Essay about Foreign Policy - Roosevelt Corollary

On December 2, 1823, President James Monroe articulated his seventh annual message to Congress. This message presented Americans with a statement that changed the way the Western Hemisphere would be view and how international affairs toward the new Latin colonies would be handle from this point forward. It addressed European nations in particular and stated that “the United States would not tolerate further colonization or puppet nations” The Monroe Doctrine was initially designed to protect the Latin colonies but later President Theodore Roosevelt extended the Doctrine to include the United States would be the policing powers of the Western Hemisphere, this became known as the Roosevelt Corollary. Roosevelt stated that the United

Throughout the course of history, the United States has remained consistent with its national interest by taking many different actions in foreign policy. There have been both immediate and long term results of these actions. Foreign policy is the United States policy that defines how we deal with other countries economically and politically. It is made by congress, the president, and the people. Some of the motivations for United States foreign policy are national security, economics, and idealism. The United States entry into World War I in 1917 and the escalation of the Vietnam War in 1964 and the both had great impact on the United States.

When America was just starting out, they needed a way to protect their land from the colonization of other countries. President James Monroe devised a policy that would not only warn Europeans not to interfere with American land, but would also show that America was powerful. This policy is known as the Monroe Doctrine.

During Roosevelt’s time in office, he strengthened the United States’ ties to countries around the world. T.R. was a foreign-policy activist. He involved himself in the relations between the Dominican Republic and the European nations that the country owed money to. The president was afraid that European powers would start to collect their money by using force and Roosevelt didn’t want that to happen in Latin America. He asserted the United States’ power in the Western hemisphere by creating what is known as the ‘Roosevelt Corollary’ in 1904. This corollary states that “although the United States had not territorial ambitions in this hemisphere, cases of “chronic wrongdoing” on the part of a Latin American country that might invite occupation by a European

The Monroe Doctrine had a great impact due to its strict policy towards the European powers. It wanted to keep the U.S. trade safe from European powers and colonization. Without this important doctrine/document the Europeans would have most likely colonized, interfered with, and disrupted the western hemisphere and also the trade systems connected with them. The U.S. also would not be a balanced nation and have a balanced foreign policy without the Monroe Doctrine, which was also known as the back bone of the U.S. foreign policy.

     The Monroe Doctrine was stressed during the time of Roosevelt's Presidency. During this era many foreign policies were given up, such as the Platt Amendment. Roosevelt decided that instead of the "Old single-handed enforcement of the Monroe Doctrine,"2

Good neighbor policy: a departure from the Roosevelt corollary to the Monroe doctrine, the good neighbor policy stressed nonintervention in Latin America. It was begun by Herbert Hoover but associated with Franklin D Roosevelt.

     While all of these political jobs we¹re going on for Theodore Roosevelt there were some serious problems going on down in Cuba. At that time Cuba was owned by Spain, and at the end of the 1890¹s people in the united states started reading horrible stories in the newspapers about how the Spaniards were treating the people down in Cuba. The united states decided to stay neutral until February 15, 1898 when the ³USS Maine,² a battleship that was docked in Havana exploded, killing over 250 soldiers and marines. about two months later the united states declared war on Spain, starting the Spanish-american .

In 1823, President Monroe issued the Monroe Doctrine, creating the basis for future foreign policy. The Monroe Doctrine stated that “the American continents are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers” (1). This means that Europe can not claim anymore land in the Americas, protecting the US from being encroached upon from other foreign countries during this period of colonization. Even though the US would not be able to militarily defend the doctrine and itself from European Powers, this fake image of power kept Europe out for the most part. The Doctrine was issued due to occurring events and existing ideas in the 1800s.

