The Monroe Doctrine: Empire and Nation in Nineteenth-Century America

A Concise History of the (In)Famous Doctrine that Gave Rise to the American Empire

President James Monroe's 1823 message to Congress declaring opposition to European colonization in the Western Hemisphere became the cornerstone of nineteenth-century American statecraft. Monroe's message proclaimed anticolonial principles, yet it rapidly became the myth and means for subsequent generations of politicians to pursue expansionist foreign policies. Time and again, debates on the key issues of nin...