IV. The United States: 1789-1824
Learning Objective:
Understand why political parties developed during the early national
period in the U.S.
Political parties develop so that people who disagree can gain
decision-making power without resorting to violence. As George
Washington's Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton was
the financial officer of the government. He had to obtain an
income for the federal government that would free it from dependence
on the states. Hamilton believed that citizens should be think
of the federal government, instead of the states, as the center
of financial power and stability. Then, he believed, they would
identify their own interests with the success of the national
government. To achieve these goals Hamilton came up with the
following plan:
1. Fund the $54,124,465 national debt by paying off federal
certificates at face value. Hamilton wanted to insure that the
credit of the U.S. would be respected in Europe, and that the
people who had bought federal notes were rewarded for their
loyalty to the new government. He also wanted the wealthy to
see the success of the new government as paramount to their
own success. Opposition to this plan came from those people
who believed that the original recipients of the government
notes, not speculators, should receive the government payments.
Many Revolutionary War veterans, and the widows and orphans
of veterans, had sold their government notes to speculators
for cash.
2. The national government would take over the state Revolutionary
War debts thereby tying both the states and their citizens to
the national government. Virginia, and all the southern states
except South Carolina, had already paid off their war debt.
To get Virginia (the most important southern state) to support
this plan, the nation's capital was put on its northern border
near George Washingtonâs home.
3. A national bank was created to stabilize the currency. Southern
and western farmers tended to disagree with this plan, because
they wanted an inflated currency and they feared that the bank
would be controlled by eastern capital. Northern bankers, merchants,
and lawyers tended to agree with this plan.
4. A protective tariff would protect "infant" American
industry and encourage the development of American manufacturing.
Hamilton's financial program laid a sound basis for the stability
of the new government and for the future economy. Moreover,
in adopting Hamilton's program the government defined the role
of the federal government broadly.
The Whiskey Rebellion of 1794 was used as an example by the
national government to show that it could enforce its authority
(unlike the Confederation government in the 1786 Shays Rebellion).
In 1791 Congress placed an excise tax on liquor distilled within
the U.S. Many farmers distilled whiskey from their own grain,
and they avoided paying excise taxes. The farther they lived
from the heavily settled coastal area, the more the cost of
transportation forced them to ship whiskey instead of grain.
In l794 federal officials tried to collect the whiskey tax in
western Pennsylvania. Farmers there resisted these efforts by
rioting and terrorizing some of the tax collectors. Alexander
Hamilton helped lead an army of about l3,000 men westward over
the mountains. Resistance disappeared as word of the approaching
army spread among the rebels. President Washington had proved
his point, and the people arrested in the Whiskey Rebellion
were soon pardoned and released.
The Republicans (later called Democratic-Republicans) informally
organized their opposition to the Federalists in 1791 in response
to Hamilton's financial program. The Republicans grew in strength
battling the foreign policies of Washington and John Adams (who
became President in 7197).
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FIRST POLITICAL PARTIES
FEDERALISTS:
1. The party of Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, and John Marshall.
2. Led by merchants, bankers, and lawyers living primarily in
New England. 3. Favored a strong central government. 4. Interpreted
the Constitution loosely. 5. Believed in a government by the
elite. 6. Passed Alien and Sedition Acts. 7. Pro-England. 8.
Favored Hamilton's financial policies: a. protective tariff,
b. national bank, c. manufacturing interests, d. assumption
of state debts.
DEMOCRATIC-REPUBLICANS
1. The party of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. 2. Led
by planters, farmers, and wage earners living mainly in the
South and West. 3. Favored strong state governments. 4. Interpreted
the Constitution strictly. 5. Favored rule by the educated masses.
6. Supported individual liberties; passed Kentucky and Virginia
Resolutions. 7. Pro-France. 8. Opposed Hamilton's financial
policies: a. against protective tariff, b. for state banks,
c. for agrarian interests, d. against assumption of state debts.
Learning Objective:
Understand the conflict over the nature of political dissent between
1798 and 1803.
In 1798 the Federalist Congress passed the Alien and Sedition
Acts. One of the acts gave the President power to deport any
alien he thought dangerous to the nation (immigrants tended
to join the Republican party). Another act provided heavy fines
and jail terms for persons who criticized federal officials
in "false, scandalous, and malicious" terms. This
language was broad enough so that Federalist judges were able
to send several Republican newspaper editors and one Republican
Congressman to jail.
