Describe the foreign policy principles that John Quincy Adams embedded in what became known as the Monroe Doctrine. What pre-existing U.S. traditions and specific events of the 1820's persuaded Adams and Monroe that those principles were both idealistic

Résumé du document

"We, the United States of America, should consider any attempt by the European powers to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as a threat to our peace and safety". Those were the words of President Monroe when he delivered his annual speech to Congress, on December 2, 1823. The speech was inspired from the ideas that John Quincy Adams had formulated during his tenure as ?Secretary of State' under Monroe's presidency. The rules that Monroe set out in his famous speech were to become the cornerstone of the U.S. foreign policy throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries. However the question remains as to what were the foreign policy principles that John Quincy Adams embedded in what came to be known as the Monroe Doctrine? What were the pre-existing U.S. traditions? What specific events of the year 1820 have convinced Adams and Monroe that those principles were both idealistic and realistic?

Extraits

[...] That meant the American continent was not to be colonized by European powers, as Monroe declared in his speech: American continents, by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers.”[8] This implied that any European attempt to interfere in the American affairs would be considered the “manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the United States”[9]. The principles contained in the Monroe doctrine were similar to those of pre-existing U.S. traditions and this fact persuaded Adams and Monroe that they were both idealistic and realistic. They were regarded as idealistic, because they corresponded well to the idea of the “American Exceptionalism”, the first diplomatic policy of the United States. [...]

[...] In fact, specific events of the 1820's played a major role in persuading Adams and Monroe that their doctrine was both idealistic and realistic, both compliant with morals and necessity. Firstly, the war of 1812 between the United States and Great Britain showed America that it had to limit European influence on the whole continent in order to preserve its own sovereignty. Secondly, U.S. interests were opposite to that of Spain, which had many colonies in North and South America. [...]

[...] Describe the foreign policy principles that John Quincy Adams embedded in what became known as the Monroe Doctrine. What pre-existing U.S. traditions and specific events of the 1820's persuaded Adams and Monroe that those principles were both idealistic and realistic? [the United States] should consider any attempt on [the part of the European powers] to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety”[1]. Those are the words president Monroe used when he delivered his annual speech to Congress, on December The speech was inspired from the ideas that John Quincy Adams had formulated during his tenure as Secretary of State, under Monroe's presidency. [...]

[...] Oregon), in 1821, contributed to persuade John Quincy Adams and Monroe that their principles were realistic. In conclusion, the Monroe doctrine was both isolationist as America would not interfere in European affairs and interventionist (as the United States intervened to serve its continental interest in Latin America); both realistic (political, territorial and economic expansion) and idealistic (the fight for freedom and democracy in the European colonies). In a word, the American foreign policy that is now known as the Monroe Doctrine reflects very well the general tensions existing in U.S. [...]

[...] It was the commercial interest of the United States, which had no efficient industry at that time, to export raw materials (e.g. cotton, wood, wheat) in the Spanish colonies on the American continent (“American exports to Spanish America expanded to million per year by percent of all U.S. exports”[16]). Those colonies, once freed from European influence, would become huge commercial markets for the U.S. economy. The United States, under the pretext of civilizing the ancient European colonies and helping them to find a path to democracy, could easily extend its political control over the whole American continent. [...]