THE MONROE DOCTRINE 383 



standing through diplomatic negotiation with Great Britain, 

 for as he afterward declared: "In deference to what had 

 been done by my predecessors, and especially in considera- 

 tion that a proposition of compromise had been thrice made 

 by two preceding administrations to adjust the question on 

 the parallel of 49 ... I deemed it to be my duty not 

 abruptly to break it off." 



Great Britain refused to consider any proposition of com- 

 promise settlement that was not based upon a free naviga- 

 tion of the Columbia River, which privilege the President 

 was naturally unwilling to grant. The fourth attempt there- 

 fore to adjust the Oregon boundary having failed, a deter- 

 mination to make good the entire claim by force swept over 

 the country, and war seemed inevitable. The President 

 then fell back upon the Monroe Doctrine. In his first annual 

 message to Congress (December 2, 1845), he said : 



Near a quarter of a century ago the principle was distinctly 

 announced to the world, in the annual message of one of my 

 predecessors, 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 coloni- 

 zation by any European powers." 



This principle will apply with greatly increased force should 

 any European power attempt to establish any new colony in North 

 America. In the existing circumstances of the world the present 

 is deemed a proper occasion to reiterate and reaffirm the principle 

 avowed by Mr. Monroe and to state my cordial concurrence in its 

 wisdom and sound policy. The reassertion of this principle, espe- 

 cially in reference to North America, is at this day but the promul- 

 gation of a policy which no European power should cherish the 

 disposition to resist. Existing rights of every European nation 

 should be respected, but it is due alike to our safety and our inter- 

 ests that the efficient protection of our laws should be extended 

 over our whole territorial limits, and that it should be distinctly 

 announced to the world as our settled policy that no future Euro- 

 pean colony or dominion shall with our consent be planted or 

 established on any part of the North American continent. 



Mr. Polk had no doubt experienced a change of heart since 

 his declaration in Congress during the Panama debate that 



or THK 

 UNIVERSITY 



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