Benjamin Harrison Quotes
We have a clear right to expect, therefore, that no European Government will seek to establish colonial dependencies upon the territory of these independent American States.
Benjamin Harrison, 1833-1901, 23rd President of the United States (Republican, IN), Inaugural Address, March 4, 1889
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
The term “America” was used by him and others to refer to South and Central America—not the United States.
French Canadian separatists had begun a movement for an independent Quebec. The area that was to be an independent nation, however, included the land of several Indian tribes including the Cree. They insisted on the same right of self-determination within Quebec as the French Canadians claimed within Canada. Their opposition among others led to the failure of the Meech Lake Accord.
The message was conveyed by the Secretary of State, Sir George Calvert (Lord Baltimore). Parliament and the British King were jockeying for position in their relative powers. King James took the position that Parliament could NOT make laws that affected the American Colonies. Parliament disagreed. Later, some of the American patriots would use this quotation to claim that they were only subject to the King and not to Parliament. For related quotes on the King/Parliament issue, see {639144}, {639143}, {639142}, {639141}, {639140}, & {639137}
England in this quotation claims the right to interfere in the internal affairs of another nation if there is mismanagement or crises AND her national interests are affected.
Benjamin Harrison was an American politician and lawyer who served as the 23rd president of the United States from 1889 to 1893. He was a grandson of the ninth president, William Henry Harrison, and a great-grandson of Benjamin Harrison V, a founding father who signed the United States Declaration of Independence.
