Date: 1808-11-08
President: Thomas Jefferson

  TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES:                  It would have been a source, fellow citizens, of much gratification, if our   last communications from Europe had enabled me to inform you that the belligerent   nations, whose disregard of neutral rights has been so destructive to our commerce,   had become awakened to the duty and true policy of revoking their unrighteous   edicts. That no means might be omitted to produce this salutary effect, I lost   no time in availing myself of the act authorizing a suspension, in whole or   in part, of the several embargo laws. Our ministers at London and Paris were   instructed to explain to the respective governments there, our disposition to   exercise the authority in such manner as would withdraw the pretext on which   the aggressions were originally founded, and open a way for a renewal of that   commercial intercourse which it was alleged on all sides had been reluctantly   obstructed. As each of those governments had pledged its readiness to concur   in renouncing a measure which reached its adversary through the incontestable   rights of neutrals only, and as the measure had been assumed by each as a retaliation   for an asserted acquiescence in the aggressions of the other, it was reasonably   expected that the occasion would have been seized by both for evincing the sincerity   of their profession, and for restoring to the commerce of the United States   its legitimate freedom. The instructions to our ministers with respect to the   different belligerents were necessarily modified with reference to their different   circumstances, and to the condition annexed by law to the executive power of   suspension, requiring a degree of security to our commerce which would not result   from a repeal of the decrees of France. Instead of a pledge, therefore, of a   suspension of the embargo as to her in case of such a repeal, it was presumed   that a sufficient inducement might be found in other considerations, and particularly   in the change produced by a compliance with our just demands by one belligerent,   and a refusal by the other, in the relations between the other and the United   States. To Great Britain, whose power on the ocean is so ascendant, it was deemed   not inconsistent with that condition to state explicitly, that on her rescinding   her orders in relation to the United States their trade would be opened with   her, and remain shut to her enemy, in case of his failure to rescind his decrees   also. From France no answer has been received, nor any indication that the requisite   change in her decrees is contemplated. The favorable reception of the proposition   to Great Britain was the less to be doubted, as her orders of council had not   only been referred for their vindication to an acquiescence on the part of the   United States no longer to be pretended, but as the arrangement proposed, while   it resisted the illegal decrees of France, involved, moreover, substantially,   the precise advantages professedly aimed at by the British orders. The arrangement   has nevertheless been rejected.        This candid and liberal experiment having thus failed, and no other event having   occurred on which a suspension of the embargo by the executive was authorized,   it necessarily remains in the extent originally given to it. We have the satisfaction,   however, to reflect, that in return for the privations by the measure, and which   our fellow citizens in general have borne with patriotism, it has had the important   effects of saving our mariners and our vast mercantile property, as well as   of affording time for prosecuting the defensive and provisional measures called   for by the occasion. It has demonstrated to foreign nations the moderation and   firmness which govern our councils, and to our citizens the necessity of uniting   in support of the laws and the rights of their country, and has thus long frustrated   those usurpations and spoliations which, if resisted, involve war; if submitted   to, sacrificed a vital principle of our national independence.Under a continuance of the belligerent measures which, in defiance of laws   which consecrate the rights of neutrals, overspread the ocean with danger, it   will rest with the wisdom of Congress to decide on the course best adapted to   such a state of things; and bringing with them, as they do, from every part   of the Union, the sentiments of our constituents, my confidence is strengthened,   that in forming this decision they will, with an unerring regard to the essential   rights and interests of the nation, weigh and compare the painful alternatives   out of which a choice is to be made. Nor should I do justice to the virtues   which on other occasions have marked the character of our fellow citizens, if   I did not cherish an equal confidence that the alternative chosen, whatever   it may be, will be maintained with all the fortitude and patriotism which the   crisis ought to inspire.The documents containing the correspondences on the subject of the foreign   edicts against our commerce, with the instructions given to our ministers at   London and Paris, are now laid before you.The communications made to Congress at their last session explained the posture   in which the close of the discussion relating to the attack by a British ship   of war on the frigate Chesapeake left a subject on which the nation had manifested   so honorable a sensibility. Every view of what had passed authorized a belief   that immediate