Monroe Doctrine

“To the people every department of the Government and every individual in each are responsible, and the more full their information the better they can judge of the wisdom of the policy pursued and of the conduct of each in regard to it. From their dispassionate judgment much aid may always be obtained, while their approbation will form the greatest incentive and most gratifying reward for virtuous actions, and the dread of their censure the best security against the abuse of their confidence.”

The President highlights the duties and responsibilities of high-ranking government officials. He suggests that they must practice transparency and focus on accountability to those they represent. One way to do so is to provide detailed information to the public so that they may arrive at their own conclusions about government policies. The President thus perceives the American public as well-informed and intelligent.

“A precise knowledge of our relations with foreign powers as respects our negotiations and transactions with each is thought to be particularly necessary. […] It is by rendering justice to other nations that we may expect it from them. It is by our ability to resent injuries and redress wrongs that we may avoid them.”

This quotation is one of the first foreign-policy statements in Monroe’s 1823 Congressional address. It lays the groundwork for the defensive Monroe Doctrine. The President argues that international relations must be based on mutual respect for each other’s security concerns. He then uses this statement to set up an important feature of the Monroe Doctrine: The US will stay out of European affairs, while the European powers must understand the justification for and respect US primacy in the Americas. In practical terms, Monroe seeks to prevent additional European colonization in the US’s “backyard.”

“It appearing from long experience that no satisfactory arrangement could be formed of the commercial intercourse between the United States and the British colonies in this hemisphere by legislative acts while each party pursued its own course without agreement or concert with the other, a proposal has been made to the British Government to regulate this commerce by treaty, as it has been to arrange in like manner the just claim of the citizens of the United States inhabiting the States and Territories bordering on the lakes and rivers which empty into the St. Lawrence to the navigation of that river to the ocean.”

President Monroe describes the state of US-British relations. These relations were complicated by the unresolved issues stemming from the War of 1812 and the Treaty of Ghent, as well as from trade disagreements with British North America (Canada). In particular, the St. Lawrence River, which is linked to the Great Lakes and is part of the present-day border between the US and Canada, was a point of contention in terms of navigation. Britain is one of the great European powers whose presence in the Americas motivated Monroe to issue his foreign-policy statement.

“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 North West coast of this continent. A similar proposal had been made by His Imperial Majesty to the Government of Great Britain, which has likewise been acceded to. […] 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.”

This quotation forms the first part of the Monroe Doctrine. It shows one immediate catalyst for the President’s foreign-policy statements: Tsar Alexander’s I declaration of the area north of the 51st parallel as open to Russian settlement. Here, the northwest of North America is of greatest interest to the United States, British North America (present-day Canada), and Russia, which controlled Alaska. Thus, Monroe mentions communication with both Russia and Britain about these territorial claims. The President emphasizes that the US wants to maintain amicable relationships with these two great European powers. At the same time, he lays the groundwork for claiming the Americas as a US sphere of influence free of any future European colonization that would disrupt the extant status quo. At the time of this declaration, this statement was largely defensive because the US was a young country. However, the Monroe Doctrine was later used as a justification for US political, economic, and military interventionism in the region.

“The state of the Army in its organization and discipline has been gradually improving for several years and has now attained a high degree of perfection. The military disbursements have been regularly made and the accounts regularly and promptly rendered for settlement.”

The Army and Navy are at the intersection of domestic and foreign policy, which is why President Monroe returns to this question a number of times throughout his speech. He focuses on maintaining and improving these organizations. At this time, the Army and Navy generally had a defensive function as a deterrent. In the 19th century, the US Army fought other major powers, such as Britain in the War of 1812, as well as local and regional conflicts against the Indigenous people of North America.

“During the month of June last General Ashley and his party, who were trading under a license from the Government, were attacked by the Ricarees while peaceably trading with the Indians at their request. Several of the party were killed and wounded and their property taken or destroyed.

Colonel Leavenworth, who commanded Fort Atkinson, at the Council Bluffs, the most western post, apprehending that the hostile spirit of the Ricarees would extend to other tribes in that quarter, and that thereby the lives of the traders on the Missouri and the peace of the frontier would be endangered, took immediate measures to check the evil.

With a detachment of the regiment stationed at the Bluffs he successfully attacked the Ricaree village, and it is hoped that such an impression has been made on them as well as on the other tribes on the Missouri as will prevent a recurrence of future hostility.”

President Monroe describes the Arikara War in present-day South Dakota in the summer of 1823. He perceives the armed hostilities as disrupting peace and order on the frontier, thus threatening US trade. This conflict may be seen as part of the general relationship between the continent’s Indigenous population and the US government, including the ethnic cleansing of various groups through the Indian Removal Act (1830). The latter is discussed further in The US Relationship With Indigenous Peoples theme.

“The report of the Secretary of the Navy, which is now communicated, furnishes an account of the administration of that Department for the three first quarters of the present year, with the progress made in augmenting the Navy, and the manner in which the vessels in commission have been employed.

