Monroe Doctrine
The Monroe Doctrine can be considered as the United States first
major
declaration to the world as a fairly new nation. The Monroe Doctrine
was a
statement of United States policy on the activity and rights of powers
in the
Western Hemisphere during the early to mid 1800s. The doctrine
established the
United States position in the major world affairs of the
time. Around the time
of the Napoleonic Wars in the 1820s, Mexico, Argentina,
Chile and Colombia all
gained their independence from Spanish control
("Monroe Doctrine" 617). The
United States was the first nation to
recognize their independence from Spain.
The European powers had still
considered the new nations as still belonging to
Spain. The Americans had
a sense of pride in the former Spanish colonies gaining
independence. They
felt as if the American Revolution was a model for these new
Latin
American nations (Faragher 265). After Napoleon went down, the monarchy
in
Spain regained power ("Monroe Doctrine" 617). The Spanish had
felt
embarrassed after losing their colonies to independence. In 1815 Tsar
Alexander
I of Russia and the monarchs of Austria and Prussia formed the
Holy Alliance.
This alliance was a group set out to maintain autocracy
(Migill 594). Spain then
demanded the return of its colonies of the New World
(Migill 594). With the
possibility of help from the Holy Alliance and France,
Spain’s goal was
looking realistic. The Americans also feared that if the
Spanish colonies were
recaptured the United States might be next ("Monroe
Doctrine" 617). Great
Britain refused to let the Spanish take back their
now independent colonies. As
free countries the new Spanish-American nations
could trade more goods with
Great Britain. However, if Spain regains
control of their former colonies then
trade with Great Britain would decrease
drastically ("Monroe Doctrine" 617).
The Russian Tsar attempted to extend
his interest of expansion in North America.
In 1821 Russia had claims on
the North Western coast of the North American
continent as low as the 51st
parallel, deep into the Oregon Territory (Migill
595). On September 14th
of the same year Tsar Alexander I issued an Imperial
Ukase (decree),
saying that no foreign vessels could come within 100 Italian
miles of Russian
territory. Although the decree was never enforced, John Quincy
Adams, the
Secretary of State at the time, strongly opposed it. Adams felt that
many
regions of North America were still unexplored such as Alaska and
North
Western Canada. On July 17th, 1823 John Q Adams declared that the
United States
should contest Russia’s Imperial Ukase on the North American
continent.
President James Monroe accepted John Q Adams’ statement and
would go on to use
it in his message (Perkins 31). The British and the
Americans both had reasons
to keep the Holy Alliance out of the New World.
So, why not a joint declaration?
George Canning, a British Foreign
Minister and a representative of British
trading interests, sent a message to
the United States on August 20th, 1823. He
said that Spain would never
recover their colonies, only time will allow the new
nations to be recognized
and that England does not want the colonies nor wants
to see anyone else take
control of them (Perkins 37). Richard Rush, an American
Minister, had
been asked the question, by George Canning, if he could make a
joint
declaration between the United States and Great Britain. Rush was startled
by
Canning’s proposition, since it had been only 40 years since the
American
Revolution and the War of 1812 was just awhile back (May 3). At
first without
consulting John Q. Adams he had agreed to. President Monroe
favored this idea
along with former presidents Jefferson and Madison.
Jefferson had said with
Great Britain, "on our side, we not fear the
world" ("Monroe Doctrine"
617). Although Great Britain and the United
States were on the same track, they
had differences. The United States had
recognized the colonies as new nations
and Great Britain had not (Perkins
37). George Canning said that Great Britain
would use their powerful Royal
Navy to stop European intervention whether or not
they had a joint
declaration ("Monroe Doctrine" 617). Then on October 12th,
1823 Canning
had a number of meetings with Prince Jules de Polignac who was a
French
ambassador in London. Their meetings concluded with the
Polignac
Memorandum, saying that France would not help Spain regain her
lost colonies.
