It is indeed a question of grave consideration whether our recent and
present example is not calculated to check the growth and expansion of
free principles, and make those communities distrust, if not dread,
a government which at will consigns to military domination States that
are integral parts of our Federal Union, and, while ready to resist any
attempts by other nations to extend to this hemisphere the monarchical
institutions of Europe, assumes to establish over a large portion of
its people a rule more absolute, harsh, and tyrannical than any known
to civilized powers.
The acquisition of Alaska was made with the view of extending national
jurisdiction and republican principles in the American hemisphere.
Believing that a further step could be taken in the same direction,
I last year entered into a treaty with the King of Denmark for the
purchase of the islands of St. Thomas and St. John, on the best terms
then attainable, and with the express consent of the people of those
islands.
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