abcmonroedoc

DEFINING MOMENTS

COMPLETE LESSON AND ACTIVITY GUIDES

Stimulating lessons that bring two of the most powerful and engaging research tools to the classroom: the analysis of primary documents and the revealing speculation of alternative history.

The Monroe Doctrine

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ABC-CLIO

EDITORIALJames Sherman, Editorial Manager

Marian Perales, Writer/EditorWilson Smith, Senior Writer/Editor

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COPYRIGHT © 2009 BY ABC-CLIO, INC. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to reproduce lesson material for classroom use only.

ISBN 1-59884-000-0 EAN-978-1-59884-000-0

COVER PHOTO: Political cartoon showing Uncle Sam defending America from other world powers, 1896.

iiiCopyright of ABC-CLIO, INC.

Contents

About the Development Team iv

Series Introduction v

Introduction 1

Defining Moment 1

Need to Know 3

Timeline 7

What If? 7

Activity 1 9

Activity 2 15

Handout 1 20

Handout 2 22

Ready Reference 23

National Standards Correlations 25

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About the Development Team

LEE W. EYSTURLIDILLINOIS MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE ACADEMYLee W. Eysturlid is a history/social science instructor at Illinois Mathematics andScience Academy. Dr. Eysturlid has a PhD in history from Purdue University andis a member of the Citadel Historical Association. He has published onnumerous military history topics and is an ABC-CLIO History Fellow.

JEREMY GYPTONEMPIRE HIGH SCHOOLJeremy Gypton is a history/government teacher at Empire High School inTucson, Arizona. Gypton received his Masters from American MilitaryUniversity and Bachelors from the University of Arizona. He was namedArizona’s Outstanding American History Teacher by the Daughters of theAmerican Revolution, and is an ABC-CLIO Fellow.

CHRIS MULLINSANTA YNEZ VALLEY UNION HIGH SCHOOLChris Mullin graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with adegree in classical Greek and Latin and received his Master’s degree in educationfrom the University of California at Santa Barbara. Chris teaches Latin,Advanced Placement European history, and Advanced Placement United Stateshistory. In 2003, Chris was named California Teacher of the Year for hispassionate and innovative approaches to teaching history.

Portions of this workbook were drawn from ABC-CLIO's Turning Points—Actual and Alternate Histories series, edited by

Rodney P. Carlisle and Geoffrey Golson. For ordering information, please visit www.abc-clio.com

BRETT PIERSMASANTA YNEZ VALLEY UNION HIGH SCHOOLBrett Piersma received his BA in History and his Masters of Education andteaching credential at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He teaches APEuropean History, AP American Government, and College Preparatory WorldCultures. He has facilitated the California History—Social Science Project atUCSB twice and is a MetLife Fellow for the Teacher’s Network LeadershipInstitute.

Series Introduction

This packet is part of a 34-part series of primary source—based lessons for high school American Historycourses. Each packet focuses on one defining moment in our history, with specific background informationand key concepts to help teachers become more knowledgeable in the history they are charged with teaching.To help with classroom lessons, two activities are included in the packet: one based on the real history, theother on a “counterfactual”—alternate—history. Both activities are rooted in student analysis of primarysource material, and both will help teachers meet standards-based requirements through varied and stimulatingteaching methods.

Every packet is arranged in the same manner. Teachers need to read the Introduction, which provides a “bigpicture” survey of the period of history in question. The Defining Moment is a short passage that focuses ona single, key event that was a turning point in history—a fork in the road after which the behaviors and for-tunes of individuals, peoples, and places changed. The Need to Know section provides a more detailed dis-cussion of the events leading up to and including the Defining Moment; this is followed by a short Timelineof events. These first several pages are concerned entirely with history as it actually happened. The What If?section supposes what might or could have taken place if events within the Defining Moment turned out dif-ferently.

The final components are the two Activities, each based on primary source documents. Activity 1 is basedon the real history and is intended to help students learn the facts and understand the concepts—enablingteachers to meet the requirements of standards-based lessons. Activity 2 is based on the counterfactual history.Both lessons require creative, analytical thinking and include work across the spectrum of Bloom’s Taxonomy.To help teachers, each lesson also includes explicit lesson objectives, materials needed, and specific instructions.

vCopyright of ABC-CLIO, INC.

IntroductionAmerican leaders from presidents James Monroeand Theodore Roosevelt to Franklin D. Roosevelthave had to grapple with the problem of Europeanintervention in affairs in North, Central, and SouthAmerica. They also had to manage American rela-tions with the newly independent, but often unsta-ble, states of these regions as well. In 1823, Monroeand his advisers established the important 19th-cen-tury American foreign policy of opposing Europeanintervention in American affairs. In 1904 and 1905,Theodore Roosevelt used his Corollary to the Mon-roe Doctrine to justify U.S. intervention in the af-fairs of its neighbors in the hemisphere. In the 1930s,Franklin D. Roosevelt circumvented the MonroeDoctrine by establishing his Good Neighbor Policytoward South and Central American nations.

When he delivered his annual message to the U.S.Congress on December 2, 1823, Monroe did not in-tend to set a U.S. foreign policy precedent for the re-mainder of the 19th century. In his address, however,he did propose a definitive foreign policy that calledfor European countries to cease their interference inboth North and South America. Both Monroe andhis influential secretary of state, John QuincyAdams, feared that any ability by the Europeans toproject their power into the Americas could only un-dermine the United States’ sovereignty. Since the United States at this point lacked any real military power, the

exclusion of any other state from the Western Hemi-sphere was a bold move and was dependent on Britishacquiescence. Still, this policy was not the primaryfocus of his speech. Although the Monroe Doctrine, asthe policy came to be called, would apply to only inde-pendent countries in North and South America, andnot to colonies, it was essentially a second declarationof American independence from European interferenceinto what the United States considered its territoriesand spheres of influence.

