NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote
The Monroe Doctrine came in the response to the belief that Europe may take steps to restore certain colonies to Spain. Also, Britian was opposed to the idea of Spanish intervention. Its foreign secretary, George Canning, proposed an ad hoc alliance with U. S. minister Richard Rush. The Monroe Doctrine was a decision which greatly influenced the world and the was it has developed to today.
James Monroe initiated this policy which was aimed to limit European expansion into the Western Hemisphere. President James Monroe first presented to Congress a set of ideas that eventually came to be known as the Monroe Doctrine. It was consisted of the following: 1. ) The American colonies are no longer a consideration for Europe. 2. ) The U. S. would consider any attempt by Europe to force their own system on any state in the Western Hemisphere a threat towards the U. S s own peace. 3. ) The Doctrine reaffirmed that America would not interfere with European affairs.
The Doctrine came about from the fight for South American independence. The colonies of South America were following the ideas of America's founders and rebelling against their colonial overlords. The U. S. had no problem with this but waited until after Spain signed the 1821 treaty giving Florida to the U. S.
In 1823 the Doctrine was issued and had the support of Great Britain. Britain supported the doctrine because the Grand Alliance in Europe had given France permission to install the Bourbon Dynasty in Spain. This would have put Spanish lands in French control thus creating a French Empire. Britain had no love for this and put their weight behind the doctrine. The Monroe Doctrine was developed because the United States and Britain were concerned over the possibility of European colonial expansion in the Americas. Britain feared that Spain would attempt to reclaim its former colonies, which had recently gained independence.
This would have caused Britain's trade with these new nations to decline. The United States wanted to ensure that no European nations would attempt further colonial ization in the western hemisphere. The British foreign minister George Canning suggested a joint venture with the United States to preserve the interests of both nations. However, John Quincy Adams, the secretary of state, convinced President Monroe that the United States should develop its own policy which would safeguard U.
S. interests independent of Britain. Why, Adams asked, should the United States appear "as a cockboat in the wake of a British man-of-war?" In his two most notable pronouncements, Monroe asserted that European powers could no longer colonize the American continents and that they should not interfere with the newly independent Spanish American republics. He specifically warned Europeans against attempting to impose monarchy on independent American nations but added that the United States would not interfere in existing European colonies or in Europe itself. The last point reaffirmed George Washington's Farewell Address in 1796, in which he urged the United States to avoid entangling alliances; however, the Monroe Doctrine did not represent an isolationist policy. By thus separating Europe from America, Monroe emphasized the existence of distinct American, and specifically U.
S. , interests. He rejected the European political system of monarchy, believing that no American nation would adopt it and that its presence anywhere in the western hemisphere endangered the peace and safety of the young United States. He also implied that the United States alone should complete the remaining settlement of North America. Despite the boldness of his assertions, Monroe provided no means to ensure the enforcement of his ideas. The United States alone would not have been able to uphold this policy, but Monroe knew that Britain, with its powerful navy, also opposed European intervention in Spain's struggle to restore its colonies. As far as the United States was concerned, the Monroe Doctrine meant little until the 1840 s, when presidents John Tyler and James Polk used it to justify U.
S. expansion. In 1845 Polk invoked the doctrine against British threats in California and Oregon, as Tyler had done in 1842 against French and British efforts to prevent the U. S.
annexation of Texas. In 1848 Polk warned that European involvement in the Yucatan could cause the United States to take control of the region. Despite Polk's use of the doctrine and its increasing popularity in the 1850 s, the American Civil War greatly reduced its effectiveness during the 1860 s; hence, Spain's reacquisition of the Dominican Republic (1861) and France's intervention in Mexico (1862 - 1867) went largely unopposed. During the 1870 s and 1880 s the Monroe Doctrine took on new meaning. The United States began to interpret it both as prohibiting the transfer of American territory from one European power to another, and as granting the United States exclusive control over any canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through Central America.
The latter claim was recognized by Britain in the Hay-Pauncepote Treaty in 1901. The United States continued to expand the meaning of the doctrine when President Grover Cleveland successfully pressured Britain in 1895 to submit its boundary dispute with Venezuela to arbitration. The administration of U. S. President Ronald Reagan (1981 - 1989) openly espoused the Monroe Doctrine once again as it resisted Communism in the Americas. This reaffirmed the original intent of the Monroe Doctrine to prevent European expansion in the Americas.
Despite this position, Reagan supported Britain's claim to the Falkland Islands off the coast of Argentina in 1982. As a component of foreign policy, the Monroe Doctrine has had considerable effect and has had strong support in the United States, in part because it has promoted U. S. interests. The doctrine has served other American nations, too, particularly because it asserts their right to independence. Because the doctrine as originally formulated made no clear distinction between the interests of the United States and those of its neighbors, however, the United States has used it to justify intervention in the internal affairs of other American nations.
Given growing U. S. anxiety about the unstable politics of Latin American countries, intervention has been especially prevalent and controversial in the 20 th century. In conclusion, The Monroe Doctrine was created in order to gain independence in America and to show that it will not be taken over by any other country or be forced to give up land. But, it also shows that we need communication with other countries for our way of life. We need other countries to trade and just basically to survive.
The importance of the doctrine steadily declined over the years, but it was still referred to up until World War I. Bibliography:
Free research essays on topics related to: james monroe, doctrine, monroe doctrine, western hemisphere, american nations
Research essay sample on Monroe Doctrine Western Hemisphere