All of this hindered the action toward cooperation. John
Q. Adams had opposed
the issue of a joint statement with the British (Migill
595). Adams asked,
"Why should the United States appear as a cockboat in
the wake of a British
man-of-war?" (Perkins 51). With the guaranteed backing
of the British Royal
Navy and the Polignac Memorandum the United States
did not need the British in
the statement. The United States would not have
to share the glory with the
Brit
Monroe Doctrine
Monroe Doctrine
The Monroe Doctrine
can be considered as the United States first major
declaration to the world
as a fairly new nation. The Monroe Doctrine was a
statement of United States
policy on the activity and rights of powers in the
Western Hemisphere
during the early to mid 1800s. The doctrine established the
United States
position in the major world affairs of the time. Around the time
of the
Napoleonic Wars in the 1820s, Mexico, Argentina, Chile and Colombia
all
gained their independence from Spanish control ("Monroe Doctrine" 617).
The
United States was the first nation to recognize their independence
from Spain.
The European powers had still considered the new nations as
still belonging to
Spain. The Americans had a sense of pride in the
former Spanish colonies gaining
independence. They felt as if the American
Revolution was a model for these new
Latin American nations (Faragher
265). After Napoleon went down, the monarchy in
Spain regained power
("Monroe Doctrine" 617). The Spanish had felt
embarrassed after losing their
colonies to independence. In 1815 Tsar Alexander
I of Russia and the
monarchs of Austria and Prussia formed the Holy Alliance.
This alliance
was a group set out to maintain autocracy (Migill 594). Spain then
demanded
the return of its colonies of the New World (Migill 594). With
the
possibility of help from the Holy Alliance and France, Spain’s goal
was
looking realistic. The Americans also feared that if the Spanish colonies
were
recaptured the United States might be next ("Monroe Doctrine" 617).
Great
Britain refused to let the Spanish take back their now independent
colonies. As
free countries the new Spanish-American nations could trade more
goods with
Great Britain. However, if Spain regains control of their
former colonies then
trade with Great Britain would decrease drastically
("Monroe Doctrine" 617).
The Russian Tsar attempted to extend his
interest of expansion in North America.
In 1821 Russia had claims on the
North Western coast of the North American
continent as low as the 51st
parallel, deep into the Oregon Territory (Migill
595). On September 14th
of the same year Tsar Alexander I issued an Imperial
Ukase (decree),
saying that no foreign vessels could come within 100 Italian
miles of Russian
territory. Although the decree was never enforced, John Quincy
Adams, the
Secretary of State at the time, strongly opposed it. Adams felt that
many
regions of North America were still unexplored such as Alaska and
North
Western Canada. On July 17th, 1823 John Q Adams declared that the
United States
should contest Russia’s Imperial Ukase on the North American
continent.
President James Monroe accepted John Q Adams’ statement and
would go on to use
it in his message (Perkins 31). The British and the
Americans both had reasons
to keep the Holy Alliance out of the New World.
So, why not a joint declaration?
George Canning, a British Foreign
Minister and a representative of British
trading interests, sent a message to
the United States on August 20th, 1823. He
said that Spain would never
recover their colonies, only time will allow the new
nations to be recognized
and that England does not want the colonies nor wants
to see anyone else take
control of them (Perkins 37). Richard Rush, an American
Minister, had
been asked the question, by George Canning, if he could make a
joint
declaration between the United States and Great Britain. Rush was startled
by
Canning’s proposition, since it had been only 40 years since the
American
Revolution and the War of 1812 was just awhile back (May 3). At
first without
consulting John Q. Adams he had agreed to. President Monroe
favored this idea
along with former presidents Jefferson and Madison.
Jefferson had said with
Great Britain, "on our side, we not fear the
world" ("Monroe Doctrine"
617). Although Great Britain and the United
States were on the same track, they
had differences. The United States had
recognized the colonies as new nations
and Great Britain had not (Perkins
37). George Canning said that Great Britain
would use their powerful Royal
Navy to stop European intervention whether or not
they had a joint
declaration ("Monroe Doctrine" 617). Then on October 12th,
1823 Canning
had a number of meetings with Prince Jules de Polignac who was a
French
ambassador in London. Their meetings concluded with the
Polignac
Memorandum, saying that France would not help Spain regain her
lost colonies.
All of this hindered the action toward cooperation. John
Q. Adams had opposed
the issue of a joint statement with the British (Migill
595). Adams asked,
"Why should the United States appear as a cockboat in
the wake of a British
man-of-war?" (Perkins 51). With the guaranteed backing
of the British Royal
Navy and the Polignac Memorandum the United States
did not need the British in
the statement. The United States would not have
to share the glory with the
British. Monroe, convinced by Adams’
arguments, agreed to go on their own.
