regularly and economically applied. The fabrication of arms at the national armories and by contract with the Department has been gradually improving in quality and cheapness.

It is believed that their quality is now such as to admit of but little improvement. The completion of the fortifications renders it necessary that there should be a suitable appropriation for the purpose of fabricating the cannon and carriages necessary for those works. They have not yet reported the result of their labors, but it is believed that they will be prepared to do it at an early part of the session of Congress. During the month of June last General Ashley and his party, who were trading under a license from the Government, were attacked by the Ricarees while peaceably trading with the Indians at their request.

Several of the party were killed and wounded and their property taken or destroyed. Colonel Leavenworth, who commanded Fort Atkinson, at the Council Bluffs, the most western post, apprehending that the hostile spirit of the Ricarees would extend to other tribes in that quarter, and that thereby the lives of the traders on the Missouri and the peace of the frontier would be endangered, took immediate measures to check the evil.

With a detachment of the regiment stationed at the Bluffs he successfully attacked the Ricaree village, and it is hoped that such an impression has been made on them as well as on the other tribes on the Missouri as will prevent a recurrence of future hostility. The report of the Secretary of War, which is herewith transmitted, will exhibit in greater detail the condition of the Department in its various branches, and the progress which has been made in its administration during the three first quarters of the year.

I transmit a return of the militia of the several States according to the last reports which have been made by the proper officers in each to the Department of War. As the defense and even the liberties of the country must depend in times of imminent danger on the militia, it is of the highest importance that it be well organized, armed, and disciplined throughout the Union. The report of the Secretary of War shews the progress made during the three first quarters of the present year by the application of the fund appropriated for arming the militia.

Much difficulty is found in distributing the arms according to the act of Congress providing for it from the failure of the proper departments in many of the States to make regular returns. The act of [] provides that the system of tactics and regulations of the various corps of the Regular Army shall be extended to the militia. This act has been very imperfectly executed from the want of uniformity in the organization of the militia, proceeding from the defects of the system itself, and especially in its application to that main arm of the public defense.

It is thought that this important subject in all its branches merits the attention of Congress. The report of the Secretary of the Navy, which is now communicated, furnishes an account of the administration of that Department for the three first quarters of the present year, with the progress made in augmenting the Navy, and the manner in which the vessels in commission have been employed.

The usual force has been maintained in the Mediterranean Sea, the Pacific Ocean, and along the Atlantic coast, and has afforded the necessary protection to our commerce in those seas. In the West Indies and the Gulf of Mexico our naval force has been augmented by the addition of several small vessels provided for by the "act authorizing an additional naval force for the suppression of piracy", passed by Congress at their last session.

That armament has been eminently successful in the accomplishment of its object. The piracies by which our commerce in the neighborhood of the island of Cuba had been afflicted have been repressed and the confidence of our merchants in a great measure restored. The patriotic zeal and enterprise of Commodore Porter, to whom the command of the expedition was confided, has been fully seconded by the officers and men under his command. And in reflecting with high satisfaction on the honorable manner in which they have sustained the reputation of their country and its Navy, the sentiment is alloyed only by a concern that in the fulfillment of that arduous service the diseases incident to the season and to the climate in which it was discharged have deprived the nation of many useful lives, and among them of several officers of great promise.

In the month of August a very malignant fever made its appearance at Thompsons Island, which threatened the destruction of our station there. Many perished, and the commanding officer was severely attacked. Uncertain as to his fate and knowing that most of the medical officers had been rendered incapable of discharging their duties, it was thought expedient to send to that post an officer of rank and experience, with several skilled surgeons, to ascertain the origin of the fever and the probability of its recurrence there in future seasons; to furnish every assistance to those who were suffering, and, if practicable, to avoid the necessity of abandoning so important a station.

