Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 1.djvu/207

Rh threatening in tone. Upon receipt of the President’s communication the matter was referred to a committee consisting of Senators Clay, of Kentucky; Crawford, of Georgia; Bradley, of Vermont; Smith, of Maryland, and Anderson, of Tennessee (Annals of Congress, 1810-1811, pp. 37-?6), and on January yth, Mr. Clay, from this committee, reported a declaration and bill&quot; to enable the President to take possession of East Florida, which passed the Senate in secret session January 10, 1811, by a vote of 23 to 7. The nays were Senators Bayard, of Delaware; Champlin, of Rhode Island; Goodrich, of New Hampshire; Horsey, of Delaware ; Lloyd, of Massachusetts; Pickering, of Massachusetts, and Reed, of Maryland. (Annals of Congress, 370-376, 575, 1138.) The bill passed the House January i5th and became a law by the signature of the President on the same day. This act authorized the President to take possession of East Florida, with the consent of the Spanish authorities, or in the event of an attempt by any foreign nation except Spain to occupy the province. Near the same time, a resolution was adopted in Congress which foreshadowed the famous &quot;Monroe Doctrine.&quot; Limited in expression to Florida, it was soon to become the permanent policy of the United States and to extend to the entire American continent. This resolution declares: &quot;That the United States, under the peculiar circumstances of the existing crisis, cannot, without serious inquietude, see any part of the said territory pass into the hands of any foreign power; and that a due regard to their own safety compels them to provide, under certain contingencies, for the temporary occupation of the said territory; they, at the same time, declare that the said territory shall, in their hands, remain subject to a future negotiation.&quot;

The President at once appointed Gen. George Matthews and Col. John McKee commissioners for carrying into effect the provisions of Congress. (Annals of Congress, 1811-1812, pp. 1687, 1692.)