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The Empire of Liberty is a theme developed first by Thomas Jefferson to identify the responsibility of the United States to spread freedom across the world. Jefferson saw the mission of the U.S. in terms of setting an example, expansion into western North America, and by intervention abroad. Major exponents of the theme have been Abraham Lincoln (in the Gettysburg Address), Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson (and "Wilsonianism"), Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton,〔Hyland says, "Jefferson's concept of an empire of liberty found an echo in Clinton's enlargement of democracies." William Hyland, ''Clinton's world: remaking American foreign policy'' (1999) p. Page 201〕 and George W. Bush. In the History of U.S. foreign policy the Empire of Liberty has provided motivation to fight the Spanish–American War (1898),〔Dominic Tierney, ''How We Fight: Crusades, Quagmires, and the American Way of War'' (2010) p 91〕 World War I (1917),〔Richard H. Immerman, ''Empire for Liberty'' (2010) p 158〕 the later part of World War II (1941), the Cold War (1947–91) and the War on Terror (2001-present).〔David Reynolds, ''America, Empire of Liberty'' (2009) pp xvii, 304, 458〕 ==Jefferson== Jefferson used this phrase "Empire of Liberty" in 1780, while the American revolution was still being fought. His goal was an empire dedicated to liberty that could stop the growth of the British Empire, which he hated and feared: :"We shall divert through our own Country a branch of commerce which the European States have thought worthy of the most important struggles and sacrifices, and in the event of peace (the American Revolution )...we shall form to the American union a barrier against the dangerous extension of the British Province of Canada and add to the Empire of liberty an extensive and fertile Country thereby converting dangerous Enemies into valuable friends." - Jefferson to George Rogers Clark, 25 December 1780〔See (online source )〕 Jefferson envisaged this "Empire" extending Westwards over the American continent, expansion into which he saw as crucial to the American future. During his Presidency, this was in part achieved by his 1803 purchase of the Louisiana Territory from the French, almost doubling the area of the Republic and removing the main barrier to Westward expansion, stating that "I confess I look to this duplication of area for the extending of a government so free and economical as ours, as a great achievement to the mass of happiness which is to ensue".〔Jefferson to Dr. Joseph Priestley, 29 January 1804〕 However, this was not necessarily a politically unified Empire. "Whether we remain in one confederacy, or form Atlantic and Mississippi confederacies, I believe not very important to the happiness of either part." 〔Jefferson to Dr. Joseph Priestley, 29 January 1804〕 Despite this, Jefferson on other occasions seemed to stress the territorial inviolability of the Union. In 1809 Jefferson wrote his successor James Madison: :"we should then have only to include the North () in our confederacy...and we should have such an empire for liberty as she has never surveyed since the creation: & I am persuaded no constitution was ever before so well calculated as ours for extensive empire & self government." - Jefferson to James Madison, 27 April 1809 Even in his later years, Jefferson saw no limit to the expansion of this Empire, writing "where this progress will stop no-one can say. Barbarism has, in the meantime, been receding before the steady step of amelioration; and will in time, I trust, disappear from the earth".〔Jefferson to William Ludlow, 6 September 1824〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Empire of Liberty」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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