The Monroe Doctrine
December 2, 1823
The Monroe Doctrine was expressed during President Monroe's seventh annual message to Congress, December 2, 1823:
. . . At the proposal of the Russian Imperial Government, made through the minister of the Emperor residing here, a full power and instructions have been transmitted to the minister of the United States at St. Petersburg to arrange by amicable negotiation the respective rights and interests of the two nations on the northwest coast of this continent. A similar proposal has been made by His Imperial Majesty to the Government of Great Britain, which has likewise been acceded to. The Government of the United States has been desirous by this friendly proceeding of manifesting the great value which they have invariably attached to the friendship of the Emperor and their solicitude to cultivate the best understanding with his Government. In the discussions to which this interest has given rise and in the arrangements by which they may terminate the occasion has been judged proper for asserting, as a principle in which the rights and interests of the United States are involved, that the American continents, by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers. . .
It was stated at the commencement of the last session that a great effort was then making in Spain and Portugal to improve the condition of the people of those countries, and that it appeared to be conducted with extraordinary moderation. It need scarcely be remarked that the results have been so far very different from what was then anticipated. Of events in that quarter of the globe, with which we have so much intercourse and from which we derive our origin, we have always been anxious and interested spectators. The citizens of the United States cherish sentiments the most friendly in favor of the liberty and happiness of their fellow-men on that side of the Atlantic. In the wars of the European powers in matters relating to themselves we have never taken any part, nor does it comport with our policy to do so. It is only when our rights are invaded or seriously menaced that we resent injuries or make preparation for our defense. With the movements in this hemisphere we are of necessity more immediately connected, and by causes which must be obvious to all enlightened and impartial observers. The political system of the allied powers is essentially different in this respect from that of America. This difference proceeds from that which exists in their respective Governments; and to the defense of our own, which has been achieved by the loss of so much blood and treasure, and matured by the wisdom of their most enlightened citizens, and under which we have enjoyed unexampled felicity, this whole nation is devoted. We owe it, therefore, to candor and to the amicable relations existing between the United States and those powers to declare that we should consider any attempt on their part to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety. With the existing colonies or dependencies of any European power we have not interfered and shall not interfere. But with the Governments who have declared their independence and maintain it, and whose independence we have, on great consideration and on just principles, acknowledged, we could not view any interposition for the purpose of oppressing them, or controlling in any other manner their destiny, by any European power in any other light than as the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the United States. In the war between those new Governments and Spain we declared our neutrality at the time of their recognition, and to this we have adhered, and shall continue to adhere, provided no change shall occur which, in the judgement of the competent authorities of this Government, shall make a corresponding change on the part of the United States indispensable to their security.
The late events in Spain and Portugal shew that Europe is still unsettled. Of this important fact no stronger proof can be adduced than that the allied powers should have thought it proper, on any principle satisfactory to themselves, to have interposed by force in the internal concerns of Spain. To what extent such interposition may be carried, on the same principle, is a question in which all independent powers whose governments differ from theirs are interested, even those most remote, and surely none of them more so than the United States. Our policy in regard to Europe, which was adopted at an early stage of the wars which have so long agitated that quarter of the globe, nevertheless remains the same, which is, not to interfere in the internal concerns of any of its powers; to consider the government de facto as the legitimate government for us; to cultivate friendly relations with it, and to preserve those relations by a frank, firm, and manly policy, meeting in all instances the just claims of every power, submitting to injuries from none. But in regard to those continents circumstances are eminently and conspicuously different. It is impossible that the allied powers should extend their political system to any portion of either continent without endangering our peace and happiness; nor can anyone believe that our southern brethren, if left to themselves, would adopt it of their own accord. It is equally impossible, therefore, that we should behold such interposition in any form with indifference. If we look to the comparative strength and resources of Spain and those new Governments, and their distance from each other, it must be obvious that she can never subdue them. It is still the true policy of the United States to leave the parties to themselves, in hope that other powers will pursue the same course. . . .
Brief History
Monroe Doctrine, a policy established by the United States in the administration of President James Monroe that sought to limit European influence in the Western Hemisphere.
What came to be known as the Monroe Doctrine was originally embodied in several paragraphs of the annual message delivered to Congress on Dec. 2, 1823, by President Monroe. The doctrine had four elements. The first was the proposition that “the American continents, by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers.” The second was the nearly corollary proposition that nations in the Western Hemisphere were inherently different from those of Europe republics by nature rather than monarchies. The third element was a statement that the United States would regard as a threat to its own peace and safety any attempt by European powers to impose their system on any independent state in the Western Hemisphere. By implication, the United States thus declared itself the protector of independent nations in the Americas. The final element, complementing these assertions of the separateness of the Americas, reaffirmed that the United States would not interfere in European affairs.
The issuance of the Monroe Doctrine was prompted by reports that certain European powers might be preparing to employ military force to restore to Spain colonies in the Americas that had recently won their independence. Such efforts by the Spanish government had been hampered by a lack of resources and by disturbances in Spain that culminated in 1820 in a revolution. Pressed by the continental monarchies Russia, Austria, and Prussia popularly known as the Holy Alliance France sent an army into Spain in 1823 and subdued the revolution. During this period and afterward, rumors circulated that France and the Holy Allies might carry their counterrevolutionary campaign across the Atlantic.
On Aug. 16, 1823, George Canning, the British foreign secretary, discussed this contingency with Richard Rush, the U.S. minister in London. The British government had not approved of the French march into Spain. Still less did it favor French or Allied intervention in Latin America. Canning told Rush that he thought Britain and the United States had common attitudes and interests. He proposed that the two governments form an ad hoc alliance, declaring publicly that they would oppose any action in the Spanish Empire by any European power other than Spain.
Coincidentally, Monroe and his advisers also had before them two other broad questions concerning Europe. First, Russia had shown indications that it might seek to extend its empire in northwestern North America. Alexander I had proclaimed the waters off Alaska closed to vessels of other nations, and agents of the Russian-American Company, which administered Alaska, were operating a trade station at Fort Ross, north of San Francisco. Second, large numbers of American citizens were urging diplomatic recognition of Greece, which a revolutionary group had just detached from the Ottoman Empire. Because no European state had yet taken this step, the Monroe administration had to decide whether thus to offer leadership in a matter entirely European.