steps would be taken by the British government for redressing   a wrong, which, the more it was investigated, appeared the more clearly to require   what had not been provided for in the special mission. It is found that no steps   have been taken for the purpose. On the contrary, it will be seen, in the documents   laid before you, that the inadmissible preliminary which obstructed the adjustment   is still adhered to; and, moreover, that it is now brought into connection with   the distinct and irrelative case of the orders in council. The instructions   which had been given to our ministers at London with a view to facilitate, if   necessary, the reparation claimed by the United States, are included in the   documents communicated.Our relations with the other powers of Europe have undergone no material changes   since your last session. The important negotiations with Spain, which had been   alternately suspended and resumed, necessarily experience a pause under the   extraordinary and interesting crisis which distinguished her internal situation.With the Barbary powers we continue in harmony, with the exception of an unjustifiable   proceeding of the dey of Algiers toward our consul to that regency. Its character   and circumstances are now laid before you, and will enable you to decide how   far it may, either now or hereafter, call for any measures not within the limits   of the executive authority.With our Indian neighbors the public peace has been steadily maintained. Some   instances of individual wrong have, as at other times, taken place, but in nowise   implicating the will of the nation. Beyond the Mississippi, the Iowas, the Sacs,   and the Alabamas, have delivered up for trial and punishment individuals from   among themselves accused of murdering citizens of the United States. On this   side of the Mississippi, the Creeks are exerting themselves to arrest offenders   of the same kind; and the Choctaws have manifested their readiness and desire   for amicable and just arrangements respecting depredations committed by disorderly   persons of their tribe. And, generally, from a conviction that we consider them   as part of ourselves, and cherish with sincerity their rights and interests,   the attachment of the Indian tribes is gaining strength daily -- is extending   from the nearer to the more remote, and will amply requite us for the justice   and friendship practised towards them. Husbandry and household manufacture are   advancing among them, more rapidly with the southern than the northern tribes,   from circumstances of soil and climate; and one of the two great divisions of   the Cherokee nation have now under consideration to solicit the citizenship   of the United States, and to be identified with us in laws and government, in   such progressive manner as we shall think best.In consequence of the appropriations of the last session of Congress for the   security of our seaport towns and harbors, such works of defence have been erected   as seemed to be called for by the situation of the several places, their relative   importance, and the scale of expense indicated by the amount of the appropriation.   These works will chiefly be finished in the course of the present season, except   at New York and New Orleans, where most was to be done; and although a great   proportion of the last appropriation has been expended on the former place,   yet some further views will be submitted by Congress for rendering its security   entirely adequate against naval enterprise. A view of what has been done at   the several places, and of what is proposed to be done, shall be communicated   as soon as the several reports are received.Of the gun-boats authorized by the act of December last, it has been thought   necessary to build only one hundred and three in the present year. These, with   those before possessed, are sufficient for the harbors and waters exposed, and   the residue will require little time for their construction when it is deemed   necessary.Under the act of the last session for raising an additional military force,   so many officers were immediately appointed as were necessary for carrying on   the business of recruiting, and in proportion as it advanced, others have been   added. We have reason to believe their success has been satisfactory, although   such returns have not yet been received as enable me to present to you a statement   of the numbers engaged.I have not thought it necessary in the course of the last season to call for   any general detachments of militia or volunteers under the law passed for that   purpose. For the ensuing season, however, they will require to be in readiness   should their services be wanted. Some small and special detachments have been   necessary to maintain the laws of embargo on that portion of our northern frontier   which offered peculiar facilities for evasion, but these were replaced as soon   as it could be done by bodies of new recruits. By the aid of these, and of the   armed vessels called into actual service in other quarters, the spirit of disobedience   and abuse which manifested itself early, and with sensible effect while we were   unprepared to meet it, has been considerably repressed.Considering the extraordinary character of the times in which we live, our   attention should unremittingly be fixed on the safety of our country. For a   people who are free, and who mean to remain so, a well-organized and armed militia   is their best security. It is, therefore, incumbent on us, at every meeting,   to revise the condition of the militia, and to ask ourselves if it is prepared   to repel a powerful enemy at every point of our territories exposed to invasion.   