The Republicans responded to these Acts with the Kentucky and
Virginia Resolves which declared the Alien and Sedition Acts
illegal, and set forth the doctrine of nullification. These
challenges to federal authority set a precedent for later states-rights
causes. But in 1798 and 1799, they drew little support from
other states.
The presidential election of 1800 illustrated that a peaceful
transfer of power could take place in the American political
system. Throughout the nation, the Republicans worked to create
a party organization at the local level in order to win the
election. This attempt was successful. Thomas Jefferson and
Aaron Burr received 73 electoral votes each. The Federalists,
John Adams and Charles Pinckney won 65 and 64 respectively.
The Republican candidates tied because one of the Republican
electors did not cast one vote less for the vice presidential
candidate. The election was decided in the Federalist controlled
House of Representatives. The Federalists under Hamilton allowed
Jefferson to win the presidency because Hamilton believed that
Jefferson was less a threat than Burr to his programs, and Hamilton
and Burr were both from New York and bitter political rivals.
The 12th amendment ratified in 1804 prevented candidates of
the same party from being tied in the vote for President. Jefferson
did not retaliate against the Federalist's Alien and Sedition
Acts.
Another example of political conflict is illustrated in the
1803 court case of Marbury vs. Madison. This decision established
the principle of judicial review. In the election of 1800 the
Federalists lost control of the executive and legislative branches
of the federal government. To insure Federalist control of the
judiciary, the lame-duck Congress passed a Judiciary Act that
created new circuit courts with 16 new judges. Most of the judges
were duly appointed but William Marbury's commission failed
to appear (several commissions were apparently lost in the last-minute
rush). President Jefferson refused to deliver Marbury his commission
and Marbury took his case to the Supreme Court under the leadership
of Federalist John Marshall. This case was not a simple matter
for the Supreme Court. If the Court ordered Secretary of State
James Madison to produce the commission, it was quite likely
that Jefferson would ignore the order and that would probably
be the end of the matter, for the Supreme Court has to rely
on the executive branch to carry out its decisions. On the other
hand, a "no" to Marbury would be equally disastrous
to the prestige of the Court and would hand the Democratic-Republicans
a victory. Marshall found a way out of his dilemma by ruling
that Marbury did indeed have a right to his commission, but
the portion of the Judiciary Act which created his position
was unconstitutional and therefore the Court could not require
the President to deliver it to him. According to Marshall, a
law "repugnant" to the Constitution is null and void.
Not until the 1854 Dred Scott decision would the Court again
declare a law unconstitutional, but it did rule that other laws
were constitutional.
Learning Objective:
Understand the United States' foreign policy goals for the period
1789-1803.
Every country's foreign policy is based on four criteria: 1)
domestic political considerations; 2) ideology; 3) economics;
and, 4) security. During this period, specific United States
goals were to: 1) gain respect; 2) protect our international
commerce; 3) expand and protect our borders; and, 4) end British
aid to the Indians in the U.S. West. The United States response
to the Napoleonic Wars was based on these goals. When Britain
went to war against France in 1793, both nations wanted U.S.
supplies but neither nation wanted the U.S. to trade with the
other. France opened its West Indian ports to U.S. ships. Britain
retaliated by seizing hundreds of American ships, and impressing
American sailors. The British also increased their agitation
among Indians in the Northwest.
Impressment of seamen became an important issue. In searching
American vessels for contraband, British boarding parties regularly
lined up the crews and removed suspected British nationals for
impressment into the Royal Navy. Great Britain did not recognize
naturalization but observed the principle of indelible citizenship—once
a Briton always a Briton. Prior to 1812 the British impressed
at least 8,000 American seamen. Many of them served years or
died in the British naval service.
Jay's Treaty (1794). President Washington sent the Federalist
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John Jay, to Britain to
try to resolve some of the conflicts between the two countries.
Under the terms of the treaty: 1) Great Britain evacuated the
Northwest forts; 2) granted U.S. ships access to India; and,
3) regularized commerce with the British Isles and West Indies.
Jay agreed to: 1) Britain's "right" to seize French
property aboard U.S. ships; 2) to confiscate foodstuffs intended
for the enemy as long as compensation was made; and, 3) to treat
naval stores as contraband. Nothing was said on impressment,
nor about the U.S. version of neutral rights (free ships, make
free goods). The Republicans charged that Jay had "sold
out" to the British.
