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The Monroe Doctrine was a United States policy that expressed to the European powers that they could not colonize the Western hemisphere. It was brought into policy by president James Monroe. Under another president Theodore Roosevelt the Monroe Doctrine was expanded to include that the United States would act as A “Police Power” (Unger 2016) should any nation in the Western Hemisphere conduct themselves in an irresponsible way. The Roosevelt corollary came into being when Germany and England attempted to force payment from Venezuela from loans they had received. (Unger 2016) When Venezuela refused to repay their debt both England and Germany sent their navies to Venezuela to force payment. In the article (Unger 2016) Roosevelt had stated that the United States position over the Western Hemisphere as their protectors would stand. However, he considered Venezuela not making repayment to Germany and England was Venezuela not conducting themselves in a proper manner. He was on the flip side giving Germany and England permission to proceed in whatever way they deemed fit for their payment. This would have been overlooked but Roosevelt did not expect the people and the media to react negatively against this policy. He encouraged Germany and England to present their cases to the courts for a resolution.
The Monroe Doctrine was approved by representatives of Latin American countries. This approval is evident as a first hand witness of the resolution of the Monroe Doctrine writes, ”The magnanimous declaration of the President of the United States, in defense of the cause of liberty in this Western hemisphere, meets the entire approbation of the General Assembly of this Commonwealth” (Lawrence and Schultz 3). The doctrine gained support since it united Latin America and the US. Additionally, the Roosevelt Corollary was integrated into the doctrine to further protect property and life in Latin America. Ultimately, after 190 years, the Monroe Doctrine ended since the United States was not powerful enough to guarantee protection. Researcher and attorney Joseph Wheless writes, “While the Monroe Doctrine protects Latin America from Europe, some of our neighbors cherish the fear that it is not a sufficient guarantee of protection against its own champions” (Wheless 78). The development of the Monroe Doctrine and Roosevelt Corollary began from a supportive standpoint but raised doubts since it no longer maintained the protection of Latin American countries and ultimately failed.
The Monroe Doctrine was applied in Latin America during the Second War of Independence in the 19th century. “The Monroe Doctrine was a rule of policy which grew out of the fundamental principles which the founders of the U.S. used for guidance of its foreign policy” (Moore 31). In “Monroe's famous declaration, which was directly occasioned by a movement on the part of a league of European powers called the Holy Alliance, to extend its activities to the Western Hemisphere, was conceived to be justified by the then firmly established American policy of non-interference in the affairs of Europe” (Moore 32). This was an example of how the United States was not going to get involved or interfere with any of the European powers or affairs. The political cartoon involving a rooster, represents Uncle Sam as a large rooster, while other roosters walk free representing South American countries, with European nations represented by birds in a coop marked 'Monroe doctrine’ (Lenzner 1). The meaning of the image is that the United States was not going to involve themselves with the “birds in a coop” which are the Europeans that are separated.
One example in particular that could aid in explaining the Monroe Doctrine’s influence on Latin American countries was when the Venezuelan Crisis was occurring. The United States had witnessed the attempts made by France and Madrid, as well as other European nations, to recolonize their former South American colonies (Maass 2). While the United States was mainly a neutral country, they saw this as a threat to their own freedom. Venezuela had had a long history of civil wars tearing through the country and had turned to Germany for aid at some point during these wars. Germany had wanted to punish Venezuela for not paying them back for their efforts in their civil wars, and according to the Roosevelt Corollary, an amendment to the Monroe Doctrine, they were within their rights by the United States (Maass 4). In the illustration cited, it depicts a wall with Americans keeping out European countries with a wall that has the Monroe Doctrine written on it. This leads to the European countries respecting the Monroe Doctrine even though they might not agree with it, and only doing what it allows so that the United States does not have to intervene.
Works Cited:
Joseph Lawrence, William Marks John Andrew Shulze, “Resolution of the General Assembly of Pennsylvania,” HST 325 - U.S. Foreign Relations to 1914 (MSU), accessed October 31, 2022, http://projects.leadr.msu.edu/usforeignrelations/items/show/183.
Lenzner, Robert. “Political Cartoon with the Caption ‘His Foresight. Europe: You’Re Not the Only Rooster in South America! Uncle Sam: I Was Aware of That When I Cooped You up!’” Fresno State Library EBC Host, https://web-s-ebscohost-com.hmlproxy.lib.csufresno.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=14&sid=b542f0ef-9c48-435e-bb9a-c8ef40f1d1f4%40redis&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3D%3D#AN=imh601133&authdb=imh&db=asn.
Maass, Matthias. “Catalyst for the Roosevelt Corollary: Arbitrating the 1902-1903 Venezuela Crisis and Its Impact on the Development of the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine.” Diplomacy & Statecraft, vol. 20, no. 3, Sept. 2009, pp. 383–402. EBSCOhost,
Monroe, James. “Monroe Doctrine.” Monroe Doctrine, Aug. 2017, p. 1. EBSCOhost, https://search-ebscohost-com.hmlproxy.lib.csufresno.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=asn&AN=21212458&site=ehost-live.
Moore, John Bassett. “The Monroe Doctrine.” Political Science Quarterly, vol. 11, no. 1, 1896, pp. 1–29. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/2139599. Accessed 15 Nov. 2022.
Officer, Angry Staff. “Has the U.S. Begun a New Monroe Doctrine in the Middle East?” The Angry Staff Officer, 2 Dec. 2015, https://angrystaffofficer.com/2015/12/02/has-the-u-s-begun-a-new-monroe-doctrine-in-the-middle-east/.
Unger, Dallace W., Jr. "Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine." World History: A Comprehensive Reference Set, edited by Facts on File, Facts On File, 1st edition, 2016. Credo Reference, http://hmlproxy.lib.csufresno.edu/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/fofworld/roosevelt_corollary_to_the_monroe_doctrine/0?institutionId=5473. Accessed 31 Oct. 2022.
Wheless, Joseph. “The Monroe Doctrine and Latin America.” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, vol. 54, 1914, pp. 66–83. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/1012572.Accessed 14 Nov. 2022.
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