On December 2, 1823, President James Monroe delivered in writing his seventh annual address to Congress\u2014the equivalent of today\u2019s State of the Union address. In the middle of an otherwise forgettable summary of national issues, Monroe presented what would become a classic statement of U.S. foreign policy\u2014the Monroe Doctrine. Monroe asserted that the Western Hemisphere was off limits to further European colonization and claimed the right for the United States to protect the sovereignty of the independent republics in the Western Hemisphere. Both claims were bold statements that the country had no way of backing up. But these bluffs were based on a shrewd diplomatic analysis that signaled to the world the far-reaching ambitions of the young country. SHAFR historians ranked the Monroe Doctrine as the ninth-best U.S. foreign policy decision.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On December 2, 1823, President James Monroe delivered in writing his seventh annual address to Congress\u2014the equivalent of today\u2019s State of the Union address. In the middle of an otherwise forgettable summary of national issues, Monroe presented what would become a classic statement of U.S. foreign policy\u2014the Monroe Doctrine. Monroe asserted that the Western Hemisphere […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":919,"menu_order":9,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-best-decisions"],"acf":{"add_section":[{"quote_section":"imagecontent","add_section_title":"Independence in Latin America","add_section_content":"A revolutionary fervor swept Latin America between 1810 and 1823. The Napoleonic Wars in Europe had weakened Spain\u2019s control over its colonies in the region, and fifteen countries declared their independence. Americans cheered these revolutions, seeing them as vindicating their break with Great Britain. (The United States was slow, however, to recognize the new governments, partly because it was negotiating with Spain over their competing claims to the land west of the Mississippi River.) Latin American independence also created economic possibilities for the United States. Ports that Spain had kept closed to American (and British) merchants were suddenly open to trade.\r\n\r\nThe question was whether the new countries in Latin America could keep their independence. Following Napoleon\u2019s final defeat in 1815, conservative monarchies dominated Europe. They sought to restore pre-war borders on the continent and to crush revolutionary movements. In 1822, France invaded Spain and returned its deposed monarch to the throne. Talk grew that France would next attempt to reclaim Spain\u2019s colonies in the New World, either for Madrid or for itself.","add_image":1706,"image_position":"right","background":true,"quote_content":"","quote_footer":"","video_title":"","video_link":null,"youtube_link":""},{"quote_section":"imagecontent","add_section_title":"A British Offer ","add_section_content":"Great Britain viewed French ambitions with alarm. French control of Spain\u2019s former colonies would strengthen France's economy and make it a more formidable rival. At the same time, the collapse of Spanish rule in Latin America had given British merchants access to new trade markets.\u00a0Those commercial opportunities could be at risk.\r\n\r\nSeeking to blunt the French challenge, the British foreign secretary, George Canning, turned to the United States. Although Britain and the United States had fought a war just eight years earlier, Canning knew that both countries had an interest in preventing the recolonization of Latin America. He also calculated that a joint diplomatic effort would improve relations with the United States, which was one of the largest markets for British goods. In August 1823, Canning put his proposal to Richard Rush, the U.S. minister in London: Britain and the United States should issue a joint declaration opposing further European intervention in the Americas. Rush forwarded the offer to Washington.","add_image":"","image_position":"null","background":false,"quote_content":"","quote_footer":"","video_title":"","video_link":null,"youtube_link":""},{"quote_section":"imagecontent","add_section_title":"Monroe Consults His Mentors","add_section_content":"Monroe initially leaned toward accepting the British offer. He thought that the French threat to the Americas was real and would endanger U.S. security. He also worried about Russian designs on the Pacific Northwest, where both Britain and the United States had claims. Two years earlier, the czar had declared that present-day Alaska and the lands running south of it to the fifty-first parallel belonged to Russia.\r\n\r\nMonroe consulted his two political mentors, former presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Both urged him to work with Britain, with Jefferson calling the decision \u201cthe most momentous which has ever been offered to my contemplation since that of independence.