This incident, along with the progressive method of using Christian ethics and the progressive belief of pragmatism, changed Roosevelt’s idea about the Monroe Doctrine. Roosevelt believed that Christian citizens had “the duty of bearing one another’s burdens.” This belief influenced him to interpret the purpose of the Monroe Doctrine as “to safeguard like independence and secure like permanence for the lesser among the New World nations” as well as to prevent European colonization in the Western Hemisphere. However, after the Venezuela crisis, Roosevelt saw that the original doctrine was not enough to safeguard peace in the Western Hemisphere. He realized that wrongdoing from Latin American nations, for example, that Venezuela did not pay debts to European countries, could lead to European aggression in the Western Hemisphere. Roosevelt was afraid that the aggression stayed permanently and contravened the Monroe Doctrine. Using pragmatism to make the Monroe Doctrine not the “the emptiest of the empty phrases,” he stated that the United States had a duty to supervise ineffective Latin American governments, whose instability and economic problems could

Theodore Roosevelt was a President known for a very dynamic and progressive administration, and his foreign policy in Latin America was no exception. His policies in Latin America were beneficial for the rapidly growing United States, but left an impact on Latin America that was both positive and negative. President Roosevelt took past policies of the United States, such as the unenforced Monroe Doctrine of 1823, and amended them to have the backing of the Navy in the early 1900s. One particular amendment was called the Platt Amendment of 1901, and opened the door to United States expansionism under President Roosevelt. It was under this amendment that Cuba quickly became the foundation for the new Latin American policies of the United States. The Roosevelt Corollary was another important part of Roosevelt 's Latin American foreign policy. Roosevelt believed that Latin America was quite vulnerable to European expansionism, and added his Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine which stated that should the Europeans attack, and should any Latin American nation engage in “chronic wrongdoing” such as outstanding debt, then the United States would intervene on their behalf. In essence, Europe would remain where it was, while the United States controlled the entire Western Hemisphere. The opportunity came for Roosevelt to implement this policy during the invasion of the Dominican Republic by European debt collectors, and Venezuelan Crisis. Lastly, Theodore Roosevelt had a

Having just defeated the English and gained independence, the United States started its political life as a small and weak nation which lacked the strength to resist the intrusions by stronger rival nations. In an effort to guard the nation from involvement in the wider conflicts of the Europeans and focus on domestic affairs, President George Washington followed a course of neutrality and isolationism during his presidency. Monroe doctrine proposed by President James Monroe was a continuation of Washington’s foreign policy. The Founders of the doctrine, including President Monroe, had broken away from an imperialist British power and were against imperialism. There was plenty of reason for the Monroe cabinet to feel defensive, rather than imperial, about American ideals and interests leading up to 1823.

Howard Jones who is the author of, Crucible of Power, argues that the U.S. followed a foreign policy of independent internationalism to secure foreign markets through peaceful means and this can be seen in Latin America. Woodrow Wilson promised not to seek territorial acquisitions to the South, but would not renounce the spread of U.S. influence through economic means and this lead to the U.S. having influence in 75 percent of Latin American during the 1920s. To spread economic influence throughout Latin America the U.S. insisted it would be through peaceful policies, but continued the use of military interventionism in countries like the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Nicaragua until the middle of the 1920 's. This is also an example which shows that the U.S. did not pursue an isolationist foreign policy and wanted to go out in the world and expand its markets.

Through the strong foundation of Isolationism and the policies enacted such as The Monroe Doctrine, the United States played a largely neutral role in foreign affairs. The Monroe Doctrine passed in 1823 was to forbid European nations from colonizing any territory in the Western Hemisphere. Although the United States didn’t have the authority or firepower to back this up, it resulted in almost four decades of compulsory US involvement in any foreign affair. After the Civil War, Isolationistic practices grew stronger as the government had to find a way to re-unite the torn nation. President Grover Cleveland promised to avoid committing the nation to form any alliances with other countries while also opposed to the acquisition of new land. The climate of post Civil War US prevented us from deep involvement in foreign affairs. Our navy was also weakened by the war. Our natural resources were scarce and our diplomatic relations with other countries had been neglected. With the attention of our government focused solely on our nation, we proceeded to develop our interior. One of the biggest reasons for growth in US land mass was the public idea of Manifest

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, the United States was the most dominant power in the Western Hemisphere. European nations conceded to the United States their right of any intervention in the Western Hemisphere and allowed the United States to do whatever they wanted. The United States took this newly bestowed power and abused it. The United States intervened in many Latin American countries and imposed their policies on to these countries against their will. A perfect example of this aggression is what occurred in the Dominican Republic in 1904. The United States intervened in this sovereign nation and took control of their economy and custom houses. A memorandum from Francis B. Loomis, the United States Assistant