Franklin d. roosevelt The four freedoms Mr Speaker, members of the 77th Congress I address you, the members of this new Congress, at a moment unprecedented the history of the union. I use the word unprecedented"because at no prev ious time has American secur ity been as seriously threate ned from without as it is to day Since the permanent formation of our government under the Constitution in 1789, most of the periods of crisis in our history have related to our domestic affairs. And fortunately, only one of these-the four-year war between the states -ever threatened our national unity. Today, thank God, 130,000, 000 Americans in forty-eight States have forgotten points of the compass in our national unity It is true that prior to 1914 the Un ited states of ten has been disturbed by events in other continents. We have even engaged in two wars with European nations and in a number of undeclared wars in the west indies in the mediterranean and in the Pacif ic, for the maintenance of American rights and for the princip les of peacef ul commerce. But in no case has a serious threat been raised aga inst our national safety or our continued independence What I seek to convey is the historic truth that the United States as a nation has at all times mainta ined oppos ition -clear, def inite oppos ition -to any attempt to lock us in behind an ancient Chinese wall while the procession of civilization went past. Today thinking of our children and of their children we oppose enforced isolation for ourselves or for any other part of the Americas That determination of ours, extending over all these years, was proved, for example, in the early days during the quarter century of wars following the french Revolution. While the Napoleon ic strugg le did threaten interests of the United States because of the french foothold in the west ind ies and in lo uis iana and while e engaged in the War of 1812 to vindicate our right to peaceful trade, it is nevertheless clear that ne ither france nor great Britain nor any other nation was aiming at domination of the whole world And in like fashion, from 1815 to 1914-ninety-nine years-no single war in Europe or in Asia constituted a real threat against our future or against the future of any other american nation Except in the Maximilia n interlude in Mex ico, no foreign power sought to establish itself in this hemisphere. And friendly strength; it is still a friendly strength Even when the World War broke out in 1914 it seemed to contain only small threat of danger to our own American future. But as time went on, as we remember the American people began to visua lize what the downf all of democratic nations mightFranklin D. Roosevelt: The Four Freedoms Mr. Speaker, members of the 77th Congress: I address you, the members of this new Congress, at a moment unprecedented in the history of the union. I use the word “unprecedented” because at no previous time has American security been as seriously threatened f rom without as it is today. Since the permanent formation of our government under the Constitution in 1789, most of the periods of crisis in our history have related to our domestic affairs. And, fortunately, only one of these—the four-year war between the States—ever threatened our national unity. Today, thank God, 130,000,000 Americans in forty-eight States have forgotten points of the compass in our national unity. It is true that prior to 1914 the United States of ten has been disturbed by events in other continents. We have even engaged in two wars with European nations and in a number of undeclared wars in the West Indies, in the Mediterranean and in the Pacific, for the maintenance of American rights and f or the Principles of peaceful commerce. But in no case has a serious threat been raised against our national safety or our continued independence. What I seek to convey is the historic truth that the United States as a nation has at all times maintained opposition—clear, definite opposition—to any attempt to lock us in behind an ancient Chinese wall while the procession of civilization went past. Today, thinking of our children and of their children, we oppose enforced isolation for ourselves or for any other part of the Americas. That determination of ours, extending over all these years, was proved, for example, in the early days during the quarter century of wars following the French Revolution. While the Napoleonic struggle did threaten interests of the United States because of the French foothold in the West Indies and in Louisiana, and while we engaged in the War of 1812 to vindicate our right to peaceful trade, it is nevertheless clear that neither France nor Great Britain nor any other nation was aiming at domination of the whole world. And in like fashion, f rom 1815 to 1914—ninety-nine years—no single war in Europe or in Asia constituted a real threat against our future or against the future of any other American nation. Except in the Maximilian interlude in Mexico, no foreign power sought to establish itself in this hemisphere. And f riendly strength; it is still a f riendly strength. Even when the World War broke out in 1914 it seemed to contain only small threat of danger to our own American future. But as time went on, as we remember, the American people began to visualize what the downfall of democratic nations might