Roosevelt Corollary

The Roosevelt Corollary was an amendment to the Monroe Doctrine outlined by Theodore Roosevelt in 1904. The Roosevelt Corollary served to abridge US foreign policy concerning European powers and Latin America as established by James Monroe through the Monroe Doctrine in 1823. The Monroe Doctrine called on European powers to refrain from interfering in the affairs of Latin American countries and stated that the United States would stay out of European affairs, whereas the Roosevelt Corollary made it clear that the United States was willing to act as a sort of international police force to keep European powers out of the Western Hemisphere. While the Roosevelt Corollary succeeded in reducing European interference in the Americas, it also provided the necessary justification for the United States to itself interfere in the affairs of Latin American nations on numerous occasions in the years that followed.

Background

The Monroe Doctrine is one of the most important and well-known examples of American foreign policy in history. Delivered as part of James Monroe’s annual address to Congress in 1823, the Monroe Doctrine expressly forbade any European interference in the Western Hemisphere and proclaimed that the United States would maintain a neutral position in future conflicts between European nations. The Monroe Doctrine quickly became one of the cornerstones of American foreign policy and played a key role in establishing the young United States as a serious player on the international stage.

The Monroe Doctrine was initially developed as a response to various European powers’ repeated attempts to claim influence over parts of the Americas in the early 1820s. Of particular concern were Russia’s attempts to take control of the Alaska territory and Spain’s efforts to re-establish parts of its former colonial empire in Latin America. Equally troubling was the British government’s desire to encourage the end of Spanish colonialism so as to promote its own interests in Central and South America. In light of these potential threats to America’s political reputation, Monroe and Secretary of State John Quincy Adams created the Monroe Doctrine as a way of asserting US authority as the most powerful nation in the Western Hemisphere.

For much of the nineteenth century, the American government declined to invoke the Monroe Doctrine against European powers even though some of those powers did sometimes insert themselves into Latin American affairs. This was largely because Monroe’s original intent was simply to ensure that European mercantilism would not find its way into any parts of the Americas deemed to be of economic importance to the United States. Eventually, however, the United States did have to actually enforce the Monroe Doctrine. The pivotal moment in this shift came with the declaration of war against Spain in 1898 for that nation’s continuing interference with Cuba and other parts of the Americas. In the aftermath of the Spanish-American War, the United States began to take a more aggressive role in defending its interests in Central and South America in accordance with a new approach to foreign policy that would be clearly articulated by Theodore Roosevelt just a few years later.

Overview

When Theodore Roosevelt took office as president of the United States in 1901, he entered the presidency at what proved to be a key time in America’s development as a world power. Just over a year after Roosevelt entered the White House, a crisis began to unfold in Venezuela that had serious potential ramifications for the United States. To finance a civil war, Venezuela previously borrowed a considerable amount of money from Great Britain, Germany, and Italy. When Venezuela subsequently refused to repay its debts in 1902, these nations retaliated by blockading the Latin American country’s ports. The Venezuela crisis dragged on for some time before an international court finally addressed the situation in February 1904. Ultimately, the court decided that Great Britain, Germany, and Italy had the right to preferential treatment in acquiring the debts owed to them from Venezuela.

The international court’s decision regarding the Venezuela crisis was troubling for the United States because it empowered European nations in their efforts to involve themselves in Latin American affairs. It was also troubling because the Dominican Republic stopped payment on $32 million in foreign debt around the same time, potentially creating another opportunity for European powers to interfere in Latin America under the guise of debt collection. All of this left the United States in an uncomfortable position that could easily compromise its place of authority in the Western Hemisphere.

Roosevelt’s response to the events transpiring in Latin America came in his 1904 State of the Union address before Congress. In the course of his remarks, Roosevelt issued what amounted to an amendment to the Monroe Doctrine that became known as the Roosevelt Corollary. The Roosevelt Corollary made it clear that the United States would not allow European nations to continue interfering in Latin American affairs and would forcefully defend its neighbors if necessary. In fairness to European lenders, Roosevelt also promised that the United States would ensure that Latin American countries would fulfill their debts. In effect, the Roosevelt Corollary announced to the world that the United States would exercise military force in Latin America as needed.

Once in force, the Roosevelt Corollary significantly increased US involvement in the affairs of other nations throughout the Americas. For the next several decades, the United States intervened in the affairs of Latin American countries as such measures were deemed necessary. On numerous occasions, the United States engaged in economic and military interventions in countries such as Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic as the national interest dictated. This trend, as well as Latin American resentment of US intervention, continued to escalate until President Franklin D. Roosevelt, cousin of Theodore Roosevelt, issued the Good Neighbor Policy in 1933. Under the terms of this policy, the United States agreed to allow Latin American and Caribbean nations rule without interference. While the Good Neighbor Policy was largely a success, US influence continued to be felt in Latin America for decades to come.

Bibliography

Kshyk, Christopher J. “Roosevelt’s Imperialism: The Venezuelan Crisis, the Panama Canal, and the Origins of the Roosevelt Corollary.” Inquiries Journal, vol. 7, 2015.

Lindsay, James M. “TWE Remembers: The Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine.” Council on Foreign Relations, 6 Dec. 2010, www.cfr.org/blog/twe-remembers-roosevelt-corollary-monroe-doctrine. Accessed 19 Sept. 2018.

Milkis, Sidney. “Theodore Roosevelt: Foreign Affairs.” UVA Miller Center, millercenter.org/president/roosevelt/foreign-affairs. Accessed 19 Sept. 2018.

“Monroe Doctrine.” History.com, 21 Aug. 2018, www.history.com/topics/westward-expansion/monroe-doctrine. Accessed 19 Sept. 2018.

“Roosevelt Corollary.” Theodore Roosevelt Center, www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/Learn-About-TR/TR-Encyclopedia/Foreign-Affairs/Roosevelt-Corollary. Accessed 19 Sept. 2018.

“The Roosevelt Corollary and Latin America.” USHistory.org, www.ushistory.org/us/44e.asp. Accessed 19 Sept. 2018.

“Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, 1904.” Office of the Historian, history.state.gov/milestones/1899-1913/roosevelt-and-monroe-doctrine. Accessed 19 Sept. 2018.

“Theodore Roosevelt’s Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine (1905).” OurDocuments.gov, www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=56#. Accessed 19 Sept. 2018.