State of the Union Addresses of Franklin Pierce

by Franklin Pierce

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and of the House ofThe interest with which the people of the Republic anticipate theassembling of Congress and the fulfillment on that occasion of the dutyimposed upon a new President is one of the best evidences of their capacityto realize the hopes of the founders of a political system at once complexand symmetrical. While the different branches of the Government are to acertain extent independent of each other, the duties of all alike havedirect reference to the source of power. Fortunately, under this system noman is so high and none so humble in the scale of public station as toescape from the scrutiny or to be exempt from the responsibility which allofficial functions imply.Upon the justice and intelligence of the masses, in a government thusorganized, is the sole reliance of the confederacy and the only securityfor honest and earnest devotion to its interests against the usurpationsand encroachment of power on the one hand and the assaults of personalambition on the other.The interest of which I have spoken is inseparable from an inquiring,self-governing community, but stimulated, doubtless, at the present time bythe unsettled condition of our relations with several foreign powers, bythe new obligations resulting from a sudden extension of the field ofenterprise, by the spirit with which that field has been entered and theamazing energy with which its resources for meeting the demands of humanityhave been developed.Although disease, assuming at one time the characteristics of a widespreadand devastating pestilence, has left its sad traces upon some portions ofour country, we have still the most abundant cause for reverentthankfulness to God for an accumulation of signal mercies showered upon usas a nation. It is well that a consciousness of rapid advancement andincreasing strength be habitually associated with an abiding sense ofdependence upon Him who holds in His hands the destiny of men and of

120 pages, Paperback

First published July 20, 2004

About the author

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Franklin Pierce was an American politician and lawyer elected as the 14th President of the United States on the Democratic Party ticket, serving from 1853 to 1857. Previously, he was appointed commander and colonel of the 9th Infantry Regiment in the Mexican–American War, and was quickly promoted to brigadier general.

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✒️ State of the Union Addresses:
December 5, 1853
December 4, 1854
December 31, 1855
December 2, 1856

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