The Life of George Washington, Vol. 5: Commander in Chief of the American Forces During the War; which Established the Independence of his Country and First; President of the United StatesMarshall, John
History
The Life of George Washington, Vol. 5: Commander in Chief of the American Forces During the War; which Established the Independence of his Country and First; President of the United States
Marshall, John
Generals -- United States -- Biography; Presidents -- United States -- Biography; Washington, George, 1732-1799
"The _north_ in an unrestrained intercourse with the _south_,
protected by the equal laws of a common government, finds in the
productions of the latter, great additional resources of maritime and
commercial enterprise, and precious materials of manufacturing
industry.--The _south_, in the same intercourse, benefiting by the
same agency of the _north_, sees its agriculture grow, and its
commerce expand. Turning partly into its own channels the seamen of
the _north_, it finds its particular navigation invigorated; and while
it contributes, in different ways, to nourish and increase the general
mass of the national navigation, it looks forward to the protection of
a maritime strength, to which itself is unequally adapted. The _east_,
in a like intercourse with the _west_, already finds, and in the
progressive improvement of interior communications by land and water,
will more and more find a valuable vent for the commodities which it
brings from abroad, or manufactures at home. The _west_ derives from
the _east_ supplies requisite to its growth and comfort--and what is
perhaps of still greater consequence, it must of necessity owe the
_secure_ enjoyment of indispensable _outlets_ for its own productions,
to the weight, influence, and the future maritime strength of the
Atlantic side of the union, directed by an indissoluble community of
interest as _one nation_. Any other tenure by which the _west_ can
hold this essential advantage, whether derived from its own separate
strength, or from an apostate and unnatural connexion with any foreign
power, must be intrinsically precarious.
"While then every part of our country thus feels an immediate and
particular interest in union, all the parts combined can not fail to
find in the united mass of means and efforts, greater strength,
greater resource, proportionably greater security from external
danger, a less frequent interruption of their peace by foreign
nations; and, what is of inestimable value, they must derive from
union an exemption from those broils and wars between themselves,
which so frequently afflict neighbouring countries not tied together
by the same government; which their own rivalships alone would be
sufficient to produce, but which, opposite foreign alliances,
attachments, and intrigues, would stimulate and embitter.--Hence
likewise, they will avoid the necessity of those overgrown military
establishments, which under any form of government are inauspicious to
liberty, and which are to be regarded as particularly hostile to
republican liberty. In this sense it is, that your union ought to be
considered as a main prop of your liberty, and that the love of the
one ought to endear to you the preservation of the other.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account