December 2, 1823, James Monroe made the address to Congress outlining the policy for which his name has lived on in the history of both America and the World. With the assertion that “the American continents, by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers. . .”, the policy for what has come to be known as the “Monroe Doctrine” was vividly asserted (Monroe). The Monroe Doctrine’s pledge to prevent the European powers from further colonization of the Americas through the backing of the might of the British Navy presented perhaps the strongest assertion of James Monroe’s status as the guardian of a free hemisphere. This policy, however, was a continuation of efforts both direct and indirect throughout Monroe’s life that asserted his stance of guardianship of America and her hemisphere from the threat of nearby colonization. From his service in the American Revolution to help free the American colonies from the Colonial Rule of the British to his devotion to foreign affairs as through his public service preceding the presidency, James Monroe worked to protect America from the danger of European Colonialism. His presentation of the Monroe Doctrine solidified his status as the true guardian of the hemisphere and as a man willing to take a strong stand against colonialism for the benefit of America.
In the formation of a “free hemisphere” with respect to the American perspective, the first step towards this end was the American Revolution. James Monroe himself descended from patriots as his uncle was a participant in the Virginia House of Burgesses that led the call for the first Constitutional Congress and his father helped to organize a boycott of the Stamp Act (Ammon 7). He too soon joined in the Revolutionary fervor of the era when as a student at The College of William and Mary he joined twenty-three other young men in storming the Governor’s Mansion and seizing a large cache of weapons and ammunition. He followed in his support joining the Third Virginia Infantry in 1776 as a student to participate in the war effort (Ammon 7). Monroe had the distinction of serving valiantly at Harlem Heights where his regiment was singled out with praise for bravery after holding its ground and enduring heavy casualties. Months later he served in the important victory for the Colonial Army at the Battle of Trenton when George Washington led his troops across the Delaware River to surprise attack the British Army. Here he not only served on a scouting mission that gave informed General Washington of the drunken revelry and vulnerability of the British but he was also severely wounded in the subsequent fighting. After a recovery period, Monroe engaged in scouting missions as an aide-de-camp in the Colonial army and rose through the ranks to Lieutenant Colonel but was unable to receive a field command as he desired (Ammon 28).
Although Monroe left the battlefield before victory over the British was achieved, his valiant service to his country marked a beginning to his status as guardian to a free hemisphere. The freedom of the colonists from the yoke of the British allowed them greatly increased freedom but still left them nowhere near the presence of freedom in their hemisphere that Monroe himself would have to work towards in the following years. The American historical foreign policy expert Alexander DeConde illustrated this well saying that the United States “[…] began its history as an independent nation with a vast domain, but jealous European neighbors still surrounded it” (37).
After his service in the Revolutionary War, yet still before his revelation of the Monroe Doctrine, James Monroe made several tremendous strides towards the guardianship of the Hemisphere. After serving in the Revolution and several other political offices, Monroe served in such offices of diplomacy that included stints as Minister to France, Britain, and Secretary of State. The prevalent foreign policy issues of the time during his first appointment as Minister to France revolved around issues between the United States and Great Britain left unresolved by the Revolutionary War ending Treaty of Paris of 1783. The British had been committing perceived injustices against the colonists through such deeds as continuing to occupy forts along the Great Lakes and impressing American sailors into service on British ships. America’s dealing with these and other issues took form in Jay’s Treaty which got the British to vacate the forts along the Great Lakes but failed to deal with other issues including impressments. Monroe’s stance on the issue however deviated tremendously from the conflict evasive path taken by John Jay in his negotiations with the British. He held the opinion that it was time that “[…] the insults and injuries of Britain are to be no longer borne and that we ought to seek redress by again appealing to arms….” (Ammon 128). Monroe and his idea of guarding America from foreign control was not available for compromise. While many of his contemporaries were willing to appease and avoid conflict at the expense of national freedom, Monroe was willing to take hard stances to provide for the freedom of the Hemisphere.
Monroe’s strongly held notions of freeing the Hemisphere from the presence of foreign powers was shown through his diligence in helping to negotiate the Louisiana Purchase. Monroe and President Thomas Jefferson were in strong agreement as to the importance of evading the presence of a foreign power such as France at our Western border (Ammon 204). He traveled to France and helped to negotiate the purchase that greatly helped in providing for the freedom of the Hemisphere. As President, Monroe was able to conduct a similar transaction that helped to increase the freedom of the Hemisphere. After Andrew Jackson went far beyond his directed orders to quell an Indian rebellion in Spanish Florida and actually seized the entire territory, Monroe was able to negotiate the purchase of Florida as well as the Western Boundary of the United States (Cunningham, Jr. 68). This victory of diplomacy helped to achieve his goal of a free hemisphere by increasing the territory of the United States at the expense of the European colonization that threatened the well-being of the country.
The concept of the Monroe Doctrine came about because of a shared desire of both Britain and America to keep established European powers from colonizing in the Americas. Although Spain had lost control of most of many of its Latin American colonies, the tides of the pro-Monarchial European era of the Congress of Vienna made the idea of a return of the Spanish King Ferdinand VII to the throne with the help of France and Russia and a repossession attempt of the lost Latin American colonies possible (May 2). This possibility for new colonization in the Americas threatened not only America but also Britain which did not want to see any of its European rivals gain power. It was the idea of John Adams to agree to ally with the British with their Naval might as the enforcer of the Doctrine but to present America as the actual power behind the agreement. This Doctrine which stood up against the threat of foreign colonization in the Americas fit well with many of the expressed ideas of James Monroe pertaining to the guardianship of the Hemisphere. It however, merely continued them and did not define them and too much emphasis is placed on this as the embodiment of his legacy.
Throughout his life, James Monroe served as a direct embodiment of a guardian of a Free Hemisphere. In the Revolutionary War he fought to free America from British rule. After America was freed from British control, he worked through diplomacy to rid the Hemisphere of the French and Spanish foreign powers. The accomplishment that has provided for his greatest legacy, The Monroe Doctrine, was not just a support of a policy in large part determined by his Secretary of State John Quincy Adams but also a continuation of a lifetime of policies and efforts to provide for the freedom of the Hemisphere in which he lived. If any American has ever been deserving of the title “Guardian of a Free Hemisphere” it is none other than James Monroe.
Ammon, Harry. James Monroe: The Quest for National Identity. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1971.
Cunningham, Jr., Noble E. The Presidency of James Monroe. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1996.
DeConde, Alexander. A History of American Foriegn Policy. 2nd ed. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1971.
May, Ernest R. The Making of The Monroe Doctrine. Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1975.
Monroe Doctrine. 12 Mar. 2006 http://www.pixi.com/~kingdom/monroe.html.
