The Monroe Doctrine is a manifestation of the 5th U.S. President James Monroe’s message to Congress in 1823, which served as a principal, initially, to the Democratic views of Manifest Destiny and goes hand in hand with the aim of annexation and expansion.

Approximately 15 to 20 years after Monroe’s message, the 11th U.S. President, James Polk, referenced the doctrine affirming that countries in the eastern hemisphere attempting to be protectors of the United States’ neighbors, such as the Spanish Mexico, are in direct violation of the doctrine. If such an act of colonization or protection were to occur, the United States would be obligated to protect its own safety and interests by controlling the area or its borders.

Simply, the fight for Independence from the Crown would justify the U.S’ means to protect itself from colonization and find justification to expand its territory while doing so. Events attributing to the doctrines views occurred during/after the annexation debates of the independent Republic of Texas with the Union and Theodore Roosevelt’s military campaigns during the building of the Panama Canal and the Spanish-American War.

On 29 December 1845, President Polk approved Texas's admission to the Union through a treaty as the 28th state of the Union. Within the same year in Mexico City, Polk’s diplomatic representative made an offer to relinquish Mexico’s debt and purchase the northern half of California and modern day New Mexico (to prevent the British Crown from establishing their presence in the Pacific). Mexico defended its honor and denied the offer.

As subsequent territorial border claims by both the Union and Mexico occurred, the Union sent troops to protect the borders on the facts provided by Texas’ independence and the Treaty of Velasco (which was never recognized and ratified by Mexico). With Mexico speculating war, the Union moved its military forward to protect Texas’ borders, which would eventually lead to Mexico’s attack on Union men, thus leading to the Mexican-War. With the war ending two years after 1846, the Mexican Cession, through a Peace Treaty in 1848 (Treaty of Guadalupe-Didalgo), ceded parts of California and New Mexico.

Overall, in 1848, the territories, through the years, became what we know now as the modern day states of Arizona, California, Colorado, portions of New Mexico, Nevada, portions of Utah, and Wyoming eventually justified the Union’s actions, doctrine, and destiny.

A War Hero and President

The Panama Canal and the Treaty of Paris in 1898-ending the Spanish-American War, were foundation to Theodore Roosevelt’s Navy’s success in Latin American and East Asian countries.

Within the War’s short lifespan, Theodore Roosevelt referenced the Monroe Doctrine to justify his military measures and intervention of Spain’s misconduct. And as such, one year before the end of his first presidential term, Roosevelt amended the Monroe doctrine, with his famous Corollary, to allow the United States the right and justification to stabilize international economies and their debts owed, in Latin America

References:

James Monroe: Seventh Annual Message to Congress (1823). http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/monroe.htm

Monroe Doctrine Interpretation (n.d.). http://www.answers.com/topic/monroe-doctrine

Theodore Roosevelt Biography. (n.d.). http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1906/roosevelt-bio.html

Texas History (n.d.). http://original.britannica.com/eb/article-9111270/Texas

Treaty of Paris. (1898). http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/68784.pdf

Mexican War (1846-1848) http://www.lone-star.net/mall/texasinfo/mexicow.htm

Mexican Cession (1848) http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h245.html

Theodore Roosevelt Biography (n.d.). http://www.smplanet.com/imperialism/teddy.html

Spanish American War (n.d.). http://www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/1898/

Panama Canal History (n.d.). http://www.eclipse.co.uk/~sl5763/panama.htm

James Polk Biography (n.d.). http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/jp11.html

John Tyler Biography (n.d.).  http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/jt10.html

Treaty of Gudalupe Hidalgo (1848). http://www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/ghtreaty/