The Monroe Doctrine

The Monroe Doctrine. You might have heard about it but allow me to show you the background. You look back upon the year 1823 as a time when the United States finally grew into its sovereignty, marked by the declaration that now bears the name of my dear friend, James Monroe. You know it as a doctrine that barred European empires from western shores. But let me pull back the curtain of history to show you how the ghost of our revolutionary ideals—and my own hand—guided that fateful pen.

In the autumn of that year, a urgent packet arrived here at Monticello from President Monroe. The weight of the world was upon his shoulders. The Spanish colonies to our south had heroically broken their chains, establishing independent republics modeled after our own. Yet, the absolute monarchs of Europe—the so-called Holy Alliance—were gathering like vultures, eager to cross the Atlantic and drag those free spirits back into subjugation. To complicate matters, Great Britain had approached us with a proposal: a joint declaration to warn the monarchs away. Monroe asked for my counsel.

My reply to him was immediate, for I recognized this as the most momentous question since that of our own Independence. That declaration made us a nation; this decision would set our compass for centuries to come.

I advised Monroe that our first and fundamental maxim should be never to entangle ourselves in the broils of Europe. Our second, never to suffer Europe to intermeddle with cis-Atlantic affairs.

America, North and South, has a set of interests distinct from those of the Old World. While Europe is laboring to become the domicile of despotism, our endeavor must be to make our hemisphere that of freedom. This "Two-Spheres" philosophy is an idea I championed my entire life. The political systems of Europe, built on hereditary crowns and perpetual warfare, have no business in the Americas, where the rights of man are taking root.

Now, history notes a curious irony. I actually urged Monroe to accept the British offer. You may find this surprising, given that I spent my life fighting British imperialism. But I was a realist. I knew the British Navy was the most powerful force on the globe. By aligning with them, we would place that massive naval shield over the entire hemisphere, stopping the Holy Alliance without the United States firing a single shot.

As you know, Monroe ultimately chose a more independent path. His brilliant Secretary of State, John Quincy Adams, argued that we should not follow like a small boat in the wake of a British warship. He believed the United States should speak for itself, boldly and alone. Monroe agreed, and the doctrine was issued as a unilateral American stance.

Though Monroe rejected my tactical advice to ally with Britain, he fully adopted the strategic architecture I laid out. The core of the Monroe Doctrine is pure Jeffersonian thought: a political and philosophical boundary drawn down the center of the Atlantic Ocean.

We forced the Old World to stay on its side of the deep, so that the flame of liberty could safely burn on ours.

To give you further context, here is a letter where I discuss the concepts of the Monroe Doctrine three years prior: https://www.thomasjefferson.com/jefferson-letters/october-24