Speech Transcript:

Fellow-Citizens:
I shall not attempt to describe the grateful emotions which the new
and very distinguished proof of the confidence of my fellow-citizens,
evinced by my reelection to this high trust, has excited in my bosom.
The approbation which it announces of my conduct in the preceding
term affords me a consolation which I shall profoundly feel through
life. The general accord with which it has been expressed adds to the
great and never-ceasing obligations which it imposes. To merit the
continuance of this good opinion, and to carry it with me into my
retirement as the solace of advancing years, will be the object of my
most zealous and unceasing efforts.

Having no pretensions to the high and commanding claims of my
predecessors, whose names are so much more conspicuously identified
with our Revolution, and who contributed so preeminently to promote
its success, I consider myself rather as the instrument than the
cause of the union which has prevailed in the late election. In
surmounting, in favor of my humble pretensions, the difficulties
which so often produce division in like occurrences, it is obvious
that other powerful causes, indicating the great strength and
stability of our Union, have essentially contributed to draw you
together. That these powerful causes exist, and that they are
permanent, is my fixed opinion; that they may produce a like accord
in all questions touching, however remotely, the liberty, prosperity,
and happiness of our country will always be the object of my most
fervent prayers to the Supreme Author of All Good.

In a government which is founded by the people, who possess
exclusively the sovereignty, it seems proper that the person who may
be placed by their suffrages in this high trust should declare on
commencing its duties the principles on which he intends to conduct
the Administration. If the person thus elected has served the
preceding term, an opportunity is afforded him to review its
principal occurrences and to give such further explanation respecting
them as in his judgment may be useful to his constituents. The events
of one year have influence on those of another, and, in like manner,
of a preceding on the succeeding Administration. The movements of a
great nation are connected in all their parts. If errors have been
committed they ought to be corrected; if the policy is sound it ought
to be supported. It is by a thorough knowledge of the whole subject
that our fellow-citizens are enabled to judge correctly of the past
and to give a proper direction to the future.

Just before the commencement of the last term the United States had
concluded a war with a very powerful nation on conditions equal and
honorable to both parties. The events of that war are too recent and
too deeply impressed on the memory of all to require a development
from me. Our commerce had been in a great measure driven from the
sea, our Atlantic and inland frontiers were invaded in almost every
part; the waste of life along our coast and on some parts of our
inland frontiers, to the defense of which our gallant and patriotic
citizens were called, was immense, in addition to which not less than
$120,000,000 were added at its end to the public debt.

As soon as the war had terminated, the nation, admonished by its
events, resolved to place itself in a situation which should be
better calculated to prevent the recurrence of a like evil, and, in
case it should recur, to mitigate its calamities. With this view,
after reducing our land force to the basis of a peace establishment,
which has been further modified since, provision was made for the
construction of fortifications at proper points through the whole
extent of our coast and such an augmentation of our naval force as
should be well adapted to both purposes. The laws making this
provision were passed in 1815 and 1816, and it has been since the
constant effort of the Executive to carry them into effect.

The advantage of these fortifications and of an augmented naval force
in the extent contemplated, in a point of economy, has been fully
illustrated by a report of the Board of Engineers and Naval
Commissioners lately communicated to Congress, by which it appears
that in an invasion by 20,000 men, with a correspondent naval force,
in a campaign of six months only, the whole expense of the
construction of the works would be defrayed by the difference in the
sum necessary to maintain the force which would be adequate to our
defense with the aid of those works and that which would be incurred
without them. The reason of this difference is obvious. If
fortifications are judiciously placed on our great inlets, as distant
from our cities as circumstances will permit, they will form the only
points of attack, and the enemy will be detained there by a small
regular force a sufficient time to enable our militia to collect and
repair to that on which the attack is made. A force adequate to the
enemy, collected at that single point, with suitable preparation for
such others as might be menaced, is all that would be requisite. But
if there were no fortifications, then the enemy might go where he
pleased, and, changing his position and sailing from place to place,
our force must be called out and spread in vast numbers along the
whole coast and on both sides of every bay and river as high up in
each as it might be navigable for ships of war. By these
fortifications, supported by our Navy, to which they would afford
like support, we should present to other powers an armed front from
St. Croix to the Sabine, which would protect in the event of war our
whole coast and interior from invasion; and even in the wars of other
powers, in which we were neutral, they would be found eminently
useful, as, by keeping their public ships at a distance from our
cities, peace and order in them would be preserved and the Government
be protected from insult.