Commodore Rodgers, with a promptitude which did him honor, cheerfully accepted that trust, and has discharged it in the manner anticipated from his skill and patriotism. Before his arrival Commodore Porter, with the greater part of the squadron, had removed from the island and returned to the United States in consequence of the prevailing sickness. Much useful information has, however, been obtained as to the state of the island and great relief afforded to those who had been necessarily left there. Although our expedition, cooperating with an invigorated administration of the government of the island of Cuba, and with the corresponding active exertions of a British naval force in the same seas, have almost entirely destroyed the unlicensed piracies from that island, the success of our exertions has not been equally effectual to suppress the same crime, under other pretenses and colors, in the neighboring island of Porto Rico.

They have been committed there under the abusive issue of Spanish commissions. At an early period of the present year remonstrances were made to the governor of that island, by an agent who was sent for the purpose, against those outrages on the peaceful commerce of the United States, of which many had occurred. That officer, professing his own want of authority to make satisfaction for our just complaints, answered only by a reference of them to the Government of Spain. The minister of the United States to that court was specially instructed to urge the necessity of immediate and effectual interposition of that Government, directing restitution and indemnity for wrongs already committed and interdicting the repetition of them.

The minister, as has been seen, was debarred access to the Spanish Government, and in the mean time several new cases of flagrant outrage have occurred, and citizens of the United States in the island of Porto Rico have suffered, and others been threatened with assassination for asserting their unquestionable rights even before the lawful tribunals of the country. The usual orders have been given to all our public ships to seize American vessels in the slave trade and bring them in for adjudication, and I have the gratification to state that not one so employed has been discovered, and there is good reason to believe that our flag is now seldom, if at all, disgraced by that traffic.

It is a source of great satisfaction that we are always enabled to recur to the conduct of our Navy with price and commendation. As a means of national defense it enjoys the public confidence, and is steadily assuming additional importance. It is submitted whether a more efficient and equally economical organization of it might not in several respects be effected. It is supposed that higher grades than now exist by law would be useful. They would afford well-merited rewards to those who have long and faithfully served their country, present the best incentives to good conduct, and the best means of insuring a proper discipline; destroy the inequality in that respect between military and naval services, and relieve our officers from many inconveniences and mortifications which occur when our vessels meet those of other nations, ours being the only service in which such grades do not exist.

A report of the PostMaster-General, which accompanies this communication, will shew the present state of the Post-Office Department and its general operations for some years past. There is established by law 88, miles of post roads, on which the mail is now transported 85, miles, and contracts have been made for its transportation on all the established routes, with one or 2 exceptions. There are 5, post offices in the Union, and as many post masters. These balances embrace all delinquencies of post masters and contractors which have taken place since the organization of the Department. The transportation of the mail within five years past has been greatly extended, and the expenditures of the Department proportionably increased. Some improvements in the receipts for postage is expected.

A prompt attention to the collection of moneys received by post masters, it is believed, will enable the Department to continue its operations without aid from the Treasury, unless the expenditures shall be increased by the establishment of new mail routes. A revision of some parts of the post office law may be necessary; and it is submitted whether it would not be proper to provide for the appointment of post masters, where the compensation exceeds a certain amount, by nomination to the Senate, as other officers of the General Government are appointed. Having communicated my views to Congress at the commencement of the last session respecting the encouragement which ought to be given to our manufactures and the principle on which it should be founded, I have only to add that those views remain unchanged, and that the present state of those countries with which we have the most immediate political relations and greatest commercial intercourse tends to confirm them.

Under this impression I recommend a review of the tariff for the purpose of affording such additional protection to those articles which we are prepared to manufacture, or which are more immediately connected with the defense and independence of the country. The actual state of the public accounts furnishes additional evidence of the efficiency of the present system of accountability in relation to the public expenditure.

It will be obvious that in proportion as the mass of accounts of the latter description is diminished by settlement the difficulty of settling the residue is increased from the consideration that in many instances it can be obtained only by legal process. For more precise details on this subject I refer to a report from the first Comptroller of the Treasury. The sum which was appropriated at the last session for the repairs of the Cumberland road has been applied with good effect to that object.

A final report has not been received from the agent who was appointed to superintend it.