\u201d\u00a0 They knew that the United States lacked the means to prevent European intrusions in the Americas. However, they calculated that an informal alliance with Britain would make the United States more secure\u2014no European power would dare challenge the British navy, which was by far the most formidable in the world.","add_image":943,"image_position":"right","background":true,"quote_content":"","quote_footer":"","video_title":"","video_link":null,"youtube_link":""},{"quote_section":"imagecontent","add_section_title":"John Quincy Adams Objects","add_section_content":"Monroe informed his cabinet that he planned to accept Canning\u2019s offer. Secretary of State John Quincy Adams immediately objected. He argued that any joint declaration would be a mistake, and instead recommended that the United States issue its own, unilateral declaration. Adams staked out his position even though he knew that the United States could not back up its words with deeds. As he put it, the United States would be better off acting alone than \u201cto come in as a\u00a0cockboat\u00a0in the wake of the British\u00a0man-of-war.\u201d\r\n\r\nAdams\u2019s recommendation rested on three hard-nosed geopolitical calculations. First, France lacked the ability to retake Spain\u2019s former colonies. (Unbeknownst to Adams, the French government had just reached the same conclusion.) Because European intervention was unlikely, any U.S. action would be symbolic with no practical downside. Second, if any European power called the United States\u2019 bluff, Britain would come to its aid. London had too much at stake in Latin America to let France or any other European power reestablish colonial rule. Third, a joint declaration would not help the United States. Great Britain would get all the credit; Britain, not the United States, was the great power.","add_image":1717,"image_position":"bottom","background":false,"quote_content":"","quote_footer":"","video_title":"","video_link":null,"youtube_link":""},{"quote_section":"imagecontent","add_section_title":"Monroe\u2019s Doctrine","add_section_content":"Adams\u2019s arguments won the day.\u00a0Monroe chose to communicate the new U.S. policy in his December 1823 annual message to Congress. Using language drafted by Adams, Monroe announced three principles for U.S. foreign policy.\u00a0First, the Americas \u201care henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers.\u201d Second, the United States would not interfere \u201cwith the existing colonies or dependencies of any European power.\u201d In other words, the United States would not contest Spain\u2019s remaining colonies or Great Britain\u2019s claim to Canada. However, the United States would regard any European effort to reimpose colonial rule or to interfere in the newly independent countries of the Americas \u201cas dangerous to our peace and safety\u201d and as \u201cthe manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the United States.\u201d\r\n\r\nThird, Monroe pledged a policy of non-interference in the affairs of the Old World: \u201cOur policy in regard to Europe\u2026remains the same, which is, not to interfere in the internal concerns of any of its powers.\u201d This pledge restated what was by then a well-established U.S. diplomatic practice. President George Washington in his Farewell Address, Jefferson in his first inaugural address, and Madison in his 1812 call to Congress to declare war on Britain had all argued that the United States should stand apart from the affairs of Europe.","add_image":3475,"image_position":"right","background":true,"quote_content":"","quote_footer":"","video_title":"","video_link":null,"youtube_link":""},{"quote_section":"imagecontent","add_section_title":"Europe Reacts","add_section_content":"Britain took Monroe\u2019s declaration in stride. Canning had already privately communicated to the French government Britain\u2019s opposition to the reestablishment of Spain's colonies in Latin America. Leaders elsewhere in Europe took less kindly to what they saw as Monroe\u2019s audacity. Austria dismissed his message as \u201can indecent declaration.\u201d\u00a0Russia said the U.S. position \u201cmerits only the most profound contempt.\u201d\u00a0But in the end, Adams was right.\u00a0No European power intervened in Latin America.