Posted on 05/05/2007 12:48:09 AM PDT by joseph20
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Entangle alliances with none; trade with everyone.
George Washington’s Farewell Address. He warned against entangling alliances with European powers. That was 200+ years ago when the Atlantic Ocean was a meaningful protection.
Both Washington and Jefferson said words to that effect...
First Washington
http://www.answers.com/topic/george-washington-s-farewell-address
“the baneful effects of the spirit of party” should be muted because they threatened liberty by subordinating people to demagogic leaders and hampering the ability of the President to promote the national interest. Third, U.S. diplomacy should “steer clear of permanent alliances” and “trust to temporary alliances for extraordinary emergencies.”
and Jefferson:
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/presiden/inaug/jefinau1.htm
About to enter, fellow-citizens, on the exercise of duties which comprehend everything dear and valuable to you, it is proper you should understand what I deem the essential principles of our Government, and consequently those which ought to shape its Administration. I will compress them within the narrowest compass they will bear, stating the general principle, but not all its limitations. Equal and exact justice to all men, of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political; peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none; the support of the State governments in all their rights, as the most competent administrations for our domestic concerns and the surest bulwarks against antirepublican tendencies; the preservation of the General Government in its whole constitutional vigor, as the sheet anchor of our peace at home and safety abroad; a jealous care of the right of election by the people — a mild and safe corrective of abuses which are lopped by the sword of revolution where peaceable remedies are unprovided; absolute acquiescence in the decisions of the majority, the vital principle of republics, from which is no appeal but to force, the vital principle and immediate parent of despotism; a well-disciplined militia, our best reliance in peace and for the first moments of war till regulars may relieve them; the supremacy of the civil over the military authority; economy in the public expense, that labor may be lightly burthened; the honest payment of our debts and sacred preservation of the public faith; encouragement of agriculture, and of commerce as its handmaid; the diffusion of information and arraignment of all abuses at the bar of the public reason; freedom of religion; freedom of the press, and freedom of person under the protection of the habeas corpus, and trial by juries impartially selected. These principles form the bright constellation which has gone before us and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reformation. The wisdom of our sages and blood of our heroes have been devoted to their attainment. They should be the creed of our political faith, the text of civic instruction, the touchstone by which to try the services of those we trust; and should we wander from them in moments of error or of alarm, let us hasten to retrace our steps and to regain the road which alone leads to peace, liberty, and safety.
Thank you all.
Only on FreeRepublic could I post a Vanity and get such an educated response within such a short period of time.
Carry on everyone, carry on :)
Be very careful about assuming that Washington meant to say that we should NEVER have “entangling alliances” (he never used those words anyway) with European powers.
It MUST be remembered that Washington said that we should avoid placing ourselves in a position of revealing that we did not have the military power to back up our foreign policy. He therefore advocated that we do not associate or pick sides in European conflicts until we had a stronger position. It should also be remembered that after the Revolutionary war the US was about crippled economically and had a very poor military capability. No Navy to speak of and no ability to stand up for ourselves. Even by 1812 we were in no real position to act on the war that broke out again with England then.
Washington estimated that it would be 20 years or more before we were ready to stand up as a strong nation at the conclusion of the Rev war.
I do NOT believe that Washington meant that we should forever steer clear of “entangling alliances” but that he was saying we couldn’t do it unless we had the power to back up our policy.
A review of the Farewell address and early American diplomacy reveals that we were ALREADY quite involved in MANY “entangling alliances” even BEFORE Washington delivered his “warning”.
So, to say that staying clear of “entangling alliances” and assuming that the Founders meant isolationism is NOT a good reading of the facts as far as I am concerned. It just seems like trite and misleading history to be so simplistic as to take those few words of the address and assume it was the “policy” of the Founders.
A good book on the issue is “To the Farewell Address” by Felix Gilbert.
Something to the effect of its better to suffer under a tyrant than people with good intentions because a tyrant might become tired, but people with ood intentions think they are helping you.
C.S. Lewis
Allen was specifically asked about this quotation when he spoke at our university, and made it clear from many, many other quotations by GW that he did NOT oppose alliances, entangling or otherwise, and that in the past he was in favor of the "right" alliances. He just did not think in the late 1700s the U.S. could keep any such alliance from blowing back on us.
This is, by the way, the same Jefferson who sought an “entangling alliance” with the Holy Roman Empire, France, Britain, and whoever else would join in our first “War on Terror” against the Barbary Pirates. When no one else would help (sound familiar?) TJ used a Joint Resolution to literally “declare war” on the Bey of Tripoli, and ALL other terrorist nations in the region, until they all submitted. TJ had no problem, either, with an “entangling alliance” with FRANCE-—only one with England.
Check here for lots of quotes:
http://PatriotPost.US/fqd/ (quotes)
http://patriotpost.us/histdocs/ (documents)
I would have loved being in your class. All of my profs were bleeding-heart, empty-headed liberals. You know... the norm.
On second thought, I would not have wanted to pay out of state tuition *and* have to move so far away from home...
LOL. Tuition, from my perspective, is the least of a college student’s worries. We give away so much aid-—fully 60% of my students are on aid of some sort-—that I don’t really know who pays anything. But we aren’t cheap. Last I heard, it was about $28,000.
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