ESSENTIAL UNITY OF ALL THE AMERICAS

 

Thomas Jefferson thoughts: I hope for a cordial fraternization among all the American nations, and their coalescing in an American system of policy, totally independent of, and unconnected with that of Europe. The day is not distant when we may formally require a meredian of partition thro’ the ocean which separates the two hemispheres, on the hither side of which no European gust shall ever be heard, nor an American on the other; and when during the rage of the eternal wars of Europe, the lion and the lamb within our regions shall lie down together in peace. 

The surplus of population in Europe and want of room render war, in their opinion, necessary state for producing men to whom the redundant soil is offering the means of life and happiness. The principles of society then, there and here, are radically different, and I hope no American patriot will ever lost sight of the essencial policy of interdicting in the seas and territories of both Americas, the ferocious and sanguinary contests of Europe. I should rejoice to see the fleets of Brazil and the United States riding together as brethren of the same family and having the same interest. 

 

Source: Saul K. Padover, THOMAS JEFFERSON ON DEMOCRACY, , Hawthorn Books Inc, 1939.

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