When John Quincy Adams served as U. S. Secretary of State, he delivered this speech to the U.S. House of Representatives on July 4, 1821, in celebration of American Independence Day.
And now, friends and countrymen, if the wise and learned philosophers of the elder world, the first observers of nutation and aberration, the discoverers of maddening ether and invisible planets, the inventors of Congreve rockets and Shrapnel shells, should find their hearts disposed to enquire what has America done for the benefit of mankind?
Let our answer be this: America, with the same voice which spoke herself into existence as a nation, proclaimed to mankind the inextinguishable rights of human nature, and the only lawful foundations of government. America, in the assembly of nations, since her admission among them, has invariably, though often fruitlessly, held forth to them the hand of honest friendship, of equal freedom, of generous reciprocity.
She has uniformly spoken among them, though often to heedless and often to disdainful ears, the language of equal liberty, of equal justice, and of equal rights.
She has, in the lapse of nearly half a century, without a single exception, respected the independence of other nations while asserting and maintaining her own.
She has abstained from interference in the concerns of others, even when conflict has been for principles to which she clings, as to the last vital drop that visits the heart.
She has seen that probably for centuries to come, all the contests of that Aceldama the European world, will be contests of inveterate power, and emerging right.
Wherever the standard of freedom and Independence has been or shall be unfurled, there will her heart, her benedictions and her prayers be.
But she 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.
She will commend the general cause by the countenance of her voice, and the benignant sympathy of her example.
She well knows that by once enlisting under other banners than her own, were they even the banners of foreign independence, she would involve herself beyond the power of extrication, in all the wars of interest and intrigue, of individual avarice, envy, and ambition, which assume the colors and usurp the standard of freedom.
The fundamental maxims of her policy would insensibly change from liberty to force....
She might become the dictatress of the world. She would be no longer the ruler of her own spirit....
[America's] glory is not dominion, but liberty. Her march is the march of the mind. She has a spear and a shield: but the motto upon her shield is, Freedom, Independence, Peace. This has been her Declaration: this has been, as far as her necessary intercourse with the rest of mankind would permit, her practice.
Our foreign policy has made today's America the exact opposite of the one described in this speech. We do go abroad "in search of monsters to destroy". We have made it our practice to do so for many years. America is no longer the "champion and vindicator of her own". We have made ourselves the world police, and we have made ourselves the vindicators of other nations, whether our help was welcomed or not. A new age and style of this policy has been born under Bush and Cheney. As far back as 1997, Cheney was involved in an organization called the Project for a New American Century. Other members were Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Dan Quayle, Jeb Bush, and Lewis "Scooter" Libby, most of which have served in the Bush administration and shaped our foreign policy. One of PNAC's main goals from its inception was regime change in Iraq. But just look at their own words in 2000: "Further, the process of transformation, even if it brings revolutionary change, is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event – like a new Pearl Harbor." That comes from PNAC's "Rebuilding America's Defenses" plan, in which they argue for a large military buildup, like what went on during the Reagan years. They said that the speed at which the buildup could happen would be slow unless another Pearl Harbor happened, and they got their wish on 9/11. Now the maxims of our policy have certainly changed from "liberty to force". We tell other nations what kinds of weapons they can have, while we ourselves have all sorts of nasty weapons at our disposal. And if those nations should dare to defy us, we'll bomb them to get our point across. If that doesn't work, we'll invade. We are well on our way to becoming "dictatress of the world". If Adams' speech was read before Congress, I wonder if they would actually catch on to the fact they have made America the opposite of what is described in it?
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