John Quincy Adams
Speaks Out Against US Imperialism
(Fourth of July Address, 1821)
Wherever the standard of freedom and independence has been
or shall be unfurled, there will {America's} 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 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 no longer be the
ruler of her own spirit!
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Congress/39 99/