Episode 36 covers the Monroe Doctrine of 1823, President James Monroe's declaration that the Western Hemisphere was closed to further European colonization. It traces the context of Latin American independence movements, European threats, and Secretary of State John Quincy Adams's role in drafting the policy. Students will understand how a 200-word address to Congress became one of America's most lasting foreign policy statements.

Key Takeaways

• Secretary of State John Quincy Adams was the primary architect of the Monroe Doctrine. Monroe refined and delivered it, but Adams shaped its core logic.

• Between 1811 and 1822, eight new nations emerged in Latin America, including Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Venezuela, Paraguay, Chile, Peru, and Brazil.

• Russia's claim to coastal waters off what is now Alaska was one of the specific threats that prompted Monroe's address.

• The Monroe Doctrine had almost no military enforcement mechanism in 1823. Britain's Royal Navy did more to deter European intervention in Latin America than any American threat.

• Theodore Roosevelt's 1904 corollary extended the doctrine's reach by claiming the right to intervene in Latin American nations to stabilize their affairs, shifting the doctrine from defensive to interventionist.

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FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

Q1: What exactly did the Monroe Doctrine say?

Monroe declared three things in his 1823 address. First, the Western Hemisphere was no longer open to European colonization. Second, the United States would consider any European effort to extend its political system to the Americas a threat to American peace and safety. Third, the United States would stay out of existing European colonies and European wars. The doctrine was a policy statement, not a law, and it had no formal enforcement mechanism when Monroe announced it.

Q2: Did Monroe come up with the Monroe Doctrine himself?

Mostly no. Secretary of State John Quincy Adams was the primary architect. Adams drafted the key arguments and persuaded Monroe to issue a unilateral American statement rather than a joint declaration with Britain, as the British had proposed. Monroe refined the language and took political ownership of it in his address to Congress. Former presidents Jefferson and Madison were also consulted and supported the general approach.

Q3: Why did Britain propose a joint declaration with the United States?

British Foreign Secretary George Canning worried that European powers might try to restore Spanish control over the newly independent Latin American nations. Britain had significant trade interests in Latin America and didn't want European competitors gaining political control there. A joint Anglo-American warning would have been more credible than an American statement alone. Adams rejected it because he didn't want American foreign policy to appear dependent on British approval.

Q4: What was the Roosevelt Corollary and how did it change the Monroe Doctrine?

In 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt added his corollary to the Monroe Doctrine in response to a situation in the Dominican Republic, where European creditors were threatening military action to collect debts. Roosevelt declared that the United States reserved the right to intervene in Latin American countries that couldn't manage their own financial or political affairs. This transformed the Monroe Doctrine from a defense of Latin American sovereignty from European interference into a justification for American intervention in Latin American internal affairs.

Q5: Did European nations actually respect the Monroe Doctrine in the 1820s?

They largely did, but not primarily because of Monroe's words. Britain's Royal Navy was the real enforcement mechanism. Britain had both the strongest navy in the world and strong economic reasons to keep European competitors out of Latin American markets. European powers knew that any attempt to intervene in Latin America risked confronting Britain, not just the United States. American military power in 1823 was modest. The doctrine's credibility grew alongside American power over the following decades.

A Hemisphere of New Nations

In the early 19th century, the American hemisphere was brimming with great aspiration. Between 1811 and 1822, eight newly independent nations emerged in Latin America, including Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Venezuela, Paraguay, Chile, and Peru, all formerly under Spain, and Brazil, which had belonged to Portugal. By defeating the British Empire in the War of 1812, the United States had won their second war for independence. Across the Atlantic, independence was not on the minds of the old empires of Europe. Their intent to restore the old imperial order and possibly reach into the new world were a matter of profound concern in Washington.

Into this charged atmosphere, the Monroe Doctrine was born. It would shape American foreign policy for the next two centuries. In the early 1800s, the Spanish empire was crumbling. One by one, its former colonies in the Americas declared their independence. As Latin American countries threw off the yoke of imperial rule, it was largely celebrated in the United States as a victory for republican ideals. America's confidence on the world stage had been growing since the territorial leap we cover in our episode on the Louisiana Purchase.

The Threat from Europe

Yet a disquieting undercurrent began to flow from the old world. A league of European monarchies in Russia, Prussia, Austria, and France was rumored to be contemplating intervention in these new American republics. In the wake of Napoleon's demise, a Bourbon king, Louis XVIII, ruled France. His distant cousin Ferdinand VII ruled Spain. In 1820, a military uprising in Spain ushered in a liberal government whose reign was called the Trienio Liberal, the Three Liberal Years.

In 1823, France deployed forces known as the 100,000 Sons of Saint Louis to suppress the liberal government and restore King Ferdinand's absolute power. Two years earlier and much closer to America, the Russians under Tsar Alexander I prohibited ships from approaching within 100 miles of what is now the Alaskan shoreline. The United States and Great Britain had competing claims on the Oregon territory. U.S. Secretary of State John Quincy Adams interpreted the old European empires as a potential threat to the independence of the Western Hemisphere. President Monroe agreed. The country had recently survived a second war with Britain, as we cover in our episode on the War of 1812.

Monroe's Declaration

It was in the annual message to Congress that Monroe addressed the matter. On December 2nd, 1823, he articulated what came to be known as the Monroe Doctrine. The message contained two core tenets. First, that the American continents were no longer open to European colonization. And second, that the United States would not interfere in the internal affairs of European nations or their existing colonies. The Monroe Doctrine was a declaration of hemispheric independence, a bold assertion of American influence, and a warning to the old world to keep its hands off the new. Several times in the 1840s, President James K. Polk invoked the Monroe Doctrine toward American expansion. Most importantly, he warned Great Britain not to attempt colonization in the Oregon territory. He further warned European powers not to interfere in the Mexican-American conflict over Texas. Under his administration, the United States annexed Oregon and Texas.

The Roosevelt Corollary and the Cold War

On December 6th, 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt established a corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, the right of the United States to intervene in order to stabilize the economies of small states in the Caribbean and Central America. In 1905, the Dominican Republic was in massive debt to France, Germany, and Italy. An agreement was struck with the United States whereby the Dominican Republic went into receivership. In 1912, President Taft deployed forces to Nicaragua in order to stabilize the country and ensure a regime there that favored commerce with America.

In 1915, President Wilson sent the Marines to restore order in Haiti after the Haitian president was assassinated. The United States occupied Haiti until 1934. In 1962, President Kennedy decried Russia's presence in Cuba and declared that any missile launched from there against any nation in the Western Hemisphere would require a full retaliatory response upon the Soviet Union. By intervening as he did, Kennedy averted no less than the outbreak of a nuclear war. The Castro regime stayed in power, however, and Cuba remained communist, an ally to the Soviets and a sponsor of revolution in the Americas. The doctrine's spirit would later help justify the conflict we cover in our episode on the Mexican-American War.