Knox–Porter Resolution
{{Short description|1921 U.S. legislation formally ending U.S. involvement in World War I}}
{{Infobox U.S. legislation
| shorttitle = Knox–Porter Resolution
| othershorttitles = World War I Peace Resolution
| longtitle =
| colloquialacronym =
| nickname = Public Resolution 8
| enacted by = 67th
| effective date = July 2, 1921
| public law url = http://legisworks.org/congress/67/pubres-8.pdf
| cite public law = 67-8
| cite statutes at large = {{usstat|42|105}}
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| introducedin = Senate
| introducedbill = {{USBill|67|SJ|16}}
| introducedby = Philander C. Knox (R-PA)
| introduceddate = April 25, 1921
| committees = Senate Foreign Affairs, House Rules
| passedbody1 = Senate
| passeddate1 = April 30, 1921
| passedvote1 = [https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/67-1/s18 49-23]
| passedbody2 = House
| passedas2 =
| passeddate2 = June 13, 1921
| passedvote2 = [https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/67-1/h40 304-61]
| conferencedate = June 17, 1921
| passedbody3 = House
| passeddate3 = June 30, 1921
| passedvote3 = [https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/67-1/h58 263-59]
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| passedbody4 = Senate
| passeddate4 = July 1, 1921
| passedvote4 = [https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/67-1/s68 38-19]
| signedpresident = Warren G. Harding
| signeddate = July 2, 1921
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The Knox–Porter Resolution ({{USStat|42|105}}) was a joint resolution of the United States Congress signed by President Warren G. Harding on July 2, 1921, officially ending United States involvement in World War I. The documents were signed on the estate of Joseph Sherman Frelinghuysen, Sr. in Raritan, New Jersey.{{cite web |url=http://www.scbp.org/visit/historic.html |title=Historic Sites |quote=In 1921, President Warren G. Harding, visiting the estate of his friend, Sen. Joseph S. Frelinghuysen, in Raritan, finished his golf game, returned to the mansion, and signed the Knox-Porter Resolution, officially ending World War I. |publisher=Somerset County Business Partnership |access-date=2008-07-02 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080329001620/http://www.scbp.org/visit/historic.html |archive-date = 2008-03-29}}{{cite news |title=Knox-Porter Resolution |quote=The Knox-Porter Resolution, ending the state of war between the United States and the Central Powers (Germany and Austria-Hungary), was signed (July 2, 1921) by President Warren G. Harding at the... |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica }}
History
File:Frelinghuysen Estate marker, area view.jpg
On November 19, 1919, and again on March 19, 1920, the United States Senate voted against ratifying the Treaty of Versailles, forestalling American participation in the League of Nations. In a speech on April 12, 1921, before a special congressional session, President Harding reconfirmed American opposition to the League of Nations, calling on Congress to pass a peace resolution independent of the League. Senator Philander C. Knox of Pennsylvania introduced a resolution the following day, and it passed the Senate in late April.{{Cite journal | last1=Wimer | first1=Kurt | last2=Wimer | first2=Sarah | title=The Harding Administration, the League of Nations, and the Separate Peace Treaty | journal=The Review of Politics | volume=29 | issue=1 | year=1967 | pages=13–24 | doi=10.1017/S0034670500023706 | jstor=1405810| s2cid=145794771 }}.
The United States House of Representatives had its own slightly different resolution introduced by Representative Stephen G. Porter, Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. Passage of the House resolution was delayed in deference to negotiations between the Allies and Germany over a reparations settlement. In late June the House and Senate reconciled their differences, and the Knox–Porter joint resolution passed Congress on July 1.
The next day, Harding signed the resolution at the Frelinghuysen estate in Raritan, New Jersey. Harding and Senator Frehlinghuysen were playing golf at the Raritan Valley Country Club across the street when word arrived that a courier was on his way from the Raritan train station, having traveled from Washington with the signing copy of the resolution. Harding walked back to the estate, signed the document, and then returned to complete his round of golf. The Frelinghuysen estate was destroyed by fire in the 1950s, and the site is now occupied by a shopping center and parking lot, with a small plaque marking the place where the home once stood.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nj.com/somerset/index.ssf/2016/07/glimpse_of_history_the_official_end_to_wwi_for_the.html|title = Glimpse of History: The official end to WWI for the U.S.|date = 8 July 2016}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.hiddennj.com/2013/04/want-fries-with-that-treaty-world-war-i.html|title = Want fries with that treaty? World War I ends in Somerville}}
The article in the next day's New York Times concerning the signing started with the words, "War with Germany ended as it began, by Congressional declaration and Executive signature on American soil."{{cite news|last=Staff|title=HARDING ENDS WAR; SIGNS PEACE DECREE AT SENATOR'S HOME. Thirty Persons Witness Momentous Act in Frelinghuysen Living Room at Raritan.|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10B13F63C5D14738DDDAA0894DF405B818EF1D3|newspaper=The New York Times|date=July 3, 1921}}
See also
References
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External links
- {{cite web |url=https://archive.org/stream/peacewithgermany00unit |title=Peace with Germany ~ Report No. 2 |date=April 25, 1921 |location=Washington, D.C. |website=Internet Archive |publisher=U.S. Library of Congress}}
- {{cite web |url=https://archive.org/stream/terminatingstate00unit |title=Terminating State of War with Germany and Austria-Hungary ~ Report No. 148 |date=June 7, 1921 |location=Washington, D.C. |website=Internet Archive |publisher=U.S. Library of Congress}}
- {{cite web |url=http://history.house.gov/HistoricalHighlight/Detail/15032423345 |title=The Knox-Porter Resolution |date=June 30, 1921 |website=History, Art & Archives ~ Office of the Historian |publisher=U.S. House of Representatives}}
- {{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/treatyofpeacewit03unit |title=Treaty of Peace with Germany |date=September 21, 1921 |location=Washington, D.C. |website=Internet Archive |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office}}
{{Warren G. Harding}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knox-Porter Resolution}}
Category:United States in World War I