Defining MomentThe presidential cabinet meeting of November 7, 1823,marked a turning point in American foreign policy. Themeeting’s atmosphere reverberated with the clash of

ABC-CLIO, THE MONROE DOCTRINE Introduction

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secretary of state: The secretary of stateis the administrator of the Department ofState and the principal spokesperson forthe president on U.S. foreign policy. Thesecretary serves as a member of thepresident’s “inner cabinet” of advisersand, by law, as a member of the NationalSecurity Council.sovereignty: Sovereignty is the supremacyof authority or rule as exercised by asovereign or sovereign state.Western Hemisphere: The “half” of theglobe that encompasses North, Central,and South America.

James Monroe, president of the United States during1817–1825, worked against European influence in theAmericas. (Library of Congress)

political parties and expansionists and conservative philosophies, but the complex personalities and politicalambitions of John Quincy Adams and the other 1824 presidential hopefuls set the meeting’s tone.

Republicans and Federalists were sharply divided over relations with Great Britain. The Federalists gen-erally favored friendly relations with the British whilethe Republicans were more anti-British. Presidentialcandidate Adams knew that if outgoing President Mon-roe agreed to the British proposal for an alliance withthe United States to thwart Spanish and French ambi-tions in the Western Hemisphere, Adams’ opponentswould blame him for the alliance. Secretary of WarJohn C. Calhoun, also a presidential hopeful, advocatedaccepting the alliance with Britain. He contended thatthe French and Spanish peril to South America was realand immediate, and only an alliance with the Britishcould deflect it. He also advocated recognizing a newlyindependent Greece, arguing that the United Statesshould support liberalism against despotism wheneverit had the opportunity. Former presidents Jefferson andMadison were both opposed to the nomination ofAdams and advised Monroe to enter the alliance with

Great Britain. Madison also advocated the recogni-tion of Greece.

Adams garnered his considerable intelligence,learning, and skill to convince Monroe to reject therecommendations of Calhoun, Jefferson, and Madi-son. He downplayed the danger of European inter-vention in Latin America and predicted that if GreatBritain did decide to intervene in Latin America itwould be out of British national interest and not be-cause of a partnership with the United States.

Adams also advised Monroe not to recognizeGreece. He felt that the United States should adhereto the position that the European and American systems were distinct. Both Monroe and Adamswanted to ensure that countries such as Britain didnot reintroduce European mercantilism in LatinAmerica, which was assuming increasing economicand ideological importance to the United States.Monroe gradually yielded to the power and force ofthe Adams arguments. The president allowedAdams to send carefully worded documents to theRussian minister in Washington, D.C., protesting

ABC-CLIO, THE MONROE DOCTRINE Defining Moment


Federalists: The Federalist Party was anAmerican political party in the period1792 to 1816, with remnants lasting intothe 1820s. The Federalists controlled thefederal government until 1801. The partybuilt a network of supporters, largelyurban, to support strong fiscal policies.These supporters grew into the FederalistParty, which wanted a fiscally sound andstrong nationalistic government.secretary of war: The secretary of war ledthe War Department. At first, he wasresponsible for all military affairs, but in1798, the secretary of the Navy wasadded to the cabinet, and the scope ofthis office was reduced to a generalconcern with the Army.

John Adams, president of the United States during 1797–1801. (Library of Congress)

any extension of the Russian domain in the Americas and any effort by the members of the holy alliance torestore Spanish dominion in Latin America. In his annual message to Congress, Monroe made a speech,mainly drafted by Adams, that spelled out the terms of the new American foreign policy. During the earlyweeks of the congressional session of 1823–1824, Monroe used his influence to defeat a resolution recom-mending recognition of Greece.

Many historians assert that Adams formulated most of the Monroe Doctrine, but a closer examination ofthe expansionist principles of Monroe reveals that he and Adams were both ideological partners and skilleddiplomats. George Washington appointed Adams minister to theNetherlands and Portugal, and his father appointed him minister toPrussia from 1797 to 1801. He also served as minister to Russia from1809 to 1814, chief negotiator of the United States Commission forthe Treaty of Ghent in 1814, and minister to the Court of St. Jamesin Britain from 1815 to 1817. He served as secretary of state in Mon-roe’s cabinet from 1817 to 1825, and during his term, he spearheadedthe acquisition of Florida and steered the United States away frombecoming dependent on Britain.

Under President Jefferson, Monroe had played a key role in theLouisiana Purchase, which doubled the size of the United States bythe stroke of a pen. Monroe was elected president as a hero of theWar of 1812, in which he negotiated an end to a trade embargo withFrance and Britain. In the White House, Monroe pushed American’sfrontier 1,500 miles to the west and superintended the purchase ofFlorida. While many of the Federalists and conservative old guard maintained a policy of protecting Americafrom foreign invasion, Monroe had big dreams for the American republic and wrote that “an overcautiouspolicy often risks more than a bold one.”

