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Inaugural Address of President James Buchanan |
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Inaugural Address of President James Buchanan
Wednesday, March 4, 1857
Fellow-Citizens:
I APPEAR before you this day to take the solemn oath "that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States."
In entering upon this great office I must humbly invoke the God of our
fathers for wisdom and firmness to execute its high and responsible duties
in such a manner as to restore harmony and ancient friendship among the
people of the several States and to preserve our free institutions
throughout many generations. Convinced that I owe my election to the
inherent love for the Constitution and the Union which still animates the
hearts of the American people, let me earnestly ask their powerful support
in sustaining all just measures calculated to perpetuate these, the richest
political blessings which Heaven has ever bestowed upon any nation. Having
determined not to become a candidate for reelection, I shall have no motive
to influence my conduct in administering the Government except the desire
ably and faithfully to serve my country and to live in grateful memory of my
countrymen.
We have recently passed through a Presidential contest in which the
passions of our fellow-citizens were excited to the highest degree by
questions of deep and vital importance; but when the people proclaimed their
will the tempest at once subsided and all was calm.
The voice of the majority, speaking in the manner prescribed by the
Constitution, was heard, and instant submission followed. Our own country
could alone have exhibited so grand and striking a spectacle of the capacity
of man for self-government.
What a happy conception, then, was it for Congress to apply this simple
rule, that the will of the majority shall govern, to the settlement of the
question of domestic slavery in the Territories. Congress is neither "to
legislate slavery into any Territory or State nor to exclude it therefrom,
but to leave the people thereof perfectly free to form and regulate their
domestic institutions in their own way, subject only to the Constitution of
the United States."
As a natural consequence, Congress has also prescribed that when the
Territory of Kansas shall be admitted as a State it "shall be received into
the Union with or without slavery, as their constitution may prescribe at
the time of their admission."
A difference of opinion has arisen in regard to the point of time when the
people of a Territory shall decide this question for themselves.
This is, happily, a matter of but little practical importance. Besides, it
is a judicial question, which legitimately belongs to the Supreme Court of
the United States, before whom it is now pending, and will, it is
understood, be speedily and finally settled. To their decision, in common
with all good citizens, I shall cheerfully submit, whatever this may be,
though it has ever been my individual opinion that under the Nebraska-Kansas
act the appropriate period will be when the number of actual residents in
the Territory shall justify the formation of a constitution with a view to
its admission as a State into the Union. But be this as it may, it is the
imperative and indispensable duty of the Government of the United States to
secure to every resident inhabitant the free and independent expression of
his opinion by his vote. This sacred right of each individual must be
preserved. That being accomplished, nothing can be fairer than to leave the
people of a Territory free from all foreign interference to decide their own
destiny for themselves, subject only to the Constitution of the United States.
The whole Territorial question being thus settled upon the principle of
popular sovereigntya principle as ancient as free government
itselfeverything of a practical nature has been decided. No other question
remains for adjustment, because all agree that under the Constitution
slavery in the States is beyond the reach of any human power except that of
the respective States themselves wherein it exists. May we not, then, hope
that the long agitation on this subject is approaching its end, and that the
geographical parties to which it has given birth, so much dreaded by the
Father of his Country, will speedily become extinct? Most happy will it be
for the country when the public mind shall be diverted from this question to
others of more pressing and practical importance. Throughout the whole
progress of this agitation, which has scarcely known any intermission for
more than twenty years, whilst it has been productive of no positive good to
any human being it has been the prolific source of great evils to the
master, to the slave, and to the whole country. It has alienated and
estranged the people of the sister States from each other, and has even
seriously endangered the very existence of the Union. Nor has the danger yet
entirely ceased. Under our system there is a remedy for all mere political
evils in the sound sense and sober judgment of the people. Time is a great
corrective. Political subjects which but a few years ago excited and
exasperated the public mind have passed away and are now nearly forgotten.
But this question of domestic slavery is of far graver importance than any
mere political question, because should the agitation continue it may
eventually endanger the personal safety of a large portion of our countrymen
where the institution exists. In that event no form of government, however
admirable in itself and however productive of material benefits, can
compensate for the loss of peace and domestic security around the family
altar. Let every Union-loving man, therefore, exert his best influence to
suppress this agitation, which since the recent legislation of Congress is
without any legitimate object.