Pinckney's Treaty (1795). Spain had withdrawn from the coalition
of European nations fighting France and offered the U.S. a highly
favorable treaty (Spain was afraid that Britain would punish
it from withdrawing from the war against France, and it did
not want trouble with the U.S.). Under the terms of the treaty:
1) Spain recognized the U.S. right to navigate on the Mississippi
River; 2) Spain allowed U.S. goods to use the port of New Orleans
for reshipment abroad; 3) the boundary between Spanish Florida
and the U.S. was set at the 31st parallel; 4) Spain and the
U.S. promised not to incite Indian attacks against each other;
and, 5) Spain recognized the U.S. concept of neutral rights.
The XYZ Affair (1797). President Adams sent the Federalists
John Marshall and Charles Pinckney along with the Republican
Elbridge Gerry to France to try and resolve our differences.
Adams specifically wanted to nullify the 1778 treaty with France.
The ruling body of France, the Directory, and its Foreign Minister
Charles Talleyrand, did not war with the U.S., but it did not
perceive the U.S. as a nation deserving respect. France followed
a policy of delay while French seizures of U.S. vessels continued.
Talleyrand believed that America was too weak to harm France.
He thought that delaying tactics would discredit Adams and help
Jefferson win the presidency in 1800, thereby restoring the
Franco-American alliance. Talleyrand refused to receive the
three commissioners officially until a "loan" of $l2
million and a bribe of 3/4 million dollars was paid. Yet when
Talleyrand's agent told the commissioners, "You must pay
money, you must pay a great deal of money," Pinckney responded,
"It is no, no; not a sixpence"; and answer popularized
in America as "Millions for defense but not a penny for
tribute." The commissioners returned to America without
an agreement. Republicans suspected a Federalist plot to conceal
France's readiness for peace and they demanded to see the envoys'
reports. Adams embarrassed the Republicans by releasing the
documents. The reports of Marshall, Pinckney, and Gerry, referring
to the bribery attempts by Talleyrand's agents — Mr. X, Mr.
Y, and Mr. Z — caused a furor in America.
The Quasi War with France (1798-1800). The XYZ affair caused
war fever to sweep the country. Prominent Republicans were closely
watched for pro-French sentiment. Conservatives saw the French
Revolution as a menace to property and stability. The 1798 Alien
and Sedition Acts reveal the superpatriotism and national paranoia
of the time. In this climate, Congress passes a series of measures
supporting a limited naval war with France: it denounced the
1778 alliance as invalid; Congress embargoed trade with France,
barred French ships from U.S. ports, and permitted the navy
and armed privateers to seize armed French vessels on the high
seas—a total of 85 French prizes were seized. When Napoleon
Bonbaparte overthrew the Directory in 1799 he sought peace with
the U.S., and the Convention of 1800 officially ended both the
Quasi War and the 1778 Franco-American alliance.
The Louisiana Purchase (1803). On the same day the Convention
of 1800 was signed, Napoleon concluded a treaty with Spain for
the retrocession of Louisiana. Spain had acquired Louisiana
from France in 1763. Spain believed that Louisiana was not worth
much because it was costly to administer, paid few taxes, and
was vulnerable to the U.S. desires for western expansion. The
French did not actually take possession of Louisiana until December,
1803, 20 days before the Americans took it over. The retrocession
aroused great alarm in the U.S. The alarm increased when Spanish
officials in 1802 suspended the right of free deposit at New
Orleans in violation of Pinckney's Treaty. Diplomatic pressure
by the U.S. reversed this decision, but President Jefferson
was determined to insure U.S. access to the Gulf of Mexico through
New Orleans. He sent James Monroe to France to offer up to $10
million for New Orleans and the Floridas. As a last resort,
if this attempt failed and if Napoleon closed the river to American
navigation, Monroe had orders to proceed to London to discuss
an Anglo-American alliance.
The Louisiana Purchase was significant because: 1) it averted
possible war with France and entanglement with Britain; 2) it
more than doubled the national domain and greatly encouraged
western settlement; 3) it removed a major foreign threat from
America's borders; 4) it established a precedent for the future
acquisition of territories and peoples; and, 5) it stimulated
American nationalism. The journey of Lewis and Clark established
American claims to Oregon.
Learning Objective:
Understand the War of l8l2.
From 1793 to the Peace of Amiens, in 1801, the U.S. escaped
relatively unscathed during the first phase of the Wars of the
French Revolution and Napoleon. After Jay's Treaty Great Britain
tolerated a large amount of U.S. trade with the enemy, and France
lacked the naval power to enforce its blockade of Britain. During
the second phase of the wars America was much less fortunate.
