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America Declares Independence
If you don't hear the year "1776" and prick up your history-nerd ears, you have not been paying attention to history lessons. This date marks the signing of the American Declaration of Independence. The Monroe Doctrine couldn't have happened if there wasn't an America, after all. Monroe's stand also represents an effort, decades later, to make other countries recognize America's place in the world. -
Louisiana Purchase
When Napoleon was given a huge amount of land in North America, he soon realized that with everything else he had going on mainly all those pesky Napoleonic Wars and conquering Europe he simply wasn't going to be able to manage America, too.
So he sold the land to the U.S., in a treaty negotiated by Robert Livingston and James Monroe, prodded by Thomas Jefferson. The purchase, a steal at only $15 million, doubled the size of the U.S. and began the process of westward expansion. -
War of 1812
The "War Hawks" of Congress pushed President Madison to declare war on Britain and France primarily because they were fed up with their violations of maritime agreements and conflicts on America's borders. This often-forgotten war wasn't the most successful in American history, leading to the burning of Washington D.C. and a harmful blockade of American trade before the Treaty of Ghent finally ended it. However, the war did inspire The Star-Spangled Banner, so that's a win. -
Monroe Doctrin
The Monroe Doctrine is when the fifth president of the united states declared that if any country sets foot on america they will go to war with them. This is a problem because america at this point is weakened from the British invasion, or war. This eventually reached mexico and mexico started a war with america. -
Polk Doctrine
President James K. Polk, in his first annual address to Congress reaffirmed the Monroe Doctrine by warning European powers to stay away from Oregon, and pretty much anywhere in the vicinity of the United States. He finally refers to Monroe's idea as a "doctrine" which pretty much stuck until, well, today. This speech is the turning point after which the Monroe Doctrine could add "justification for Manifest Destiny and westward expansion" to its resume. -
Spanish American War
Texas had been an independent republic since 1836 (remember a little event/2004 Dennis Quaid movie about the Alamo?), and was admitted to the union as a state in 1845. Polk's speech reaffirming the Monroe Doctrine was in response to its new statehood. There were some questions about where its southern border was—the U.S. thought the border was further south than Mexico did. Eventually, the disagreement turned into a war, which was a prime example of Manifest Destiny in action. -
Roosevelt Corollary
Apparently major Monroe Doctrine references only happen in December, during messages to Congress. Here, President Theodore Roosevelt expanded the interpretation of the Monroe Doctrine even further, claiming it also meant that the U.S. would serve as an "international police" for Latin American countries in financial (or really, any) trouble. Teddy Bear was responding to events in what is now the Dominican Republic, which sought out the U.S. for help paying its debts.
