Monroe Doctrine

When Russia wanted to claim America’s land, the United States decided to meet and negotiate with Russia. President Monroe wrote in The Monroe Doctrine, “. . . 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.” The United States refused to let Russia claim their land without doing anything. Monroe did not try to push Russia out, but he did not want Russia to take over American land. He chose to talk in Washington D.C. with the Russian emperor to make an agreement. When the “Holy Alliance” was talked about helping Spain recover its colonies in South and Central America, which had recently gained their independence, the United States wanted to protect the New Nations. Monroe wrote, “But with the Governments who have declared their independence and maintain it, and whose independence we have… 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.” The United States wanted the Europeans to back off. They didn’t want their hemisphere to be taken over by European powers. When George Canning, the British foreign secretary, asked Monroe to make an alliance with Britain against the ‘Holy Alliance‛ trying to regain colonies for Spain and against Russia‛s claim to the Oregon area, Monroe did not agree to the alliance. In the Doctrine, Monroe stated, “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.” Monroe decided to be friendly with the British. He wanted to work with them, but not be too involved.

 Latin America was pleased to get protection from the United States. Latin America knew that they could not stand up to European power because the European army would defeat theirs’. Latin America’s army was not as strong as Europe’s. Without the help of the United States, Latin America would fail.