In The Berlin Decree of 1806, Napoleon proclaimed a blockade
of the British Isles, although he lacked the navy to enforce
it. Britain retaliated in 1807 with a series of Orders in Council
blockading all French-held Europe and forbidding neutral traffic
with the area unless neutral vessels first stopped at a British
port and purchased a license to trade with the enemy. Napoleon
countered with the Milan Decree which stated that neutral ships
observing British regulations or submitting to a British search
would be seized if they ventured into continental ports.
President Jefferson responded to these actions by using the
threat of economic coercion, unstrengthened by military preparations.
Yet Britain believed they were fighting for their very survival,
and Napoleon had little respect for the United States. Between
1807 and 1812 France seized and condemned 468 U.S. ships, and
Britain 389 (total: 857 ships). Yet Great Britain with its control
of the seas remained the most serious offender against U.S.
interests. The British government permitted its ships and exporters
to carry on the kind of trade with Napoleonic Europe that was
prohibited to Americans.
The Chesapeake Affair (June 22, 1807). The British navy had
learned that some deserters had enlisted aboard the U.S. warship
Chesapeake with the knowledge of its commander. The British
warship H.M.S. Leopard hailed the Chesapeake at about ten miles
from the American coast and demanded that the ship submit to
a search. When the U.S. commander refused the Leopard put three
broadsides into the Chesapeake, killing 3 of the crew and wounding
l8 others. The British then removed the deserters. One turned
out to be a British subject and he was hung. The other three
were U.S. citizens, two of whom the British released nearly
5 years later. The third died in prison in the interval. The
Chesapeake incident inflamed American public opinion against
the British.
President Jefferson was determined to avoid war if at all possible.
Remembering the success the colonists had using economic coercion
against the British (and forgetting that these acts led to the
Revolutionary War) Jefferson signed the Embargo Act in December,
1807. It prohibited U.S. ships from entering all foreign ports,
and banned land traffic with Canada. The Embargo hurt Britain,
but some British exports continued to get in under the Embargo,
while cotton imports from the U.S. had been sufficiently large
in l807 to cushion the effect of the ban. Moreover, Napoleon's
attempt to place his brother Joseph upon the Spanish throne
stirred rebellion in Spain's colonies and opened their markets
to British trade. The Embargo hurt the U.S. more than Britain.
In one year U.S. exports fell from $108 million to $22 million,
and U.S. imports declined from $l38 million to $56 million.
U.S. ports were clogged with idle ships, thousands of seamen
were unemployed; and, numerous businesses were damaged. Agriculture
also suffered as foreign markets were closed. Soon an illicit
trade grew up that defied suppression. Sympathetic juries often
failed to convict accused violators regardless of the evidence.
In March, l809 James Madison became President and he replaced
the Embargo with the Nonintercourse Act. This Act restored commerce
with all the world except Britain and France. If either of those
countries repealed its decrees, the President could restore
trade with that country. Like the Embargo, this act was difficult
to enforce since U.S. ships found it only too easy to enter
forbidden ports under one pretext or another.
Macon's Bill No. 2 (1810) replaced the Nonintercourse Act.
The act restored commerce with Britain and France, and provided
that if either country repealed its objectional acts, the President
could reimpose nonintercourse on the other until it too complied.
France in August, l8l0 announced that it would revoke the Berlin
and Milan Decrees if Britain would repeal its Orders. Madison
pretended to find the French repeal satisfactory in order to
concentrate against Great Britain.
Britain refused to alter its policies and on June 1, 1812 Madison
sent a war message to Congress. After two weeks of debate Congress
declared war. Divisions in the declaration of war were along
party lines. The vote in the House for war was 79 in favor to
49 opposed. All the Federalist members voted against war, joined
by some Republican defectors, while 90 percent of the Republicans
in the House voted for war. The vote in the Senate was much
closer, l9 votes for war to l3 against. A proposal to include
France failed by only four votes.
America went to war in l8l2 for the following reasons:
l. American commerce was suffering from the Royal Navy's actions.
2. Psychologically Britain still seemed to regard America as
a colony, controlling its commerce and economy, treating its
representatives with condescension, and impressing its seamen.
3. Many Americans believed British officials had instigated
recent Indian outrages in the Northwest. At the Battle of Tippecanoe
in November, 1811, the Indians used newly made British arms.
4. Many citizens viewed war as essential to defending the nation's
honor. 5. Some Americans wanted to acquire British Canada.