When Monroe’s cabinet met during the 1823–1824 political season, Adams convinced Monroe to endorse hisforeign policy principles, and the president articulated both of their foreign policy ideas in his annual messageto Congress on December 2, 1823. From this point on, the United States would take an independent stand, onein which it informed the Old World that the Americas could no longer be colonized and that the United Stateswould consider any European effort to extend its political influence over the New World “as dangerous to ourpeace and safety.” In return, the United States would not interfere in European internal affairs or wars. Some 20years after James Monroe died in 1831, this policy became known as the Monroe Doctrine.

Need to KnowThe Monroe Doctrine was not an instant success. European editorial writers and political leaders declared theMonroe—Adams policies presumptuous. Americans generally praised Monroe’s policy but interpreted it as aresponse to current issues. In the first decades after the president’s speech, American policymakers did not usethe doctrine against European powers. The term “Monroe Doctrine” did not even come into general use untilthe 1850s.

Slavery also was an important factor in implementing the Monroe Doctrine. As the principles of expan-sionism and Manifest Destiny dominated American culture and the United States acquired more territory,slavery became a more divisive issue. Some Americans felt that Manifest Destiny did not include enslavingpeoples, while others believed that African Americans and Native Americans had either to be assimilated or

ABC-CLIO, THE MONROE DOCTRINE Need to Know


Treaty of Ghent: Signed onDecember 24, 1814, inpresent day Belgium, theTreaty of Ghent was the peacetreaty that ended the War of1812, fought between theUnited States and GreatBritain. The treaty largelyrestored relations between thetwo countries to their prewarstatus (status quo antebellum).

marginalized. The Monroe administration itself did not consistentlyapply the doctrine’s domestic or foreign policy principles.

President James K. Polk pragmatically applied the Monroe Doc-trine from 1845 to 1849, when he helped the United States grow bymore than 1 million square miles, across Texas and New Mexico toCalifornia and even Oregon. In his annual message to Congress onDecember 2, 1845, Polk announced that the principles of the Mon-roe Doctrine would be strictly enforced and that the United Stateswould pursue a policy of expansion. In 1845, Polk also cited theMonroe Doctrine as a precedent when he claimed that the UnitedStates instead of Great Britain held the rightful claim to the disputedOregon Territory. He went on to invoke the Monroe Doctrine towarn Britain and Europe not to interfere in the controversy betweenthe United States and Mexico that eventually produced the Mexican-American War of 1846–1848.

One of Polk’s most far-reaching policy applications involved the Republic of Texas, when between 1836 and1845 the United States objected to the British alliance with Texas using the principles of the Monroe Doctrine.

As Polk and his adherents saw it, peace with Mexicoand European recognition of the Republic of Texaspresented formidable obstacles to the westward ex-pansion of the United States. On December 29, 1845,the United States officially annexed Texas.

Years later, after the Civil War, Secretary of StateWilliam H. Seward applied the Monroe Doctrinemore freely. In 1867, he negotiated the purchase ofAlaska from Russia for $7.2 million, which anti-ex-pansionists called “Seward’s Folly” and “Seward’s IceBox.” He also negotiated a treaty for the United Statesto buy the Virgin Islands from Denmark for $7.6 mil-lion, but the Senate refused to ratify the treaty.

The United States continued to apply the MonroeDoctrine in its dealings with Mexico. Between 1864and 1867, Napoleon III of France attempted to estab-lish a monarchy in Mexico by placing Emperor Ferdi-nand-Joseph Maximilian on the throne. Americanscharged that his actions violated the doctrine, the firsttime the Monroe Doctrine was popularly called “theDoctrine.” In 1865, the American government usedmilitary and diplomatic pressure to support Mexicanpresident Benito Juarez and help him lead a success-ful revolt against Emperor Maximilian.

In 1895, President Grover Cleveland explicitly in-voked the Monroe Doctrine when he forced GreatBritain to submit to arbitration of a boundary dis-pute between British Guyana and Venezuela. He



President James K. Polk pragmatically applied the MonroeDoctrine from 1845 to 1849. (Library of Congress)

Manifest Destiny: ManifestDestiny is the belief that theUnited States was destined toexpand from the Atlanticseaboard to the Pacific Ocean;it has also been used toadvocate for or justify otherterritorial acquisitions.Advocates of Manifest Destinybelieved that expansion wasnot only good but that it wasalso obvious (manifest) andcertain (destiny).



claimed that the British were violating the MonroeDoctrine and threatened London with war. His sec-retary of state, Richard Olney, asserted that theUnited States was practically sovereign on the conti-nent. The British yielded to the demands of theUnited States, implying that the major Europeanpowers recognized the Monroe Doctrine.

In his annual messages to Congress in December1904 and 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt an-nounced an extension to the Monroe Doctrine,which became known as the Roosevelt Corollary.Roosevelt amended the Monroe Doctrine because hewanted to stop European powers from coming to theWestern Hemisphere to collect debts or to mistreatforeign subjects. He feared that they might come asearnest creditors but remain as occupying powers.Roosevelt especially wary of foreign powers in theWestern Hemisphere because the United States hadnot finished building the Panama Canal and Americahad to carefully guard its interests in the Caribbean.Roosevelt’s predecessors had also endorsed his ideathat continued disturbances in a Latin Americancountry justified U.S. intervention to avoid Europeaninterference. Even Woodrow Wilson, a Democrat andarchcritic of Republican foreign policy, pursued a

strategy of armed intervention in Haiti and the Do-minican Republic in 1915 and 1916.

