Message from the President of the United States, to Both Houses of Congress, at the Commencement of the First Session of the Eighteenth Congress. December 2, 1823.

MONROE, James.

$9,500.00

Item Number: 131707

Washington, D.C: Printed by Gales & Seaton, 1823.

First edition in book form of the Monroe Doctrine. Octavo, bound in contemporary calf, numerous folding charts and tables. In very good condition. Rare.

President Monroe's message includes his policy statements regarding the Western Hemisphere which would become known as the Monroe Doctrine. To the European powers on the other side of the Atlantic, he declared: We owe it, therefore, to candor, and to the amicable relations existing between the United States and those powers, to declare, that we should consider any attempt on their part to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere, as dangerous to our peace and safety. The President's message is preceded by A List of Reports to be made to the House of Representatives at the First Session of the Eighteenth Congress by the Executive Departments. Several other accompanying documents follow it, including: General Gaines report on the campaigns against the Arkikaras; the Commissioner of Public Buildings report; a report of the Sec. of State on the present condition and future prospects of the Greeks; a memorial related to a General System of Bankruptcy; a report of the Sec. of the Treasury on the State of the Finances, etc. Howes M724: In addition to containing the notable first enunciation of the 'Monroe Doctrine,' one of the accompanying documents gives General Gaines' report on the upper Missouri campaign against the Arikaras (Howes D385 & A307, Grolier). The fear that the continental powers were planning to reconquer the Latin American republics that had declared their independence from Spain—coupled with irritation over Russia's intention to quarantine the Northwest coast of America from all but Russian vessels—led President Monroe to articulate a policy (largely drafted by Secretary of State John Quincy Adams) that would obligate the European powers to respect the Western Hemisphere as the United States' sphere of influence and prevent their intervention in the New World. His eponymous doctrine boldly declared that "the American continents, by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintained, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for further colonization by any European powers," and that any subsequent European meddling in the Americas could not be viewed "in any other light than as the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition towards the United States."