Key Information

President James Monroe spoke up about the Monroe Doctrine in his seventh annual message to Congress on December 2, 1823.

The Monroe Doctrine was developed to protect the United States and Britain from Europe because they were concerned that Europe would attempt to further colonize in the Western Hemisphere.

President Monroe made four objectives in his address to Congress: The U.S. wouldn't get involved in European affairs, the U.S. wouldn't interfere with existing European colonies in Western Hemisphere, no other nation can form a new colony in the Western Hemisphere, and if any European nation tried to control or interfere with a nation in the Western Hemisphere, the U.S. would view it as a hostile threat against our nation.

Monroe's policy towards Europe was not known as the Monroe Doctrine until almost 30 years later at being proclaimed

The Monroe Doctrine became the foundation of the U.S. foreign policy in the early 1900s