Some of the States have paid a laudable attention to this object; but every   degree of neglect is to be found among others. Congress alone have power to   produce a uniform state of preparation in this great organ of defence; the interests   which they so deeply feel in their own and their country's security will present   this as among the most important objects of their deliberation.Under the acts of March 11th and April 23d, respecting arms, the difficulty   of procuring them from abroad, during the present situation and dispositions   of Europe, induced us to direct our whole efforts to the means of internal supply.   The public factories have, therefore, been enlarged, additional machineries   erected, and in proportion as artificers can be found or formed, their effect,   already more than doubled, may be increased so as to keep pace with the yearly   increase of the militia. The annual sums appropriated by the latter act, have   been directed to the encouragement of private factories of arms, and contracts   have been entered into with individual undertakers to nearly the amount of the   first year's appropriation.The suspension of our foreign commerce, produced by the injustice of the belligerent   powers, and the consequent losses and sacrifices of our citizens, are subjects   of just concern. The situation into which we have thus been forced, has impelled   us to apply a portion of our industry and capital to internal manufactures and   improvements. The extent of this conversion is daily increasing, and little   doubt remains that the establishments formed and forming will -- under the auspices   of cheaper materials and subsistence, the freedom of labor from taxation with   us, and of protecting duties and prohibitions -- become permanent. The commerce   with the Indians, too, within our own boundaries, is likely to receive abundant   aliment from the same internal source, and will secure to them peace and the   progress of civilization, undisturbed by practices hostile to both.The accounts of the receipts and expenditures during the year ending on the   30th day of September last, being not yet made up, a correct statement will   hereafter be transmitted from the Treasury. In the meantime, it is ascertained   that the receipts have amounted to near eighteen millions of dollars, which,   with the eight millions and a half in the treasury at the beginning of the year,   have enabled us, after meeting the current demands and interest incurred, to   pay two millions three hundred thousand dollars of the principal of our funded   debt, and left us in the treasury, on that day, near fourteen millions of dollars.   Of these, five millions three hundred and fifty thousand dollars will be necessary   to pay what will be due on the first day of January next, which will complete   the reimbursement of the eight per cent. stock. These payments, with those made   in the six years and a half preceding, will have extinguished thirty-three millions   five hundred and eighty thousand dollars of the principal of the funded debt,   being the whole which could be paid or purchased within the limits of the law   and our contracts; and the amount of principal thus discharged will have liberated   the revenue from about two millions of dollars of interest, and added that sum   annually to the disposable surplus. The probable accumulation of the surpluses   of revenue beyond what can be applied to the payment of the public debt, whenever   the freedom and safety of our commerce shall be restored, merits the consideration   of Congress. Shall it lie unproductive in the public vaults? Shall the revenue   be reduced? Or shall it rather be appropriated to the improvements of roads,   canals, rivers, education, and other great foundations of prosperity and union,   under the powers which Congress may already possess, or such amendment of the   constitution as may be approved by the States? While uncertain of the course   of things, the time may be advantageously employed in obtaining the powers necessary   for a system of improvement, should that be thought best.Availing myself of this the last occasion which will occur of addressing the   two houses of the legislature at their meeting, I cannot omit the expression   of my sincere gratitude for the repeated proofs of confidence manifested to   me by themselves and their predecessors since my call to the administration,   and the many indulgences experienced at their hands. The same grateful acknowledgments   are due to my fellow citizens generally, whose support has been my great encouragement   under all embarrassments. In the transaction of their business I cannot have   escaped error. It is incident to our imperfect nature. But I may say with truth,   my errors have been of the understanding, not of intention; and that the advancement   of their rights and interests has been the constant motive for every measure.   On these considerations I solicit their indulgence. Looking forward with anxiety   to their future destinies, I trust that, in their steady character unshaken   by difficulties, in their love of liberty, obedience to law, and support of   the public authorities, I see a sure guaranty of the permanence of our republic;   and retiring from the charge of their affairs, I carry with me the consolation   of a firm persuasion that Heaven has in store for our beloved country long ages   to come of prosperity and happiness.