By the 1920s, American policymakers began to pressfor a softer tone and a smaller “stick” in U.S. relationswith Latin American countries, which had distrustedand even hated America for decades. J. Reuben Clark,serving as undersecretary of state and later ambassadorto Mexico under President Calvin Coolidge, favoredmore conciliatory views toward Latin America andreinterpreted the Monroe Doctrine. Beginning inMarch 1930, during the Hoover administration, Secre-tary of State Henry L. Stimson guided American diplo-macy toward a Good Neighbor Policy with its LatinAmerican neighbors.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt redefined theMonroe Doctrine as a multilateral undertaking to beimplemented by all the nations of the Western Hemi-sphere acting together. Roosevelt emphasized Pan-Americanism and the Good Neighbor Policy. FDR’s

Secretary of State William Seward continued the policy ofthe Monroe Doctrine in 1861. (Library of Congress)

Roosevelt Corollary: The RooseveltCorollary was a substantial amendment tothe Monroe Doctrine by PresidentTheodore Roosevelt in 1904. Roosevelt’sextension of the Doctrine asserted theright of the United States to intervene tostabilize the economic affairs of smallnations in the Caribbean and CentralAmerica if they were unable to pay theirinternational debts.Good Neighbor Policy: The Good NeighborPolicy was a renunciation, first byPresident Herbert Hoover (1928) and thenFranklin D. Roosevelt (1933), of the use ofmilitary force to intervene in the affairs ofLatin American and Caribbean states. Thiswas a direct departure from the RooseveltCorollary.

secretary of state, Cordell Hull, participated in theMontevideo Conference of December 1933, wherehe launched Roosevelt’s Good Neighbor Policy,which rejected earlier U.S. interventionist policies,such as the Roosevelt Corollary and military inter-ventions in the region during the 1910s and 1920s.

President John Fitzgerald Kennedy symbolicallyinvoked the Monroe Doctrine in 1962 when the So-viet Union began to build missile-launching sites inCuba. With the support of the Organization ofAmerican States (OAS), the president placed a navaland air quarantine around Cuba. After several tensedays, the Soviet Union agreed to withdraw the mis-siles and dismantle the sites.

According to C. M. Wilson in The Monroe Doc-trine: An American Frame of Mind, at an August 29,1962, news conference President John F. Kennedysaid:

The Monroe Doctrine means what it hasmeant since President Monroe and John QuincyAdams enunciated it, and that is that we wouldoppose a foreign power extending its power tothe Western Hemisphere, and that is why we op-pose what is happening in Cuba today. That iswhy we have cut off our trade. That is why weworked in the OAS and in other ways to isolatethe Communist menace in Cuba. That is why wewill continue to give a good deal of our effort andattention to it.

Some historians have interpreted the Monroe Doctrine as isolationist, and others allege that the doctrinehas functioned as a rationale for U.S. intervention in the affairs of nations of the Western Hemisphere, citingthe statistics of 30 military interventions and 47 covert or indirect operations in Latin America since 1846.



President Teddy Roosevelt extended the Monroe Doctrinewith the Roosevelt Corollary. (Library of Congress)

TIMELINE

1812–1814: The War of 1812 was settled by agreement but ensured increased Americanaccess to the Mississippi River and the Midwest.

1816: James Monroe, the last president to have served in the military during the AmericanRevolution, wins the election.

1823: James Monroe issues what will become known as the Monroe Doctrine, definingAmerican foreign policy for the rest of the 19th century.

1836–1845: The era of the Texas Revolution and Texas independence took place during theseyears.

1845: President Polk applies the Monroe Doctrine in claiming Oregon territory for the UnitedStates.

1846–1848: The Mexican-American War takes place.

1867: Alaska is purchased from Russia.

1904: President Theodore Roosevelt expands the Monroe Doctrine to include the entireWestern Hemisphere.

1904–1914: The Panama Canal is constructed.

1933: FDR issues the Good Neighbor Policy, attempting to roll back the interventionist aspectsof Monroe Doctrine.

What If?What if President James Monroe had allowed con-tinued European influence in the Americas?

The breakup of the Spanish empire in the NewWorld between 1815 and 1822 presented the fledg-ling United States with a diplomatic dilemma.British Foreign Minister George Canning imple-mented a policy of recognizing the independence ofthe Spanish colonies in America, which marked aturning point in U. S. foreign policy.

Argentina, Chile, and Venezuela had won theirindependence from Spain, and as new republics, theyexpected the United States’ recognition. Many Amer-icans agreed with this idea, but President JamesMonroe and his secretary of state, John QuincyAdams, were not sure that these nations would sur-vive, and did not want to risk going to war withSpain if they recognized the new countries and thenthey reverted to Spanish control. If the other Euro-pean powers did not intervene, the U.S. governmentcould leave it to Spain and its rebellious colonies to

ABC-CLIO, THE MONROE DOCTRINE Timeline


George Canning, British foreign minister during 1822–1827. (Library of Congress)

resolve their own problems. As part of its territorial expansion, the United States was negotiating with Spainto purchase Florida and after the treaty was ratified, the Monroe administration began to recognize the newLatin American republics.

In 1823, the diplomatic situation became more tangled when France urged Spain to restore monarchicalpower and fight the new Latin American republics. Foreign Minister Canning argued that the United Statesand Great Britain should form an alliance to keep France and Spain from intervening in the new Latin Amer-ican republics. Former presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison urged Monroe to accept Canning’sproposal, but Adams disagreed.