Canning twice on September 18th and
26th offered again and twice the United
States turned him down. Canning
had suggested that Great Britain might promise
future recognition of
independent nations but that did not convince the
Americans (Perkins 39).
On December 2nd, 1823 President James Monroe made his
most famous message to
congress (Williams 135). The Monroe Doctrine was aimed
mainly at the nations
of Spain and Russia. It consisted of three main parts.
First the doctrine
specifically states that, "...we (US) should consider any
attempt on their
(European Powers) part to extend their system to any portion of
this
hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety." The President made it
clear
to Europe that the United States would go against any attempt to take
control
of any independent country of the New World. The message goes on to
say,
"In the wars of the European Powers in matters relating to
themselves we have
never taken any part, nor does is comport with our policy
so to do. It is only
when our rights are invaded or seriously menaced that we
resent injuries or make
preparations for our defense." This lets the European
nations know that the
United States would not interfere with European
affairs, such as controlling of
existing colonies, unless the United States
was endangered (Monroe 395). Finally
the message ends by stating that the
United States would not take sides in
European arguments but the nation
of Europe must not disrupt the Western
Hemisphere (Migill 594). In 1823
the United States had no where near the
military and economic power to
support such a powerful statement. Adams had
questioned whether the United
States would go to war if Spain acted toward
hostility toward Latin America
(Perkins 44). President Monroe had his doubts but
responded by saying, "It is
written and I will not change it now" (Perkins
45). The European Powers
were really kept out of the New World due to the Royal
Navy of the
British. By the twentieth century the United States had the power to
enforce
the doctrine (Faragher 265). The Monroe Doctrine has been used and
referred
on many occasions from when it was written up to present times. It has
become
a much greater significance since 1823. The Doctrine was first put to
work
against Russia in the Convention of 1824 (Faragher 265). As a result of
the
Doctrine, Russians gave up the Oregon territory, was limited to40
parallel and American trade was allowed to operate in Russian
territory°54 on
the North American Continent (Perkins 31). In December of 1904
President
Theodore Roosevelt added a corollary to the Monroe Doctrine. The
corollary
said that the United States would not interfere with Latin American
nations
that conducted their affairs in a mannerly fashion, but if not the
United
States would intervene and act as an international policemen
(Migill
595). However, in 1930 President Hoover created the Clark
Memorandum
counteracting the Roosevelt Corollary. This abjured any right of
the United
States to intervene in Latin American affairs. It claimed that
the Monroe
Doctrine would be applied solely for its original purpose, to
protect Latin
America from European interference. An other time the
United States interfered
in Latin America was in 1965. President Linden B.
Johnson ordered US troops into
the Dominica Republic to stop a take over by a
Communist government (Migill
596). The Monroe Doctrine also set up
further protection of United States
interest. The Carter Doctrine, by
President Jimmy Carter, was modeled after the
Monroe Doctrine. The Carter
Doctrine was aimed to protest United States claim in
the Persian Gulf. It was
in response to the Soviet Union’s attempt to obtain a
warm water port in the
Persian Gulf area. The Untied States wanted to protect
this area from the
Soviet Union due to the fact that the Persian Gulf is rich in
oil deposits,
which is crucial to the United States economy (Faragher 992).
The
Americans felt secure, optimistic, and nationalistic in the early
1820s. They
boasted that their political structure was superior to autocracy
of the European
powers and the Monroe Doctrine was a message that let Europe
know this.
Bibliography
Faragher,
John Mack. Out of Many
One: a history of the American people. New Jersey:
Prentice-Hall, 1997.
May, Ernest R. The Making of the Monroe Doctrine.
Cambridge: Belknap
Press, 1975. Migill, Frank N, ed. Great Events from
History.
Unknown-1830. Englewood Cliffs: Salem Press, 1975 "Monroe
Doctrine." The
World Book Encyclopedia. 1984 ed. Monroe, James. "Monroe
Doctrine." 2
December 1823. A History of the Monroe Doctrine. Ed. Dexter
Perkins. Toronto:
Little, Brown and Company, 1955. 394-6. Perkins,
Dexter. A History of the Monroe
Doctrine. Toronto: Little, Brown and
Company, 1955. Williams, Harry T. The
History of American Wars. New York:
Alfred A. Knopf, 1981.