It need scarcely be remarked that these measures have not been
resorted to in a spirit of hostility to other powers. Such a
disposition does not exist toward any power. Peace and good will have
been, and will hereafter be, cultivated with all, and by the most
faithful regard to justice. They have been dictated by a love of
peace, of economy, and an earnest desire to save the lives of our
fellow-citizens from that destruction and our country from that
devastation which are inseparable from war when it finds us
unprepared for it. It is believed, and experience has shown, that
such a preparation is the best expedient that can be resorted to
prevent war. I add with much pleasure that considerable progress has
already been made in these measures of defense, and that they will be
completed in a few years, considering the great extent and importance
of the object, if the plan be zealously and steadily persevered in.

The conduct of the Government in what relates to foreign powers is
always an object of the highest importance to the nation. Its
agriculture, commerce, manufactures, fisheries, revenue, in short,
its peace, may all be affected by it. Attention is therefore due to
this subject.

At the period adverted to the powers of Europe, after having been
engaged in long and destructive wars with each other, had concluded a
peace, which happily still exists. Our peace with the power with whom
we had been engaged had also been concluded. The war between Spain
and the colonies in South America, which had commenced many years
before, was then the only conflict that remained unsettled. This
being a contest between different parts of the same community, in
which other powers had not interfered, was not affected by their
accommodations.

This contest was considered at an early stage by my predecessor a
civil war in which the parties were entitled to equal rights in our
ports. This decision, the first made by any power, being formed on
great consideration of the comparative strength and resources of the
parties, the length of time, and successful opposition made by the
colonies, and of all other circumstances on which it ought to depend,
was in strict accord with the law of nations. Congress has invariably
acted on this principle, having made no change in our relations with
either party. Our attitude has therefore been that of neutrality
between them, which has been maintained by the Government with the
strictest impartiality. No aid has been afforded to either, nor has
any privilege been enjoyed by the one which has not been equally open
to the other party, and every exertion has been made in its power to
enforce the execution of the laws prohibiting illegal equipments with
equal rigor against both.

By this equality between the parties their public vessels have been
received in our ports on the same footing; they have enjoyed an equal
right to purchase and export arms, munitions of war, and every other
supply, the exportation of all articles whatever being permitted
under laws which were passed long before the commencement of the
contest; our citizens have traded equally with both, and their
commerce with each has been alike protected by the Government.

Respecting the attitude which it may be proper for the United States
to maintain hereafter between the parties, I have no hesitation in
stating it as my opinion that the neutrality heretofore observed
should still be adhered to. From the change in the Government of
Spain and the negotiation now depending, invited by the Cortes and
accepted by the colonies, it may be presumed, that their differences
will be settled on the terms proposed by the colonies. Should the war
be continued, the United States, regarding its occurrences, will
always have it in their power to adopt such measures respecting it as
their honor and interest may require.

