Monroe Doctrine

The US acquired Florida from Spain through the Adams-Onís Treaty, which was signed in 1819 and became effective in 1821.

The Arikara War (1823) took place between the US and the Arikara Indigenous group in present-day South Dakota in the Missouri River area. The latter was the first armed conflict between the Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains and the US. The Arikara are referred to as “Ricaree” in the document.

The Greek War of Independence (1821-1829) against the Ottoman Empire culminated in the establishment of a Greek state recognized internationally by the London Protocol (1830). Monroe refers to “the heroic struggle of the Greeks,” drawing an implicit connection between the Greek fight for independence and the American one (22).

Impressment was a longstanding practice by the British Navy of forcing civilians into service as Navy sailors—essentially kidnapping them. Initially, the practice targeted only British subjects, but by the 1790s, British ships were increasingly capturing American sailors as well. This practice was intolerable to the fledgling United States and became one of the causes of the War of 1812 (Deeben, John. “The War of 1812: Stoking the Fires.” National Archives, 2012).

Manifest Destiny was a widespread belief that the North American continent had been set aside by God for the purposes of US territorial expansion. The term itself was first used by the newspaper columnist John L. O’Sullivan in 1845, but the mythology O’Sullivan described had by then been a powerful force in American politics for decades. Importantly, because the myth of manifest destiny posited a mandate from God, it became an easy way to justify land theft and genocide against Indigenous peoples.

President Theodore Roosevelt introduced the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine (1904). The Corollary expanded the Monroe Doctrine to include interventions, including military interventions, in support of American interests in the Western Hemisphere.

In international relations, security refers to the procedures and actions taken by a state to guarantee its safety and its very existence. In turn, regional or global security refers to the mutual nature of such actions.

The Spanish American Wars of Independence (1808–1833) were wars between the Spanish Empire and its colonies in Latin America. As a result, such countries as Mexico, Venezuela, and Peru attained independence.

The Treaty of Ghent (1814) was a peace agreement signed in Ghent, a Belgian city that at the time belonged to the United Netherlands. The treaty marked the end of the War of 1812 between the United States and Britain. The treaty sought to define the border between the United States and British North America and to return conquered lands. It was ratified in 1815 when President Monroe’s presidency began.

Ukaz is “decree” in Russian. In September 1821, Tsar Alexander I claimed the lands in the Western Hemisphere above 51° N latitude—corresponding to Alaska and parts of the Pacific Northwest—as Russian territory. The decree led to protests by both the US and Britain. The Monroe Doctrine was in part a response to this decree.