\u00a0Although that had everything to do with politics in Europe and nothing to do with Monroe\u2019s words, the Americans could still claim victory.","add_image":3473,"image_position":"bottom","background":true,"quote_content":"","quote_footer":"","video_title":"","video_link":null,"youtube_link":""},{"quote_section":"imagecontent","add_section_title":"The Legacy of the Monroe Doctrine","add_section_content":"The Monroe Doctrine had little immediate practical impact. No one called it a \u201cdoctrine\u201d until 1852, and it was invoked only intermittently over the course of the nineteenth century in response to European efforts to claim territory or interfere in the politics of the Western Hemisphere. In 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt turned the Monroe Doctrine on its head with the so-called Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, which asserted that the United States had both a right and duty to intervene in Latin America to preserve order and prevent European intervention. Nonetheless, the Monroe Doctrine was a watershed in American diplomacy, contesting Europe\u2019s involvement in the Americas and claiming a leadership role for the United States in protecting the sovereignty of independent countries in the Western Hemisphere. It is a claim that presidents continue to make to this day.","add_image":"","image_position":"null","background":false,"quote_content":"","quote_footer":"","video_title":"","video_link":null,"youtube_link":""}],"add_testimonials":[{"author_name":"Jared Pack","add_testimonial_content":" The Monroe Doctrine is the single most important pronouncement in the history of American foreign policy. It is expansionist, imperialist, and isolationist all at once. It establishes more precedent for action and becomes one of the guiding premises of American foreign policy from 1823 onward.\r\n","add_university_department":"Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of History, York University","add_image":1380},{"author_name":"Adam Stone","add_testimonial_content":"The Monroe Doctrine staked a claim on hegemonic status for the United States and helped develop the security it has long held against threats in the Western Hemisphere.","add_university_department":" Associate Professor of Political Science Emeritus, Perimeter College at Georgia State University","add_image":1381},{"author_name":"Emily Conroy-Krutz","add_testimonial_content":"The Monroe Doctrine articulated a vision of what the U.S. role in the world would be, with an emphasis on noninterference unless its own interests were violated. In its own time, this strikes me as a practical resolution to the calls from various parts of the population to take a more active role in various (and competing) concerns abroad.","add_university_department":"Professor of History, Michigan State University","add_image":1382},{"author_name":"Joseph Stieb","add_testimonial_content":"The Monroe Doctrine is arguably the longest-standing and most consistent principle of U.S. national security policy. It enabled the expansion that set the conditions for the U.S. becoming a global power. Its benefits for Central and Latin America were mixed (trading European for U.S. interference\/empire), but overall it advanced the decolonization of the Americas and the power of the United States.","add_university_department":"Assistant Professor of History, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hil","add_image":1383}],"learn_more_title":"Learn More","add_learn_more_content":"Primary documents, books, articles, and more on Monroe Doctrine. ","add_sources":[{"add_sources_title":"Primary Documents","single_source":[{"source_link_title":{"title":"James Monroe, \u201cLetter to Thomas Jefferson,\u201d October 17, 1823","url":"https:\/\/founders.archives.gov\/?q=Correspondent%3A%22Monroe%2C%20James%22%20Correspondent%3A%22Jefferson%2C%20Thomas%22&s=1111311111&r=499","target":""},"source_content":"The text of the letter that Monroe wrote to Jefferson soliciting his advice on whether the United States should join Great Britain in declaring the Western Hemisphere off limits to further European colonization.","source_image":""},{"source_link_title":{"title":"James Monroe, \u201cLetter to James Madison,\u201d October 17, 1823","url":"https:\/\/founders.archives.gov\/documents\/Madison\/04-03-02-0147","target":""},"source_content":"The text of the letter that Monroe wrote to Madison soliciting his advice on whether the United States should join Great Britain in declaring the Western Hemisphere off limits to further European colonization.","source_image":""},{"source_link_title":{"title":"Thomas Jefferson, \u201cLetter to James Monroe,\u201d October 24, 1823","url":"https:\/\/founders.archives.gov\/documents\/Jefferson\/03-20-02-0221","target":""},"source_content":"The text of the letter that Jefferson sent Monroe recommending that he accept the British offer.","source_image":""},{"source_link_title":{"title":"James Madison, \u201cLetter to James Monroe,\u201d October 30, 1823","url":"https:\/\/founders.archives.gov\/documents\/Madison\/04-03-02-0159","target":""},"source_content":"The text of the letter that Madison sent Monroe recommending that he accept the British offer.","source_image":""},{"source_link_title":{"title":"James Monroe, \u201cSeventh Annual Message to Congress,\u201d December 2, 1823","url":"https:\/\/millercenter.org\/the-presidency\/presidential-speeches\/december-2-1823-seventh-annual-message-monroe-doctrine","target":""},"source_content":"The text of Monroe\u2019s seventh annual message to Congress in which he declares that European powers could no longer colonize territory in the Western Hemisphere.","source_image":""},{"source_link_title":{"title":"James