Shortly after the general peace a band of adventurers took advantage
of this conflict and of the facility which it afforded to establish a
system of buccaneering in the neighboring seas, to the great annoyance
of the commerce of the United States, and, as was represented, of that
of other powers. Of this spirit and of its injurious bearing on the
United States strong proofs were afforded by the establishment at
Amelia Island, and the purposes to which it was made instrumental by
this band in 1817, and by the occurrences which took place in other
parts of Florida in 1818, the details of which in both instances are
too well known to require to be now recited. I am satisfied had a
less decisive course been adopted that the worst consequences would
have resulted from it. We have seen that these checks, decisive as
they were, were not sufficient to crush that piratical spirit. Many
culprits brought within our limits have been condemned to suffer
death, the punishment due to that atrocious crime. The decisions of
upright and enlightened tribunals fall equally on all whose crimes
subject them, by a fair interpretation of the law, to its censure. It
belongs to the Executive not to suffer the executions under these
decisions to transcend the great purpose for which punishment is
necessary. The full benefit of example being secured, policy as well
as humanity equally forbids that they should be carried further. I
have acted on this principle, pardoning those who appear to have been
led astray by ignorance of the criminality of the acts they had
committed, and suffering the law to take effect on those only in
whose favor no extenuating circumstances could be urged.

Great confidence is entertained that the late treaty with Spain,
which has been ratified by both the parties, and the ratifications
whereof have been exchanged, has placed the relations of the two
countries on a basis of permanent friendship. The provision made by
it for such of our citizens as have claims on Spain of the character
described will, it is presumed, be very satisfactory to them, and the
boundary which is established between the territories of the parties
westward of the Mississippi, heretofore in dispute, has, it is
thought, been settled on conditions just and advantageous to both.
But to the acquisition of Florida too much importance can not be
attached. It secures to the United States a territory important in
itself, and whose importance is much increased by its bearing on many
of the highest interests of the Union. It opens to several of the
neighboring States a free passage to the ocean, through the Province
ceded, by several rivers, having their sources high up within their
limits. It secures us against all future annoyance from powerful
Indian tribes. It gives us several excellent harbors in the Gulf of
Mexico for ships of war of the largest size. It covers by its
position in the Gulf the Mississippi and other great waters within
our extended limits, and thereby enables the United States to afford
complete protection to the vast and very valuable productions of our
whole Western country, which find a market through those streams.

By a treaty with the British Government, bearing date on the 20th of
October, 1818, the convention regulating the commerce between the
United States and Great Britain, concluded on the 3d of July, 1815,
which was about expiring, was revived and continued for the term of
ten years from the time of its expiration. By that treaty, also, the
differences which had arisen under the treaty of Ghent respecting the
right claimed by the United States for their citizens to take and cure
fish on the coast of His Britannic Majesty's dominions in America,
with other differences on important interests, were adjusted to the
satisfaction of both parties. No agreement has yet been entered into
respecting the commerce between the United States and the British
dominions in the West Indies and on this continent. The restraints
imposed on that commerce by Great Britain, and reciprocated by the
United States on a principle of defense, continue still in force.

The negotiation with France for the regulation of the commercial
relations between the two countries, which in the course of the last
summer had been commenced at Paris, has since been transferred to
this city, and will be pursued on the part of the United States in
the spirit of conciliation, and with an earnest desire that it may
terminate in an arrangement satisfactory to both parties.

Our relations with the Barbary Powers are preserved in the same state
and by the same means that were employed when I came into this office.
As early as 1801 it was found necessary to send a squadron into the
Mediterranean for the protection of our commerce, and no period has
intervened, a short term excepted, when it was thought advisable to
withdraw it. The great interests which the United States have in the
Pacific, in commerce and in the fisheries, have also made it
necessary to maintain a naval force there. In disposing of this force
in both instances the most effectual measures in our power have been
taken, without interfering with its other duties, for the suppression
of the slave trade and of piracy in the neighboring seas.

The situation of the United States in regard to their resources, the
extent of their revenue, and the facility with which it is raised
affords a most gratifying spectacle. The payment of nearly
$67,000,000 of the public debt, with the great progress made in
measures of defense and in other improvements of various kinds since
the late war, are conclusive proofs of this extraordinary prosperity,
especially when it is recollected that these expenditures have been
defrayed without a burthen on the people, the direct tax and excise
having been repealed soon after the conclusion of the late war, and
the revenue applied to these great objects having been raised in a
manner not to be felt. Our great resources therefore remain untouched
for any purpose which may affect the vital interests of the nation.
For all such purposes they are inexhaustible. They are more
especially to be found in the virtue, patriotism, and intelligence of
our fellow-citizens, and in the devotion with which they would yield
up by any just measure of taxation all their property in support of
the rights and honor of their country.

