U.S., the policy of appeasement carried out during the Washington and Adams administrations was necessary to provide time for the U.S. to build up its navy and militia. Foreign intervention in domestic affairs of the U.S. was not limited to abuses in the water. Adams condemned ventures by foreign agents, such as those of Spain, who tried to incite an insurgency among Native Americans. Adams expresses hope that the as yet unfulfilled obligations of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce (1797), surveying the St. Croix River between Maine and New Brunswick and paying debts American citizens owed to British subjects prior to the American Revolutionary War, due to various unstated causes, and the unfulfilled obligations of the Spanish regarding compensation for American ships stolen or destroyed in recent Franco-Spanish hostilities, will continue without offending citizens of any country. He deplores the impressing of American soldiers by French and Spanish forces and criticizes the legal framework concerning the proper reaction to such action; how to guarantee the safe return of captured seamen from foreign territories, and the inability of consuls to "demand an inspection of the registers and sea letters." National debt Adams directly addresses the House of Representatives in regard to the national debt and taxes which had to be raised in order to fund a larger, more mobile Army. He warns against loans as he believed that they had contributed to the vast debt and economic collapse of historical empires. He ends his address by reiterating his general theme of the necessity to militarize to adequately defend against foreign imperialism. See also Timeline of United States diplomatic history Thomas Pinckney Charles Cotesworth Pinckney Piracy in the Caribbean Piracy and international law References Brown, Ralph A. The Presidency of John Adams, (1988). External links 1797 State of the Union Address (full transcript), The American Presidency Project, UC Santa Barbara Corpus of Political Speeches, publicly accessible with speeches from United States, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and China, provided by Hong Kong Baptist University Library State Of The Union Address, 1797 History of the foreign relations of the United States Presidency of John Adams Quasi-War State of the Union addresses Speeches by John Adams State of the Union State of the Union Address 5th United States Congress 1797 in Washington, D.C. State of the Union