The U.S. was totally unprepared for war. Congress refused to
raise taxes to pay for the war, the U.S. army numbered only
7,000 men, and the navy consisted of seven frigates and nine
lesser craft, plus approximately 170 gunboats. (The British
fleet consisted of 600 warships). Several attempts to invade
Canada ended in disaster. By 1814 the Royal Navy controlled
American waters, and had almost completely eliminated U.S. commerce.
Moreover, command of the seas enabled the British to ravage
the American coast and to undertake military operations wherever
they chose.
Madison had hoped to use France to offset U.S. unpreparedness.
Madison believed that as long as Napoleon reigned on the continent,
Britain would be too preoccupied to deal with the U.S. After
compelling Britain to accept a settlement respecting U.S. rights,
the U.S. could then concentrate upon France. Unfortunately for
the United States, the French invasion of Russia that ultimately
destroyed Napoleon coincided with the beginning of the War of
l8l2, and by l8l4 Napoleon was defeated.
Britain wanted to defeat America to teach her a lesson and
to weaken an economic rival before it grew too strong. In 1814
The British operated with impunity in Chesapeake Bay, capturing
and burning Washington. The Americans repulsed a subsequent
attack on Baltimore (and hence "the flag was still there
by the dawn's early light"). On January 8, 1815 the British
assaulted New Orleans with an army of 8,000 veterans. They delivered
a frontal attack on the American lines under General Andrew
Jackson. The British suffered 2,100 casualties, while Jackson's
force only had 21.
News of Jackson's victory reached Washington about the same
time as Federalist envoys from the Hartford Convention. The
convention implied the threat of secession if the federal government
refused to recognized New England's minority position within
the Union, and to stop fighting the war. The tremendous upsurge
of patriotism aroused by Jackson's victory, and the news of
a peace treaty from Britain, made the Hartford proposals seem
unpatriotic and helped kill the Federalist party. Even though
the battle of New Orleans was fought after the peace treaty
had been signed (the news had not yet reached the U.S.), if
Britain had won the battle it might have refused to ratify the
peace treaty and it might have demanded territory from the U.S.
The Treaty of Ghent (The Treaty of Christmas Eve). Signed on
December 24, 1814, the peace treaty formally recognized that
neither side had won the war. Each side agreed to return the
other's territory, and nothing was said on neutral rights and
impressment. The Indian menace in the both the Northwest and
the Southwest was eliminated by American victories during the
war (most Indians had fought on the side of the British). Britain
was now closer than ever before to thinking of the U.S. as an
equal. Yet, too much should not be made of that fact, for the
United States the war had great significance, but in Britain
it was little regarded at the time and has long since been forgotten.
It was a sideshow, played out just when the great drama on the
continent reached its climax. The present place of the War of
1812 in British history is suggested by the anecdote—whether
true or not makes no difference—of a modern Englishman's reaction
when told that his compatriots had once burned Washington. "Really?
I knew of course that we burned Joan of Arc, but George Washington?"
Several issues remained unsettled after the l8l4 treaty and
both sides recognized that these problems could endanger Anglo-American
relations if left unresolved. The Rush-Bagot Agreement in 1817
restricted each country's naval armaments on the Great Lakes
to no more than four small armed vessels. The Convention of
1818 settled some commercial problems, restored American fishing
rights off Newfoundland and Labrador, and extended the boundary
between Canada and the U.S. westward from the Lake of the Woods
along the 49th parallel to the Rocky Mountains. The convention
provided for the Oregon territory to be open for the next ten
years to citizens of both countries without prejudice to the
claims of either power.
Learning Objective:
Understand how and why the United States acquired Spanish Florida.
American leaders had long been conscious of the strategic and
economic importance of Florida. It dominated coastal routes
between the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico, and controlled
the outlets of several rivers draining the southern U.S. In
1810 American settlers in West Florida staged a revolution against
Spanish rule with the encouragement of the Madison administration.
President Madison promptly extended American jurisdiction over
West Florida to the Pearl River. Fearful that France or Britain
might seize the Floridas for their own, Congress in l8ll adopted
a secret "no transfer" resolution, which stated that
transferal of any part of the Floridas into other hands would
be contrary to U.S. interests. In 1813, during the War of 1812
the American army occupied Mobile. West Florida thus passed
easily into U.S. control. Spain was too weak to do anything
about it.