The cabinet meeting of November 7, 1823, marked a turning point in this foreign policy dilemma thatwould shape the United States both geographically and politically. Because Canning believed so strongly thatan alliance with the United States was necessary, he might have traveled to the United States on a diplomaticmission to argue his case at the November cabinet meeting and elsewhere. Canning had a polarizing and abra-sive personality. In England, he had fought a duel with his political opponent Lord Castlereagh, and he wouldhave been prepared to argue with Adams just as forcefully.

Had Canning come, he and Adams would have confined themselves to a war of words instead of a duel, butCanning’s words would have been fatal to Adams’s arguments. When that November 7, 1823, cabinet meetingended, Monroe would have sided with Canning, and Canning would have won his alliance with the UnitedStates. The victory could have been solidified with a document called the Canning Treaty of 1823 instead of aMonroe Doctrine.

This treaty, in turn, might have inadvertently laid the foundation for increased political turmoil within theUnited States. Canning, in Great Britain, agitated for the abolition of slavery along with fellow Brit WilliamWilberforce, and slavery was abolished in Britain in 1833. Slavery was an entrenched political and economicsystem in America that Calhoun and his fellow southerners staunchly defended. Calhoun believed that slav-ery was a good rather than a necessary evil, and he spoke out strongly in defense of it. Canning would have justas strongly defended its abolition. This belief and his equally strong belief that the French and Spanish perilto South America was real and immediate, and only an alliance with the British could deflect might have madeCalhoun both respect and despise Canning and Britain, an attitude that would have played a part in furtherdividing proponents and opponents of slavery in the United States.

ABC-CLIO, THE MONROE DOCTRINE What If?


Activity 1

OBJECTIVE:

By reading four critical quotations from the President Monroe’s 1823 speech, which served as the templatefor what would become known as the Monroe Doctrine, students will gain understanding into the both theimmediate and long-term goals of President Monroe’s foreign policy commitments.

OVERVIEW:

This activity will take place in two parts. In the first part, students will move about the classroom pairing updirect quotes from President Monroe and the explanation of each quote. In the second part, students willuse their understanding of the Monroe Doctrine to hold a debate between John Quincy Adams on the onehand and Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and John C. Calhoun on the other.

MATERIALS NEEDED:

1. A class set of the Monroe Quotations and Translations.2. A class set of the John Quincy Adams Role Cards and the John C. Calhoun Role Cards.

TEACHER DIRECTIONS ACTIVITY 1 PART A

In the early 1820s, American political leaders were split over a variety of foreign policy issues. ShouldAmerica create a close relationship with Great Britain for purposes of trade and naval defense of theWestern Hemisphere? Should the United States support liberalism and liberal revolution in Europe? Shouldthe United States provide overt support to the new republics of the Western Hemisphere against theirprevious European colonial masters? Below are four Monroe quotations and four translations of thosequotations. Make three to four copies of each quotation and translation and pass them out to the studentsin the classroom. Half of the students will receive a Monroe Quotation card and half of the students willreceive a corresponding Translation card. The students will now move about the room reading theirquotations or translations to other students until they find their match (see below list for proper matches.)After students have found their match, they are to sit together until all students have found their partners.After all the students are seated together, invite four teams to read aloud both their Monroe Quotation andtheir Translation. As the students read their paired cards, the teacher should make a bulleted list of points onthe board for use in the upcoming debate.

ABC-CLIO, THE MONROE DOCTRINE Activity 1




QUOTATION CARDS:

Monroe Quotation 1: “The American continents, by the free and independent condition which they haveassumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by anyEuropean powers.”

Monroe Quotation 2: “We owe it, therefore, to candor and to the amicable relations existing between theUnited States and those [European] powers to declare that we should consider any attempt on their part toextend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety.”

Monroe Quotation 3: “In the wars of the European powers in matters relating to themselves we havenever taken any part, nor does it comport with our policy to do so.”

Monroe Quotation 4: “It is impossible that the allied powers should extend their political system[monarchy] to any portion of either continent without endangering our peace and happiness; nor cananyone believe that our southern brethren, if left to themselves, would adopt it of their own accord.”



TRANSLATION CARDS:

Translation 1: North and South America are free and independent and European powers cannotconsider them areas for new colonization.

Translation 2: The United States regards any European effort to interfere in governments of theWestern Hemisphere nations as a threat to its own peace and safety. The United States will protect theindependent nations in the Americas.

Translation 3: The United States is part of its own unique political system and will not interfere inEuropean affairs.

Translation 4: The Western Hemisphere nations are republics rather than monarchies.



TEACHER NOTE:

Here are the proper matches of Quotations and Translations:

Monroe Quotation 1: “The American continents, by the free and independent condition which theyhave assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by anyEuropean powers.”

Translation 1: North and South America are free and independent and European powers cannotconsider them areas for new colonization.

Monroe Quotation 2: “We owe it, therefore, to candor and to the amicable relations existing betweenthe United States and those [European] powers to declare that we should consider any attempt on theirpart to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety.”

Translation 2: The United States regards any European effort to interfere in governments of theWestern Hemisphere nations as a threat to its own peace and safety. The United States will protect theindependent nations in the Americas.

Monroe Quotation 3: “In the wars of the European powers in matters relating to themselves we havenever taken any part, nor does it comport with our policy to do so.”

Translation 3: The United States is part of its own unique political system and will not interfere inEuropean affairs.