It is an evil omen of the times that men have undertaken to calculate the
mere material value of the Union. Reasoned estimates have been presented of
the pecuniary profits and local advantages which would result to different
States and sections from its dissolution and of the comparative injuries
which such an event would inflict on other States and sections. Even
descending to this low and narrow view of the mighty question, all such
calculations are at fault. The bare reference to a single consideration will
be conclusive on this point. We at present enjoy a free trade throughout our
extensive and expanding country such as the world has never witnessed. This
trade is conducted on railroads and canals, on noble rivers and arms of the
sea, which bind together the North and the South, the East and the West, of
our Confederacy. Annihilate this trade, arrest its free progress by the
geographical lines of jealous and hostile States, and you destroy the
prosperity and onward march of the whole and every part and involve all in
one common ruin. But such considerations, important as they are in
themselves, sink into insignificance when we reflect on the terrific evils
which would result from disunion to every portion of the Confederacyto the
North, not more than to the South, to the East not more than to the West.
These I shall not attempt to portray, because I feel an humble confidence
that the kind Providence which inspired our fathers with wisdom to frame the
most perfect form of government and union ever devised by man will not
suffer it to perish until it shall have been peacefully instrumental by its
example in the extension of civil and religious liberty throughout the world.
Next in importance to the maintenance of the Constitution and the Union is
the duty of preserving the Government free from the taint or even the
suspicion of corruption. Public virtue is the vital spirit of republics, and
history proves that when this has decayed and the love of money has usurped
its place, although the forms of free government may remain for a season,
the substance has departed forever.
Our present financial condition is without a parallel in history. No
nation has ever before been embarrassed from too large a surplus in its
treasury. This almost necessarily gives birth to extravagant legislation. It
produces wild schemes of expenditure and begets a race of speculators and
jobbers, whose ingenuity is exerted in contriving and promoting expedients
to obtain public money. The purity of official agents, whether rightfully or
wrongfully, is suspected, and the character of the government suffers in the
estimation of the people. This is in itself a very great evil.
The natural mode of relief from this embarrassment is to appropriate the
surplus in the Treasury to great national objects for which a clear warrant
can be found in the Constitution. Among these I might mention the
extinguishment of the public debt, a reasonable increase of the Navy, which
is at present inadequate to the protection of our vast tonnage afloat, now
greater than that of any other nation, as well as to the defense of our
extended seacoast.
It is beyond all question the true principle that no more revenue ought to
be collected from the people than the amount necessary to defray the
expenses of a wise, economical, and efficient administration of the
Government. To reach this point it was necessary to resort to a modification
of the tariff, and this has, I trust, been accomplished in such a manner as
to do as little injury as may have been practicable to our domestic
manufactures, especially those necessary for the defense of the country. Any
discrimination against a particular branch for the purpose of benefiting
favored corporations, individuals, or interests would have been unjust to
the rest of the community and inconsistent with that spirit of fairness and
equality which ought to govern in the adjustment of a revenue tariff.
But the squandering of the public money sinks into comparative
insignificance as a temptation to corruption when compared with the
squandering of the public lands.
No nation in the tide of time has ever been blessed with so rich and noble
an inheritance as we enjoy in the public lands. In administering this
important trust, whilst it may be wise to grant portions of them for the
improvement of the remainder, yet we should never forget that it is our
cardinal policy to reserve these lands, as much as may be, for actual
settlers, and this at moderate prices. We shall thus not only best promote
the prosperity of the new States and Territories, by furnishing them a hardy
and independent race of honest and industrious citizens, but shall secure
homes for our children and our children's children, as well as for those
exiles from foreign shores who may seek in this country to improve their
condition and to enjoy the blessings of civil and religious liberty. Such
emigrants have done much to promote the growth and prosperity of the
country. They have proved faithful both in peace and in war. After becoming
citizens they are entitled, under the Constitution and laws, to be placed on
a perfect equality with native-born citizens, and in this character they
should ever be kindly recognized.