Spain's grasp on Florida weakened after 1815 when Ferdinand
VII reoccupied Spain's throne, only to face liberal opposition
at home and revolution in Latin America. East Florida was a
haven for runaway slaves, and Indians and pirates raided U.S.
territory from it. In 1818 President Monroe sent General Andrew
Jackson to pacify the Florida border and authorized him to pursue
Indian raiders into Florida if necessary. Believing that he
had the administration's approval, Jackson with 3,000 troops
invaded East Florida and rapidly overran the province. News
of Jackson's raid caused a furor in Europe and the U.S. President
Monroe returned Florida to Spain, but refused to punish Jackson
(a good political move since Jackson was a huge hero, especially
in the Indian-hating and anti-Catholic western states). In a
strongly worded letter designed largely for its effect upon
both European and U.S. public opinion, the U.S. government called
upon Spain to either maintain order in Florida or cede it to
the U.S.
The Adams-Onis (Transcontinental) Treaty of 1819. Realizing
that he had to negotiate with the U.S. or lose Florida without
any compensation, Spanish foreign minister Onis signed a treaty
with Secretary of State John Q. Adams. The U.S. agreed to pay
its citizens' claims against Spain to the extent of $5 million.
The U.S. and Spain drew a definite boundary line between Spanish
possessions and the Louisiana territory across the continent
to the Pacific. The U.S. thereby gained whatever title to the
Oregon territory Spain possessed. This treaty indicates that
as early as 1819 the U.S. was already looking forward to controlling
the Pacific coast of the North American continent.
Learning Objective:
Understand the United States' response to Latin American independence
(the Monroe Doctrine, 1823).
Americans knew little about Latin America until the Wars of
the French Revolution and Napoleon relaxed Spain's and Portugal's
mercantilist system and opened the colonies to neutral commerce.
The Embargo and the War of 1812 precluded American ships from
exploiting the newly opened markets, while British trade with
the area flourished. The Madison administration did send agents
to Latin America to promote commerce and report upon local conditions.
The United States also unofficially received rebel emissaries
and recognized the belligerent rights of the rebels. However
the official policy of the Madison administration remained one
of neutrality and watchful waiting.
The Monroe administration continued that cautious policy. By
the end of 1821 events at last seemed to favor recognition.
Spain had been defeated on the battlefield. The United States
had acquired Florida and did not have to worry about antagonizing
Spain, and the United States felt growing concern over Latin
American resentment of Washington's inaction and over the possibilities
of European intervention. Thus, beginning in early 1822, the
United States recognized the countries of Latin America. Great
Britain, a rival of the United States for trade and influence
in Latin America followed Monroe's lead in 1824.
Britain requested that the United States and Britain issue
a joint statement proclaiming that they would cooperate against
possible European intervention in Latin America. London feared
that the restoration of the Spanish mercantilist system would
endanger British trade in Latin America, and the British government
feared that another European power would assist Spain in its
attempt to retake the ex-colonies thereby hurting British interests
in the area.
The United States Secretary of State, John Adams, objected
to a joint declaration. In his view the danger of European intervention
was small, and he suspected Britain's primary purpose was to
bar the United States from acquiring Cuba or other territory
in Latin America in the future. Some message was necessary though
so Great Britain would not get sole credit for protecting the
newly independent countries of Latin America.
On December 2, 1823, Monroe sent his annual message to Congress.
The pronouncements that were to become famed as the Monroe Doctrine
were embodied in two widely separated parts of the document.
Monroe enumerated three main principles in regard to foreign
policy: non-colonization, the "two-spheres" concept,
and nonintervention. Monroe stated that "the American continents.
. . are henceforth not to be conceived as subjects for future
colonization by any European powers." In his concept of
two spheres, Monroe proclaimed that the New and Old Worlds were
spheres apart and neither side should interfere with the other.
Monroe also stated that the United States would not interfere
with any existing European colonies within this hemisphere but
it would regard any attempt by the European powers (other than
Spain) to oppress or to control the newly independent states
in Latin America as an unfriendly action toward the United States.
Monroe's pronouncement not only expressed ideological sympathy
with the Latin American revolutions, it also served as a manifesto
for an American System in the entire hemisphere, within which
the United States could flourish by exercising economic and
political leadership.
Monroe's message had very little immediate impact, but the
Monroe Doctrine eventually became immensely important. Its explicit
formulation of American ideals and interests outlined a program
on which the United States would base future action when it
had grown sufficiently powerful and interested to apply the
Doctrine, at first only in North America but eventually in the
entire Western Hemisphere.
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Chapter >
Courtesy of George Burson, Aspen School District,
Aspen, Colorado.