Monroe Quotation 4: “It is impossible that the allied powers should extend their political system[monarchy] to any portion of either continent without endangering our peace and happiness; nor cananyone believe that our southern brethren, if left to themselves, would adopt it of their own accord.”

Translation 4: The Western Hemisphere nations are republics rather than monarchies.

TEACHER DIRECTIONS ACTIVITY 1, PART B

Monroe’s Mock-Foreign Policy Debate

Class Debate:In this miniclass debate, the teacher will divide the students into two groups sitting on opposite sides of

the room. In this debate, the students will represent foreign policy advisers to President Monroe in 1823.Half of the students will represent John Quincy Adams and his goals, and the other half will represent JohnC. Calhoun, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison and their goals. The teacher will play the part ofPresident James Monroe.

President Monroe will have to make two decisions based on recommendations of the two teams:

1. Should the United States make a formal alliance with Great Britain against possible New Worldcolonization by European countries like France and Britain?

2. Should the United States recognize the revolutionary government of Greece in its struggle against theOttoman Empire?

Each of the two teams will receive player cards providing direct instructions. Each team must make acase regarding Monroe’s two central questions. Here is the catch: The arguments that each team makes mustbe supported by the four central themes of the Monroe Doctrine as completed in Activity 1, part A. Thus,students must understand the four central themes before successfully completing their debate participation.Logically, this debate will be slanted in favor of John Quincy Adams because historically his arguments wonthe day and helped shape the four central themes upon which student arguments will be based.Nevertheless, creative students can always spin ideals and quotations in creative directions; ultimately, thereal historical outcome is more likely to take place in the classroom as well. After the debate has concludedbetween the two sides, the teacher, in the role of James Monroe, can either act as the real James Monroe didand avoid both an alliance with Great Britain and Greece, or, if one side was especially good at arguing apoint, can choose differently. Either way, it is recommended that the teacher lead a discussion on the “Whatif” aspect of the United States’ closer ties to Europe and European internal politics.

Here are the positions of the two teams:

John C. Calhoun, Jefferson, and Madison• Accept alliance with Great Britain against France and Spain• Recognize Revolutionary Greece in support of liberalism

John Quincy Adams• Avoid alliance with Great Britain• Do not recognize Revolutionary Greece





JOHN QUINCY ADAMS ROLE CARD

All of you will collectively play the role of John Quincy Adams. You will be advising PresidentJames Monroe to do the following things:

Avoid alliance with Great BritainDo not recognize Revolutionary GreeceHere are your group and personal tasks:Decide which student(s) on your team will take part in the verbal debate.Divide your group into two halves, one that will focus on the question of alliance with Great

Britain and one with issue of revolutionary Greece.Now that you have been assigned a subtopic, use one or more of the four goals written on the

board and your own logic to write a short statement in support of your (John Adams’s) position.Share your written statement with group members and decide whose argument is the strongest.Debate!

JOHN C. CALHOUN, THOMAS JEFFERSON, AND JAMES MADISON ROLE CARD

All of you will collectively play the role of John C. Calhoun, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison.You will be advising President James Monroe to do the following things:

Accept alliance with Great Britain against France and SpainRecognize Revolutionary Greece in support of liberalismHere are your group and personal tasks:Decide which student(s) on your team will take part in the verbal debate.Divide your group into two halves, one that will focus on the question of alliance with Great

Britain and one with issue of revolutionary Greece.Now that you have been assigned a subtopic, use one or more of the four goals written on the

board and your own logic to write a short statement in support of your (Calhoun’s, Jefferson’s andMadison’s) position.

Share your written statement with group members and decide whose argument is the strongest.Debate!

Activity 2

OBJECTIVE:

Students will interpret political cartoons and summarize various responses to the Monroe Doctrine, therebygaining an understanding of this policy. Then students will learn the significance of the Monroe Doctrine byusing the arguments of British Foreign Minister George Canning (who implored Monroe to join a strategicalliance with Great Britain), to postulate other potential outcomes of James Monroe’s policy.

OVERVIEW:

The Monroe doctrine provided the rationale for the United States’ future intervention in Latin Americanaffairs as well as its opposition to European involvement in the Western Hemisphere. Had this policy neverbeen implemented, the 19th century would have been quite different. In the first activity, students willreceive copies of several political cartoons from the 19th to early 20th centuries. Their task will be toevaluate how each cartoon criticizes the Monroe Doctrine. Then, using an organizational chart, studentswill determine how several key historical events would have been different had President James Monroesigned a “Canning Treaty” with Great Britain instead.

MATERIALS NEEDED:

1. Copies of Political Cartoons (one per group of four students)2. Copies of Handout 1 (one per student)3. Copies of Handout 2 (one per student)

TEACHER DIRECTIONS:

Part A: Explain to the students that the Monroe Doctrine provided the rationale for the United States’future intervention in Latin American affairs as well as its opposition to European involvement in theWestern Hemisphere. Had this policy never been implemented, the 19th and 20th centuries might havebeen quite different. Explain that today they will see several political cartoons spanning a century after theMonroe Doctrine was enunciated and providing a variety of viewpoints about this policy. Arrange studentsin groups of four and provide each group with copies of the political cartoons and each student with a copyof Handout 1.

Part B: Using the “What If . . .” section of the activity packet, explain to students that they will nowexplore how several key events in history (including but not limited to the political cartoons) might haveturned out differently had James Monroe adopted a different policy in 1823. Explain that exploring theseoutcomes highlights the impact and importance of the Monroe Doctrine on the 19th and 20th centuries.While keeping students in groups of four, provide copies of Handout 2, one for each student, and explainthat they should use the “Canning Treaty” synopsis rather than the Monroe Doctrine to determineoutcomes.





