Effects Of The Monroe Doctrine

The Monroe Doctrine was a statement regarding American foreign affairs made on December 2, 1823, by President James Monroe. The statement consisted of 3 principles; the first was a non-colonization principle that European nations would no longer be allowed to establish colonies in the Americas, and the European influence was to be contained. The second was that the affairs of both the U.S. and European nations were not to become entangled unless the action/s specifically benefited the United States. The last principle was that further European expansion/influence should not be extended into the Americas. Although the doctrine itself never became official law, as it did not pass the Senate, it did become the standard for foreign affairs not

Previously, all ships were forced to go all the way to the bottom of South America and then back up. America took over the project after the French originally failed to build the Canal and withdrew from Panama. It wouldn’t be so easy though; the Colombian government claimed ownership of the territory where the U.S. was planning to build their canal. The Columbians were not going to let America build a canal on their land. A small armed conflict broke out, with Columbia inevitably failing to remove the far superior American military. A new government known as Panama, formed from a rebellion in Columbia, claimed the land of Panama and agreed to negotiate a treaty with the U.S. to build a canal. Columbia did not recognize this government, but the U.S. did and made a treaty with them. Construction lasted from 1904-1914 when the S.S. Ancon was the first to cross the canal on August 15th, 1914. This major intervention has served not only the desires of America and its citizens but also the interests of the entire world including Latin America. Countless shipping lanes still use the canal today. The geographical proximity of the Panama Canal justifies this intervention as it is extremely useful for the

Taft, along with Secretary of State Philander Chase Knox, gave money to less developed nations in the hope that it would improve trade and increase stability in those countries. This idea was made to increase America’s influence worldwide, essentially making Central American countries into U.S. protectorates. It could be said that they were “colonizing” countries such as Nicaragua, Haiti, and Guatemala, and Taft thought that it would be in U.S. interest. They planned to attempt to take control of the targeted country financially. This was used mainly in Central American countries, though there were attempts to do this with China as well. In the end, Dollar Diplomacy failed in China and caused chaos in Central American countries, and was a complete failure for the U.S., which violates the Monroe Doctrine’s policy of operating within U.S. interests and makes this unjustifiable.

Most of America’s Latin American intervention ceased during FDR’s “Good Neighbor” period. This policy said that America would stop interfering with the affairs of Latin America and that they should determine their fate. The U.S. withdrew troops from countries that had been under military control, and by 1934 all the U.S. expeditionary forces had been terminated. While there have been sporadic military excursions to spots in Latin America after this date, most U.S. influence had left and no countries were left