Monroe, \u201cLetter to Thomas Jefferson,\u201d December 4, 1823","url":"https:\/\/founders.archives.gov\/documents\/Jefferson\/03-20-02-0296","target":""},"source_content":"The text of the letter that Monroe sent Jefferson sharing his message to Congress.","source_image":""},{"source_link_title":{"title":"James Monroe, \u201cLetter to James Madison,\u201d December 4, 1823","url":"https:\/\/founders.archives.gov\/documents\/Madison\/04-03-02-0189","target":""},"source_content":"The text of the letter that Monroe sent Madison sharing his message to Congress.","source_image":""},{"source_link_title":{"title":"Theodore Roosevelt, \u201cAnnual Message to Congress (\u2019Roosevelt\u2019s Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine\u2019),\u201d December 6, 1904","url":"https:\/\/build.mini.cfr.org\/ten-best-ten-worst-us-foreign-policy-decisions\/credits\/","target":""},"source_content":"An excerpt from Roosevelt\u2019s annual message to Congress asserting that the United States had the right and responsibility to preserve order and security in the Western Hemisphere. ","source_image":""}]},{"add_sources_title":"Books","single_source":[{"source_link_title":{"title":"Ernest R. May, The Making of the Monroe Doctrine","url":"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Making-Doctrine-Harvard-Historical-Studies\/dp\/0674543416","target":""},"source_content":"An acclaimed Harvard historian, May argues that the creation of the Monroe Doctrine can be best understood as the product of domestic politics rather than the result of international pressures.","source_image":1389},{"source_link_title":{"title":"Dexter Perkins, Hands Off: A History of the Monroe Doctrine","url":"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/historyofmonroed00perk","target":""},"source_content":"One of the twentieth century\u2019s leading historians of U.S. foreign policy, Perkins examines the doctrine's origins, its development over time, and its lasting impact on America\u2019s relationship with the world.","source_image":1396},{"source_link_title":{"title":"Jay Sexton, The Monroe Doctrine: Empire and Nation in Nineteenth-Century America","url":"https:\/\/www.google.com\/books\/edition\/The_Monroe_Doctrine\/u4GVKXN8SWYC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PP7&printsec=frontcover","target":""},"source_content":"Sexton examines the evolution and impact of the Monroe Doctrine.","source_image":1398}]},{"add_sources_title":"Articles","single_source":[{"source_link_title":{"title":"American Battlefield Trust, \u201cThe Monroe Doctrine: Its Origins and Use During the Civil War\u201d","url":"https:\/\/www.battlefields.org\/learn\/articles\/monroe-doctrine","target":""},"source_content":"An instructive look at the origins of the Monroe Doctrine and why President Abraham Lincoln did not invoke it when French troops landed in Mexico in 1862.","source_image":""},{"source_link_title":{"title":"Britta Crandall and Russell Crandall, \u201cThe Monroe Doctrine Turns 200. Why Won\u2019t It Go Away?\u201d","url":"https:\/\/www.americasquarterly.org\/article\/the-monroe-doctrine-turns-200-why-wont-it-go-away\/","target":""},"source_content":"A look at the origins and consequences of Monroe\u2019s 1823 message to Congress.","source_image":""},{"source_link_title":{"title":"Thomas E. McNamara, \u201cThe Monroe Doctrine After 200 Years: A Strategic Hinge Period in American History\u201d","url":"https:\/\/americandiplomacy.web.unc.edu\/2023\/08\/the-monroe-doctrine-after-200-years-a-strategic-hinge-period-in-american-history\/","target":""},"source_content":"A former U.S. ambassador to Colombia, McNamara examines the origins and early history of the Monroe Doctrine.","source_image":""},{"source_link_title":{"title":"National Museum of American Diplomacy, \u201cThe Monroe Doctrine: The United States and Latin American Independence\u201d","url":"https:\/\/diplomacy.state.gov\/stories\/the-monroe-doctrine-the-united-states-and-latin-american-independence\/","target":""},"source_content":"A look at why Monroe proposed the doctrine that would come to bear his name.","source_image":""},{"source_link_title":{"title":"Jay Sexton, \u201cThe Many Faces of the Monroe Doctrine\u201d","url":"https:\/\/warontherocks.com\/2023\/12\/the-many-faces-of-the-monroe-doctrine\/","target":""},"source_content":"Sexton looks at the origins and long history of the Monroe Doctrine.","source_image":""},{"source_link_title":{"title":"Gaddis Smith, \u201cThe Legacy of Monroe\u2019s Doctrine\u201d","url":"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1984\/09\/09\/magazine\/the-legacy-of-monroes-doctrine.html","target":""},"source_content":"An esteemed Yale historian, Smith assesses the Monroe Doctrine\u2019s legacy 160 years after Monroe unveiled it.","source_image":""}]},{"add_sources_title":"Documentaries and Short Videos","single_source":[{"source_link_title":{"title":"James Monroe Museum, \u201cMonroe Minute: Monroe Doctrine\u201d","url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ve_QDqDJeiM","target":""},"source_content":"A seven-minute overview of the reasons behind Monroe\u2019s announcement of the doctrine that came to bear his name.","source_image":""},{"source_link_title":{"title":"Khan Academy, \u201cU.S. History Unit 4: The Monroe Doctrine\u201d","url":"https:\/\/www.khanacademy.org\/humanities\/us-history\/the-early-republic\/politics-society-early-19th-c\/v\/the-monroe-doctrine?utm_source=chatgpt.com","target":""},"source_content":"A fourteen-minute look at Monroe\u2019s declaration that the Western Hemisphere was off-limits to future European colonization or interference.