The usual force has been maintained in the Mediterranean Sea, the Pacific Ocean, and along the Atlantic coast, and has afforded the necessary protection to our commerce in those seas.”

In discussing the Navy, the President emphasizes the need to continue increasing its size not only for the defense of the American territories but also for protecting American trade. This quotation is, therefore, an example of private-public cooperation between the state and business. It is also an early example of the US Navy’s growing significance, as the US was a primarily maritime power flanked by two oceans and weaker neighbors. Later, the air force became equally important and worked in tandem with the Navy.

“In the month of August a very malignant fever made its appearance at Thompsons Island, which threatened the destruction of our station there. Many perished, and the commanding officer was severely attacked. Uncertain as to his fate and knowing that most of the medical officers had been rendered incapable of discharging their duties, it was thought expedient to send to that post an officer of rank and experience, with several skilled surgeons, to ascertain the origin of the fever and the probability of its recurrence there in future seasons […] Commodore Rodgers, with a promptitude which did him honor, cheerfully accepted that trust, and has discharged it in the manner anticipated from his skill and patriotism. […] Much useful information has, however, been obtained as to the state of the island and great relief afforded to those who had been necessarily left there.”

The outbreak of Yellow Fever on Thompson’s Island in 1823 is an early example of cooperation between the military and medical professionals in the framework of public health. At that time, the Island housed the US Navy’s operations in the West Indies. The President describes a mysterious illness that struck so many in this Key West location that additional support was needed for an investigation of the illness’s causes. As the US added to its overseas territories throughout the 19th century—from the uninhabited guano islands to the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico annexed after the Spanish-American War—a systematized, timely pursuit of public health gained importance.

“The actual state of the public accounts furnishes additional evidence of the efficiency of the present system of accountability in relation to the public expenditure.”

President Monroe emphasizes the need for government accountability both in terms of general policies and in terms of specific financial and budgetary decisions by the state, as discussed in the Government Transparency and Accountability theme. He considers it necessary to provide accurate and full information to the constituents whom the government represents and whom public officials serve. Thus, Monroe goes into detail about public spending, for instance, on the post office and infrastructure. In general, he considers the system in place to be sound.

“Many patriotic and enlightened citizens who have made the subject an object of particular investigation have suggested an improvement of still greater importance. They are of the opinion that the waters of the Chesapeake and Ohio may be connected together by one continued canal, and at an expense far short of the value and importance of the object to be obtained. If this could be accomplished it is impossible to calculate the beneficial consequences which would result from it.”

The President is referring to the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, which was one of the last bills signed at the end of his presidency. The Canal started operating in 1831 and was important to regional transportation, facilitating the delivery of such products as coal and lumber. The President shows that spending public funding on an object of infrastructural significance was a matter of careful debate, in which the opinions of the constituents were considered.

“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 so to do. It is only when our rights are invaded or seriously menaced that we resent injuries or make preparation for our defense.”

This quotation forms the next part of the Monroe Doctrine. Here, the President emphasizes two key features of US foreign policy in the early 19th century. First, the US will not interfere in European affairs and seeks to maintain amicable relations with great European powers. Second, the US expects similar non-interference from the European countries, especially when it comes to additional colonization of the Americas. In Monroe’s view, breaching this policy would lead to the US engaging in defensive actions. Thus, he perceives the Americas as a US sphere of influence and seeks to maintain the status quo in terms of the Europeans’ access to the continent.

“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 maintained 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.”

This quotation is the next part of the Monroe Doctrine. President Monroe continues to emphasize the fact that the US seeks to maintain amicable relations with the European powers, including their existent colonies, presumably present-day Canada. However, his red line is additional European colonization in the Western Hemisphere or the recolonization of newly independent states such as Mexico. If the European powers were to engage in such actions, the United States would be forced to respond. In turn, the US pledges not to interfere in European affairs. For Monroe, this policy is defensive. In other words, he seeks to maintain the status quo in terms of the European balance of power in the Americas.

“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.”

This statement is the end of the Monroe Doctrine. The President highlights the non-interference principle in European affairs or their existent colonies that he mentioned earlier, especially wars. After all, Monroe notes that the European powers frequently engage in wars “which have so long agitated that quarter of the globe.” At the same time, it is his expectation that the European powers would do the same in the Americas. When he mentions “the comparative strength and resources of Spain and those new Governments,” he is referring to the newly independent states in Latin America such as Venezuela and Mexico. In his view, Spain “can never subdue them.” He uses logic to explain why it would be difficult for Spain to recolonize these new states, especially after a prolonged war. For this reason, the President prefers to establish diplomatic relations with these new states and for Spain to refrain from recolonization so as to not disrupt the existent balance of power. It would also, of course, be easier for the US to interact with smaller, weaker, independent states than the Spanish Empire, parts of which the US now controls, such as Florida.