The Federal Constitution is a grant from the States to Congress of certain
specific powers, and the question whether this grant should be liberally or
strictly construed has more or less divided political parties from the
beginning. Without entering into the argument, I desire to state at the
commencement of my Administration that long experience and observation have
convinced me that a strict construction of the powers of the Government is
the only true, as well as the only safe, theory of the Constitution.
Whenever in our past history doubtful powers have been exercised by
Congress, these have never failed to produce injurious and unhappy
consequences. Many such instances might be adduced if this were the proper
occasion. Neither is it necessary for the public service to strain the
language of the Constitution, because all the great and useful powers
required for a successful administration of the Government, both in peace
and in war, have been granted, either in express terms or by the plainest
implication.
Whilst deeply convinced of these truths, I yet consider it clear that
under the war-making power Congress may appropriate money toward the
construction of a military road when this is absolutely necessary for the
defense of any State or Territory of the Union against foreign invasion.
Under the Constitution Congress has power "to declare war," "to raise and
support armies," "to provide and maintain a navy," and to call forth the
militia to "repel invasions." Thus endowed, in an ample manner, with the
war-making power, the corresponding duty is required that "the United States
shall protect each of them [the States] against invasion." Now, how is it
possible to afford this protection to California and our Pacific possessions
except by means of a military road through the Territories of the United
States, over which men and munitions of war may be speedily transported from
the Atlantic States to meet and to repel the invader? In the event of a war
with a naval power much stronger than our own we should then have no other
available access to the Pacific Coast, because such a power would instantly
close the route across the isthmus of Central America. It is impossible to
conceive that whilst the Constitution has expressly required Congress to
defend all the States it should yet deny to them, by any fair construction,
the only possible means by which one of these States can be defended.
Besides, the Government, ever since its origin, has been in the constant
practice of constructing military roads. It might also be wise to consider
whether the love for the Union which now animates our fellow-citizens on the
Pacific Coast may not be impaired by our neglect or refusal to provide for
them, in their remote and isolated condition, the only means by which the
power of the States on this side of the Rocky Mountains can reach them in
sufficient time to "protect" them "against invasion." I forbear for the
present from expressing an opinion as to the wisest and most economical mode
in which the Government can lend its aid in accomplishing this great and
necessary work. I believe that many of the difficulties in the way, which
now appear formidable, will in a great degree vanish as soon as the nearest
and best route shall have been satisfactorily ascertained.
It may be proper that on this occasion I should make some brief remarks in
regard to our rights and duties as a member of the great family of nations.
In our intercourse with them there are some plain principles, approved by
our own experience, from which we should never depart. We ought to cultivate
peace, commerce, and friendship with all nations, and this not merely as the
best means of promoting our own material interests, but in a spirit of
Christian benevolence toward our fellow-men, wherever their lot may be cast.
Our diplomacy should be direct and frank, neither seeking to obtain more nor
accepting less than is our due. We ought to cherish a sacred regard for the
independence of all nations, and never attempt to interfere in the domestic
concerns of any unless this shall be imperatively required by the great law
of self-preservation. To avoid entangling alliances has been a maxim of our
policy ever since the days of Washington, and its wisdom's no one will
attempt to dispute. In short, we ought to do justice in a kindly spirit to
all nations and require justice from them in return.
It is our glory that whilst other nations have extended their dominions by
the sword we have never acquired any territory except by fair purchase or,
as in the case of Texas, by the voluntary determination of a brave, kindred,
and independent people to blend their destinies with our own. Even our
acquisitions from Mexico form no exception. Unwilling to take advantage of
the fortune of war against a sister republic, we purchased these possessions
under the treaty of peace for a sum which was considered at the time a fair
equivalent. Our past history forbids that we shall in the future acquire
territory unless this be sanctioned by the laws of justice and honor. Acting
on this principle, no nation will have a right to interfere or to complain
if in the progress of events we shall still further extend our possessions.
Hitherto in all our acquisitions the people, under the protection of the
American flag, have enjoyed civil and religious liberty, as well as equal
and just laws, and have been contented, prosperous, and happy. Their trade
with the rest of the world has rapidly increased, and thus every commercial
nation has shared largely in their successful progress.
I shall now proceed to take the oath prescribed by the Constitution, whilst humbly invoking the blessing of Divine Providence on this great people.
Visit Mr. Buchanan's Website
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The U. S. Constitution