\u202f","source_image":""},{"source_link_title":{"title":"National Museum of American Diplomacy, \u201cWhat Is the Monroe Doctrine?\u201d","url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=EElXGPupRUk","target":""},"source_content":"A four-minute look at the origins of the Monroe Doctrine.","source_image":""},{"source_link_title":{"title":"Warner Brothers, \u201cThe Monroe Doctrine\u201d","url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=puJUm8H7OWg","target":""},"source_content":"Released in 1938, this product of the old Hollywood studio system shows how Monroe\u2019s announcement was explained to Americans in the first third of the twentieth century.","source_image":""}]},{"add_sources_title":"Lectures and Podcasts","single_source":[{"source_link_title":{"title":"James Monroe\u2019s Highland, \u201cThis Sets Our Compass: The Making of the Monroe Doctrine\u201d","url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=h0sdiaveL-o","target":""},"source_content":"Author Tim McGrath explains the personal and political events leading to the announcement of what became the Monroe Doctrine.","source_image":""},{"source_link_title":{"title":"James Monroe\u2019s Highland, \u201cSpheres of Influence: Two Hundred Years of the Monroe Doctrine\u201d","url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=JWc4G5sAUPo","target":""},"source_content":"Four prominent historians discuss the making and history of the Monroe Doctrine.","source_image":""},{"source_link_title":{"title":"National Association of Scholars, \u201c1823: The Monroe Doctrine and the Foundations of American Foreign Policy\u201d","url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=P_DZ90NngLY&t=600s","target":""},"source_content":"Two historians discuss the origins and consequences of the Monroe Doctrine.","source_image":""},{"source_link_title":{"title":"Presidential Chronicles, \u201cJames Monroe Episode 9: Doctrine (1819\u20131823)\u201d","url":"https:\/\/creators.spotify.com\/pod\/profile\/david-fisher950\/episodes\/Episode-49-James-Monroe-9-Doctrine-1819-1823-e2sl9oj","target":""},"source_content":"A ten-minute look at the origins of the Monroe Doctrine.","source_image":""},{"source_link_title":{"title":"Teaching American History, \u201cDocuments in Detail: The Monroe Doctrine\u201d","url":"https:\/\/teachingamericanhistory.org\/podcast\/monroe-doctrine-documents-in-detail\/#utm_source=chatgpt.com","target":""},"source_content":"An hour-long podcast on Monroe\u2019s 1823 Annual Message to Congress introducing what became the Monroe Doctrine.","source_image":""}]}],"add_bottom_title":"","add_bottom_image":"","add_background_image":"","add_bottom_button":"","add_year":"1823"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/build.mini.cfr.org\/ten-best-ten-worst-us-foreign-policy-decisions\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/07\/MonroeDoctrineCartoon.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cfr.org\/ten-best-ten-worst-us-foreign-policy-decisions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cfr.org\/ten-best-ten-worst-us-foreign-policy-decisions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cfr.org\/ten-best-ten-worst-us-foreign-policy-decisions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cfr.org\/ten-best-ten-worst-us-foreign-policy-decisions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cfr.org\/ten-best-ten-worst-us-foreign-policy-decisions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16"}],"version-history":[{"count":65,"href":"https:\/\/www.cfr.org\/ten-best-ten-worst-us-foreign-policy-decisions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3476,"href":"https:\/\/www.cfr.org\/ten-best-ten-worst-us-foreign-policy-decisions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16\/revisions\/3476"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cfr.org\/ten-best-ten-worst-us-foreign-policy-decisions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/919"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cfr.org\/ten-best-ten-worst-us-foreign-policy-decisions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cfr.org\/ten-best-ten-worst-us-foreign-policy-decisions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cfr.org\/ten-best-ten-worst-us-foreign-policy-decisions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}