Political cartoon from 1912 shows the United States dominating the Western Hemisphere by virtue of the MonroeDoctrine, while countries from the Eastern Hemisphere look on. (Texas Education Association)



This 1896 cartoon, originally captioned “The old horse was too slow for Uncle Sam,” criticizes U.S. foreign policy. To theanger of other countries, Uncle Sam has abandoned the horse, whose saddle says Monroe Doctrine, in favor of“coasting” on a bicycle with “eastern hemisphere” and “western hemisphere” for wheels. (Library of Congress)



Political cartoon from 1914 depicts the Monroe Doctrine as a “Great Wall” protecting the United States from the rest ofthe world, 1914. (Nashville Tennessean)



Political cartoon implying that U.S. president William McKinley (1897–1901) planned to acquire more foreign territories.(Texas Education Association)

ABC-CLIO, THE MONROE DOCTRINE Handout 1


Handout 1Each political cartoon contains a perspective on the Monroe Doctrine and U.S. foreign policy. For eachimage, identify the following:

1. Symbols: Political cartoons often use symbols to convey their ideas. For example, the president mightbe depicted as a bull stampeding over other countries’ interests. For each of the images provided,identify two symbols and state what each represents.

a. “U.S. Cartoon, 1912”

i. Symbol: Represents:

ii. Symbol: Represents:

b. “COASTING: The old horse was too slow for Uncle Sam”



c. “Monroe Doctrine”



d. “Measuring Uncle Sam for a New Suit”



2. Event: Using the symbols and other cues in the cartoon, identify what event or events are depicted.These might be specific events or broader eras.





3. Opinion: Does this cartoon convey a positive or a negative opinion of the Monroe Doctrine? Justifyyour answer with a sentence or two.







Handout 2The following chart compares the major components of the Monroe Doctrine of 1823 (using Monroe’sspeech from Activity1) with hypothetical agreements that might have been made between the United Statesand Great Britain at the urging of British foreign minister George Canning. Use the comparisons, yourknowledge of the Monroe Doctrine and history, and group collaboration to determine alternate outcomesfor the events described below. NOTE: Not all of the “Canning Treaty” statements are direct opposites of theMonroe Doctrine. As such, the alternate outcomes might not be the direct opposite of the actual history.

For each actual event, determine what might have happened had the United States government followed the“Canning Treaty” instead of the Monroe Doctrine:

1. America recognizes Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia, and Mexico as independent nations (1822).

2. The United States does NOT recognize Greece as an independent nation in 1824.

3. The United States annexes Texas in 1845 after objecting to a British alliance with the Republic ofTexas.

4. The United States purchases the territory of Alaska in 1867 from Russia for $7.2 million afterprotesting extension of Russian influence in the region.

5. The United States does not join World War I against Germany until 1917.



Monroe Doctrine

North and South America cannot be colonizedby European powers.

Nations in the Western Hemisphere arefundamentally different than the Old Worldmonarchies.

The United States will view as a threat anyactivity by a European power to imposemonarchy in the Western Hemisphere.

The United States will not interfere in the affairsof any European nation.

Canning Treaty (hypothetical)

Great Britain and the United States shallcooperate on interventions in North and SouthAmerica.

There are great cultural and governmentalparallels and connections between the OldWorld and the New.

European systems of government are equallyvalid and applicable to the Western Hemisphere.

The United States has the right to involve itselfin European affairs.

Ready Reference:James Monroe: James Monroe, the last of the 18th-century Revolutionary patriots to lead the nation, served as pres-ident during the period known as the Era of Good Feeling, a time of exceptional national political consensus.

Monroe was born in Virginia in 1758 and enrolled at the College of William and Mary in 1774. He joinedthe Virginia militia and served under George Washington in the Continental Army. He began his political ca-reer in 1782 by winning election to a term in the Virginia legislature.

Beginning in 1817, Monroe’s two presidential administrations spanned the national expansion of the U.S.population into the Midwest and a dramatic period of growth in the national economy. At this time, the UnitedStates also asserted its role as protector of the newly independent nations of Latin America with the pro-nouncement of the Monroe Doctrine.

The doctrine was a response to an invitation from Great Britain to issue a joint declaration concerningLatin America. Some of Monroe’s advisers advocated an alliance with Britain to thwart French and Spanish in-terference in Latin America. Others, such as John Adams, however, argued against any European influence inthe region and persuaded Monroe to tell Congress that the continents of North and South America wouldnot “be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers.”

The doctrine became the foundation of U.S. foreign policy in the Americas and gave legitimacy to the ac-tions of later presidents who considered it a rationale for U.S. interventions in the region.

Louisiana Purchase: The Louisiana Purchase has been called the greatest real estate deal in U.S. history, andit remains one of the largest peaceful annexations of land in world history. Stretching from British Columbiato New Orleans, from the Ohio River to the eastern border of New Spain (roughly the eastern edge of today’smountain time zone), the Louisiana Territory covered 909,000 square miles.

First claimed by France, the land mass was ceded to Spain in 1762 and then ceded back to France nearly 40years later. Although President Thomas Jefferson did wonder whether he could constitutionally buy the landwith the U.S. government’s money, he felt obliged to accept French emperor Napoleon I’s offer without delayfor two reasons: the offer was only valid as long as Napoleon remained ruler of France, and the French terri-tory blocked the continued western expansion of the United States.

