The Need for Monroe Doctrine in The USA

The Monroe Doctrine was necessary because it kept the United States free of foreign nations. The Monroe Doctrine was a policy of the United States initiated on December 2, 1823. It stated that further efforts by European nations to colonize land or interfere with states in North or South America would be viewed as acts of aggression, requiring U.S. involvement. At the same time, the doctrine noted that the United States would neither interfere with existing European colonies nor meddle in the internal concerns of European countries. The Doctrine was issued at a time when nearly all Latin American colonies of Spain and Portugal had achieved or were at the point of gaining independence from the Portuguese Empire and Spanish Empire; Peru consolidated their independence in 1824, and Bolivia would become independent in 1825, leaving only Cuba and Puerto Rico under Spanish rule. The United States, working in agreement with Britain, wanted to guarantee that no European power would move in.

The Monroe Doctrine was seen as protective after having seen Napoleon’s conquering of Europe. It was to protect what they currently had and effectively try and stop future wars from happening. The Monroe Doctrine held strong for more than a century. Its primary goal was to free the newly independent colonies of Latin America from European powers and avoid predicaments that could make North America a battleground for the Old World powers in a race for land. With the Doctrine in place the United States could employ its own influence undisturbed. The doctrine claimed that the New World, or the Americas and the Old World, meaning Europe, were to remain separate spheres of influence, for they were composed of entirely separate and independent nations.

The United States couldn’t issue a joint statement with England; even though England stressed they had the same ideas at heart they truly did not. They offered Mexico about five million dollars for present day Texas, which would have been directly in defiance of the Monroe Doctrine. By issuing the Monroe Doctrine it kept Europe out and kept American for the Americans.