Modern Age - Fall 2014 - 26
MODERN AGE
imperative that Americans maintain their
system of checks and balances and be con-
stantly on guard against the encroachment
of one branch of government upon the pow-
ers of another.
The survival of even the sturdiest Consti-
tution, however, ultimately rests on the char-
acter of the people. Therefore, Washington
exhorts Americans to cultivate six healthy
habits:18
(1) "Of all the dispositions . . . which lead
to political prosperity, religion and morality
are indispensable supports."
(2) ". . . cherish public credit. One method
of preserving it is to use it as sparingly as
possible, avoiding occasions of expense by
cultivating peace."
(3) "Observe good faith and justice toward
all nations; cultivate peace and harmony
with all. Religion and morality enjoin this
conduct; and can it be, that good policy does
not equally enjoin it?"
(4) "The nation which indulges towards
another a habitual hatred or a habitual fondness
is in some degree a slave. . . . Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence the jealousy of
a free people ought to be constantly awake."
(5) "The great rule of conduct for us in
regard to foreign nations is in extending our
commercial relations, to have with them as
little political connection as possible. . . . It is
our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world."
(6) "Even our commercial policy should hold
an equal and impartial hand; neither seek-
ing nor granting exclusive favors or prefer-
ences. . . . There can be no greater error than
to expect or calculate upon real favors from
other nations."
Thus did Washington define the charac-
ter of the United States in terms of liberty,
unity, and sovereignty in domestic policy,
and peace, neutrality, and reciprocity in for-
eign policy. He declared Europe a separate
26
FALL 2014
sphere, and he predicted enormous growth
for the republic if it cherished these rules.
He warned of the damage Americans' own
character flaws might wreak, and he allowed
for emergencies caused by the bad faith
of foreigners. His principles derived from
reason, experience, religion, morality, and
enlightened self-interest, and he bade his
countrymen, as they rose to greatness, "to
give to mankind the magnanimous and too
novel example of a people always guided by
an exalted justice and benevolence."
In short, the Farewell Address sketched
out, with prophetic authority and breathtak-
ing pragmatism, all four of the "Promised
Land" diplomatic traditions. First: liberty,
unity, and sovereignty at Home, but no gra-
tuitous, costly, ideological crusades abroad.
As Washington's most brilliant protégé, John
Quincy Adams, put it in his famous speech
of 1821: America "goes not abroad in search
of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher
to the freedom and independence of all.
She is the champion and vindicator only
of her own." Second: neutrality except in
temporary emergencies. Third: an American
system of republics with the Old and New
Worlds off-limits to each other's meddling.
Fourth: expansion through diplomacy, pur-
chase, pioneering, and force as a last resort.
The foundations of all four traditions were
international law, mutual respect, and reci-
procity among civilized nations.
R
eview in your memory the main epi-
sodes of nineteenth-century history and
you will see how American statesmen stayed
the course. Jefferson, for all his wild talk in
favor of the French Revolution, announced
in his inaugural, "We are all Federalists; we
are all Republicans," pledged "no entangl-
ing alliances," clung to neutrality in the
Napoleonic Wars, and acquired Louisiana
peaceably. When the long-suffering Madi-
Modern Age - Fall 2014
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