Under the present depression of prices, affecting all the productions
of the country and every branch of industry, proceeding from causes
explained on a former occasion, the revenue has considerably
diminished, the effect of which has been to compel Congress either to
abandon these great measures of defense or to resort to loans or
internal taxes to supply the deficiency. On the presumption that this
depression and the deficiency in the revenue arising from it would be
temporary, loans were authorized for the demands of the last and
present year. Anxious to relieve my fellow-citizens in 1817 from
every burthen which could be dispensed with, and the state of the
Treasury permitting it, I recommended the repeal of the internal
taxes, knowing that such relief was then peculiarly necessary in
consequence of the great exertions made in the late war. I made that
recommendation under a pledge that should the public exigencies
require a recurrence to them at any time while I remained in this
trust, I would with equal promptitude perform the duty which would
then be alike incumbent on me. By the experiment now making it will
be seen by the next session of Congress whether the revenue shall
have been so augmented as to be adequate to all these necessary
purposes. Should the deficiency still continue, and especially should
it be probable that it would be permanent, the course to be pursued
appears to me to be obvious. I am satisfied that under certain
circumstances loans may be resorted to with great advantage. I am
equally well satisfied, as a general rule, that the demands of the
current year, especially in time of peace, should be provided for by
the revenue of that year.

I have never dreaded, nor have I ever shunned, in any situation in
which I have been placed making appeals to the virtue and patriotism
of my fellow-citizens, well knowing that they could never be made in
vain, especially in times of great emergency or for purposes of high
national importance. Independently of the exigency of the case, many
considerations of great weight urge a policy having in view a
provision of revenue to meet to a certain extent the demands of the
nation, without relying altogether on the precarious resource of
foreign commerce. I am satisfied that internal duties and excises,
with corresponding imposts on foreign articles of the same kind,
would, without imposing any serious burdens on the people, enhance
the price of produce, promote our manufactures, and augment the
revenue, at the same time that they made it more secure and
permanent.

The care of the Indian tribes within our limits has long been an
essential part of our system, but, unfortunately, it has not been
executed in a manner to accomplish all the objects intended by it. We
have treated them as independent nations, without their having any
substantial pretensions to that rank. The distinction has flattered
their pride, retarded their improvement, and in many instances paved
the way to their destruction. The progress of our settlements
westward, supported as they are by a dense population, has constantly
driven them back, with almost the total sacrifice of the lands which
they have been compelled to abandon. They have claims on the
magnanimity and, I may add, on the justice of this nation which we
must all feel. We should become their real benefactors; we should
perform the office of their Great Father, the endearing title which
they emphatically give to the Chief Magistrate of our Union. Their
sovereignty over vast territories should cease, in lieu of which the
right of soil should be secured to each individual and his posterity
in competent portions; and for the territory thus ceded by each tribe
some reasonable equivalent should be granted, to be vested in
permanent funds for the support of civil government over them and for
the education of their children, for their instruction in the arts of
husbandry, and to provide sustenance for them until they could
provide it for themselves. My earnest hope is that Congress will
digest some plan, founded on these principles, with such improvements
as their wisdom may suggest, and carry it into effect as soon as it
may be practicable.

Europe is again unsettled and the prospect of war increasing. Should
the flame light up in any quarter, how far it may extend it is
impossible to foresee. It is our peculiar felicity to be altogether
unconnected with the causes which produce this menacing aspect
elsewhere. With every power we are in perfect amity, and it is our
interest to remain so if it be practicable on just conditions. I see
no reasonable cause to apprehend variance with any power, unless it
proceed from a violation of our maritime rights. In these contests,
should they occur, and to whatever extent they may be carried, we
shall be neutral; but as a neutral power we have rights which it is
our duty to maintain. For like injuries it will be incumbent on us to
seek redress in a spirit of amity, in full confidence that, injuring
none, none would knowingly injure us. For more imminent dangers we
should be prepared, and it should always be recollected that such
preparation adapted to the circumstances and sanctioned by the
judgment and wishes of our constituents can not fail to have a good
effect in averting dangers of every kind. We should recollect also
that the season of peace is best adapted to these preparations.

