MONROE DOCTRINE AND U. S. FOREIGN POLICY

This research paper discusses whether the Monroe Doctrine formed part of a coherent and consistent American foreign policy during the period 1776 to 1830. The Monroe Doctrine was issued in reaction to a specific set of circumstances related to American perceptions of threatened intervention by European powers in North and South America. It, nevertheless, reaffirmed and was consistent with mainstream themes of American foreign policy since the American Revolution, namely, the avoidance of entanglement of the United States in the affairs of the rest of the world, except as required for the protection of its commercial interests and its own defense against attack. It reflected American commitment to the ideals of the Revolution, individual liberty and a republican form of government. In warning European powers against intervening in the Western Hemisphere, establishing further colonies there or trading among themselves the colonies they already had, the Monroe Doctrine expressed a growing sense of American nationalism and its determination to preserve not only North America but also Latin America as an exclusive zone for the furtherance of American commercial and political interests. The addition of Latin America to this exclusive American sphere of interest was new, but was consistent with actions which had already been taken by the United States to take advantage of the weakness of Spain and its burgeoning interest in th

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, welcomed Britain's conversion to the non-interventionist camp, he distrusted British motives. De Conde said that Adams "wanted the United States to take the lead from Britain as the protector of Spanish-American independence." American Neutrality and Isolation from European Affairs De Conde took the point of view that "the Monroe Doctrine stated nothing new. It summed up old principles and applied them to immediate circumstances." In 1776 in his pamphlet Common Sense, Thomas Paine said "it is the true interest of America to steer clear of European politics." After the War of Independence, the weak and divided American republic was forced to deal with the problems left over from that war, including disputed borders and fishing rights, withdrawal of British troops and forts and support for Indians in the Northwest Territory, war debts to France, a cutoff of access to the British West Indies and other matters; however, its main focus was internal. Between 1790 and 1812, Parsons says that "the French Revolution and the wars that followed it drove a wedge into American politics far more serious than any issue since" the Revolutionary War. Federalists, such as Alexander Hamilton, favored renunciation of the 1778 Franco-Amer
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2188
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)

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