Question

Discuss the Monroe Doctirne and foreign policy of the early 1820s.

Answer 1

Date

December 2, 1823

Enacted By

President James Monroe

Effect

Stated the any European attempts to colonize in North or South America would be deemed acts of aggression.

Monroe Doctrine Articles

Monroe Doctrine summary: The Monroe Doctrine was first stated by the fifth American President James Monroe during the State of the Union Address to Congress; his seventh in a row on December 2, 1823. The Napoleonic Wars served as the inspiration for the Monroe Doctrine. It was based on the American fears related to the possible revival of monarchies in Europe. The main objective of US government was to secure the newly independent colonies of Latin America from European intervention and control.

The Monroe Doctrine’s Intent

The Monroe Doctrine stated that the free American continents are not to be subject to future colonization by European powers. The United States intended to remain neutral to existing European colonies in America but strongly opposed the creation of new ones among the Hispanic American republics that recently gained independence. The Monroe Doctrine revealed that any further efforts of countries from Europe to colonize land in North or South America would be regarded as acts of aggression and as such requires American intervention.

At the time the Doctrine was issued, all Spanish and Portuguese colonies in Latin America, except for Cuba and Puerto Rico, had gained independence. The United States wanted to have guarantees that no other European power would move in. The British Empire was on the same page with them because the British also wanted to keep other European powers out of the New World for fear that their trade would be in jeopardy. Since the United States didn’t have much of a navy, the British Royal Navy was mostly the agent of enforcing the Monroe doctrine as part of their efforts to secure the neutrality of the seas.

On this day in 1823, President James Monroe delivers his annual message to Congress and calls for a bold new approach to American foreign policy that eventually became known as the “Monroe Doctrine.” Monroe told Congress, and the world’s empires, that “the American continents are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for further colonization by any European powers.” This policy was invoked and adapted by subsequent presidents to advance American economic and political interests in the Western Hemisphere.

Monroe’s declaration, which was drafted by Secretary of State John Quincy Adams–who would succeed Monroe as president in 1824–was aimed at preventing attempts by other nations to colonize territory on the North and South American continents that had not yet been claimed by Europeans. Although the U.S. population was at the time concentrated east of the MississippiRiver, expansion into the western half of the continent was foremost in the minds of many American politicians, including Monroe and his predecessor Thomas Jefferson. Monroe and Adams were also concerned that the British, French and Russians would attempt to annex regions once held by the Spanish (such as the Southwest, Central and South America and the Northern Pacific)–places over which the U.S. itself hoped to extend control.

Monroe did not actively seek to add territory to the United States, but some of his successors, including James Polk and Theodore Roosevelt, used the Monroe Doctrine to justify the annexation of new lands into the Union. Under its auspices, President James Polk took the land (via the Mexican-American War in 1846-48) that now makes up Texas. Later, Theodore Roosevelt tailored Monroe’s philosophy to establish a strong American presence in Central America, the Philippines and the Caribbean.