It became clear that the new land would provide tremendous opportunities for U.S. citizens and Jeffersonpushed the deal forward while James Monroe outlined the transaction. After signing the Louisiana PurchaseTreaty (1803) on May 2, the United States took possession on December 20, 1803. The Louisiana Purchase, ata cost of $15 million, doubled the United States’ size.

James K. Polk: James K. Polk was one of the most effective chief executives in American history. Born in NorthCarolina in 1795, Polk was admitted to the bar in Tennessee where he served two terms in the state legislature. In1824, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, and in 1839, he was elected governor of Tennessee.

In 1844, the Democratic Party selected Polk as a “dark horse” candidate, believing that his strong supportfor the annexation of Texas and Oregon would enable him to defeat Henry Clay. Clay refused to take a standon the annexation of new territory, and Polk’s decisiveness impressed voters, giving him the presidency.

Considered the only “strong” president between Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln, Polk set four ob-jectives for himself as president: “one, a reduction of the tariff; another, the independent treasury; a third, thesettlement of the Oregon boundary question; and, lastly, the acquisition of California.”

During his presidency, Polk settled a dispute with Great Britain regarding Oregon’s boundary, and Mexicosurrendered control of New Mexico and California to the United States following the Mexican-American War.Polk secured passage of the Independent Treasury Act, which provided the secretary of the treasury with legal

ABC-CLIO, THE MONROE DOCTRINE Ready Reference


guidelines, and the Walker tariff, which greatly reduced tariff duties. Thus, he had accomplished all four of hisgoals by the end of his term.

George Canning: George Canning was a politician and statesman who briefly served as prime minister ofGreat Britain in 1827. Canning was one of the most influential English politicians of the early 19th century.He played an instrumental role in defeating the French during the wars of the French Revolution and as Britishforeign minister, his support for the Spanish colonies in America had an impact on U.S. foreign policy.

Canning was born in London in 1770, entered the British Parliament in 1793, and was viewed as a risingstar in Tory politics. He held several positions within the government of Prime Minister William Pitt, and al-though he retired from politics for several years to write, he became foreign minister in 1822.

Although Canning was an opponent of the democratic excesses of the French Revolution, he was equallyopposed to the conservative regimes of the continental powers in Europe. As foreign minister, he held Britainaloof from entanglements with the European empires as much as possible. He did, however, give British sup-port to several independence movements, including the revolts in South America against Spain. He believedthat the United States and Britain should form an alliance against the intervention of France and Spain in theaffairs of Latin America.

John C. Calhoun: John C. Calhoun played a vital role in protecting Southern interests and defended the in-stitution of slavery as “a positive good,” but he was also a firm believer in the federal Union.

Calhoun was born in South Carolina in 1782. He graduated from Yale College in 1804 and was admittedto the South Carolina state bar in 1807. At the beginning of his career in the House of Representatives, Cal-houn was a militant nationalist.

In 1816, Calhoun joined President James Monroe’s cabinet as secretary of war, served as vice president underpresidents John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson, and as secretary of state under President John Tyler.

As a U.S. senator beginning in 1845, Calhoun was frustrated by the growing numerical superiority of the an-tislavery states in the national legislature, and he called a conference of Southern senators to consider a schemefor uniting them against any effort by the North to abolish slavery. He refused to watch the South submit to thegrowing majority in the North, but he also dissuaded extremists in the South from leaving the Union altogether.

Mexican-American War: A short and stunningly victorious war for the United States, the Mexican-AmericanWar resulted in the annexation of millions of acres of land, prompted enormous controversy on the domes-tic scene, and proved a grim foreshadowing of the Civil War.

In the 19th century, the United States was swept along by the imperialistic concept of manifest destiny andwanted to occupy North America from coast to coast. Following years of military skirmishes, Mexico hadceded Texas to the United States and feared losing New Mexico and California as well. When Mexico defaultedon a $2 million agreement for damages to U.S. citizens, President James K. Polk argued for ownership of NewMexico and California in lieu of payment. When the Mexican government refused, Polk stirred Congress intodeclaring war on May 13, 1846.

Following campaigns by U.S. generals Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott, the Mexican Army was defeatedin Mexico City, and on February 2, 1848, Mexico signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, surrendering NewMexico and California—more than half its territory—to the United States for $15 million.

After the U.S. victory brought such a massive tract of land to the United States, Congress wrestled with thequestion of how to organize the territory and determine the status of slavery within it. Such issues promptedfurious debates that irrevocably deepened the mutual distrust between North and South and contributed sub-stantially to the coming of the Civil War in 1861.

ABC-CLIO, THE MONROE DOCTRINE Ready Reference


National Standards Correlations

EDSTD1642842380: Challenge arguments of historical inevitability by formulating examples of historical con-tingency, of how different choices could have led to different consequences.

EDSTD1642842420: Formulate historical questions from encounters with historical documents, eyewitness ac-counts, letters, diaries, artifacts, photos, historical sites, art, architecture, and other records from the past.

EDSTD1642831400: Identify the origins and provisions of the Monroe Doctrine and how it influenced hemi-spheric relations. (Reconstruct patterns of historical succession and duration).

EDSTD1642831460: Explain the economic, political, racial, and religious roots of Manifest Destiny and ana-lyze how the concept influenced the westward expansion of the nation. (Examine the influence of ideas).


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