If we turn our attention, fellow-citizens, more immediately to the
internal concerns of our country, and more especially to those on
which its future welfare depends, we have every reason to anticipate
the happiest results. It is now rather more than forty-four years
since we declared our independence, and thirty-seven since it was
acknowledged. The talents and virtues which were displayed in that
great struggle were a sure presage of all that has since followed. A
people who were able to surmount in their infant state such great
perils would be more competent as they rose into manhood to repel any
which they might meet in their progress. Their physical strength would
be more adequate to foreign danger, and the practice of
self-government, aided by the light of experience, could not fail to
produce an effect equally salutary on all those questions connected
with the internal organization. These favorable anticipations have
been realized.

In our whole system, national and State, we have shunned all the
defects which unceasingly preyed on the vitals and destroyed the
ancient Republics. In them there were distinct orders, a nobility and
a people, or the people governed in one assembly. Thus, in the one
instance there was a perpetual conflict between the orders in society
for the ascendency, in which the victory of either terminated in the
overthrow of the government and the ruin of the state; in the other,
in which the people governed in a body, and whose dominions seldom
exceeded the dimensions of a county in one of our States, a
tumultuous and disorderly movement permitted only a transitory
existence. In this great nation there is but one order, that of the
people, whose power, by a peculiarly happy improvement of the
representative principle, is transferred from them, without impairing
in the slightest degree their sovereignty, to bodies of their own
creation, and to persons elected by themselves, in the full extent
necessary for all the purposes of free, enlightened and efficient
government. The whole system is elective, the complete sovereignty
being in the people, and every officer in every department deriving
his authority from and being responsible to them for his conduct.

Our career has corresponded with this great outline. Perfection in
our organization could not have been expected in the outset either in
the National or State Governments or in tracing the line between their
respective powers. But no serious conflict has arisen, nor any contest
but such as are managed by argument and by a fair appeal to the good
sense of the people, and many of the defects which experience had
clearly demonstrated in both Governments have been remedied. By
steadily pursuing this course in this spirit there is every reason to
believe that our system will soon attain the highest degree of
perfection of which human institutions are capable, and that the
movement in all its branches will exhibit such a degree of order and
harmony as to command the admiration and respect of the civilized
world.

Our physical attainments have not been less eminent. Twenty-five
years ago the river Mississippi was shut up and our Western brethren
had no outlet for their commerce. What has been the progress since
that time? The river has not only become the property of the United
States from its source to the ocean, with all its tributary streams
(with the exception of the upper part of the Red River only), but
Louisiana, with a fair and liberal boundary on the western side and
the Floridas on the eastern, have been ceded to us. The United States
now enjoy the complete and uninterrupted sovereignty over the whole
territory from St. Croix to the Sabine. New States, settled from
among ourselves in this and in other parts, have been admitted into
our Union in equal participation in the national sovereignty with the
original States. Our population has augmented in an astonishing degree
and extended in every direction. We now, fellow-citizens, comprise
within our limits the dimensions and faculties of a great power under
a Government possessing all the energies of any government ever known
to the Old World, with an utter incapacity to oppress the people.

Entering with these views the office which I have just solemnly sworn
to execute with fidelity and to the utmost of my ability, I derive
great satisfaction from a knowledge that I shall be assisted in the
several Departments by the very enlightened and upright citizens from
whom I have received so much aid in the preceding term. With full
confidence in the continuance of that candor and generous indulgence
from my fellow-citizens at large which I have heretofore experienced,
and with a firm reliance on the protection of Almighty God, I shall
forthwith commence the duties of the high trust to which you have
called me.