monroe vs roosevelt Essays - Banana Wars, Hegemony,

On December 02, 1823, US President James Monroe introduced a new United States policy to Congress known as the Monroe Doctrine. It has been said that the Secretary of State John Quincy Adams influenced President Monroe and was the actual brains behind the policy. The doctrine was intended to put a stop to European intervention throughout the Western Hemisphere. Then in 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt later delivered the Roosevelt Corollary giving the United States authority to intervene in the affairs of the western hemisphere's fledgling republics. So what is the reason for the Monroe Doctrine and why the addition of the Roosevelt Corollary? It dates back to around 1492 when a lot of competition was arising due to kingdoms wanting more wealth through colonies and trade routes when a group of European explorers led by Christopher Columbus voyaged across the Atlantic Ocean. The trip led the crew to the American continents in the Western Hemisphere. Although Columbus wasn?t the first person to travel from Europe to America, he is credited for finding ?The New World?. In the ?The New World?, the weather conditions were good, plenty of animals, corn (in which the Europeans knew nothing of), tobacco, and gold. Instead of compromising some kind a deal with the natives, the Europeans took over. When Europeans came over they brought diseases along with them. It is said that several natives were killed by the epidemic that consisted of measles and smallpox. But the natives that survived were made into slaves and worked on plantations or mines. The natives remained slaves over the next 300 years. Due to the French Revolution (1787-1799) and Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815), Europe?s power weakened. The natives took advantage of the battles and began an independence movement and their colonies were reestablished. Great Britain was proud that Latin America gained their independence. At the same time, Britain didn?t want to lose profits by having to have to cut off trade with Latin America. August 23, 1823, British foreign minister, George Canning, informed the United States of Latin Americas independence and proposed a deal to make a policy that would separate the ?New? and ?Old? world. But after talking it over, President Monroe ended up taking the advice of Secretary of State Adams and declined the offer. President Monroe instead created a foreign policy, The Monroe Doctrine, that prohibited Europeans from any affairs with the Western Hemisphere, or otherwise. Also, the United States would not involve themselves with any European affairs. Since the United States army and navy at the time lacked in a lot of areas, the doctrine was not taken serious internationally. Although President Monroe decided against the dual policy that Britain had offered, Britain approved of the Monroe Doctrine and unchallenged the seas as part of the Pax Britannica. Britain also created the laissez-faire free trade. The Special Relationship was a result of the Monroe Doctrine also. Due to Venezuela?s President Cipriano Castro?s enormous foreign debt problems and no intent to pay, a naval blockade known as the Venezuela Crisis of 1902 arose. President Castro thought that the United States would protect them from the Europeans based on his interpretation of the Monroe Doctrine. Instead the United States just laid back and let the intervention happen. But it did cause United States President Theodore Roosevelt to come up with the ?Roosevelt Corollary?, an addition to the Monroe Doctrine in 1904. The Roosevelt Corollary was meant to help aide the Western Hemisphere in economic affairs and stop influential spread from the Europeans. By doing so, the United States would send their military to the Western Hemisphere to intervene. The reason that the Roosevelt Corollary has so much significance is because it said the United States military could enter Western Hemisphere intervene, while the Monroe Doctrine was meant to stop Europeans from entering the Western Hemisphere.