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The Monroe Doctrine: Origin and Early American Foreign Policy
—Curriculum Unit Overview—
[This document is] the most momentous [pronouncement] which has been . . . offered . . .
since that of Independence. That made us a nation. This sets our compass and points the course.
—Thomas Jefferson to James Monroe, October 24, 1823 from the EDSITEment resource American Memory,
from correspondence in which the authors discussed ideas eventually incorporated into the Monroe Doctrine.
In Monroe's message to Congress on December 2, 1823, [the President] delivered what we have always called the Monroe Doctrine, although in truth it should have been called the Adams Doctrine.
—The Monroe Doctrine from Information USA, an exhibit of the U.S. Department of State,
a link from the EDSITEment-reviewed website Internet Public Library.
Introduction
James Monroe spent most of his life in public office, devoting a significant portion of his career to foreign affairs. He served as George Washington's Minister to France, but was eventually recalled by the President. Thomas Jefferson appointed Monroe as a special envoy for negotiating the purchase of New Orleans and West Florida. He and principal negotiator Robert Livingston exceeded their authority and all expectations by acquiring the entire Louisiana Territory as well as a claim to all of Florida. Next, Monroe became Minister to Great Britain. Under James Madison, he served as Secretary of State and Secretary of War.
Monroe brought a vision of an expanded America to his presidency—a vision that helped facilitate the formulation of what has become known as the Monroe Doctrine. Because this Doctrine bears his name, the general public is not inclined to recognize the significant contributions made by Secretary of State John Quincy Adams and unofficial presidential advisor Thomas Jefferson.
In this unit, students will review the Monroe Doctrine against a background of United States foreign relations in the early years of the republic. In particular, they will examine Monroe's involvement in American diplomacy while serving in a variety of positions before he was elected president. They will become familiar with Monroe's beliefs in an expanded United States as well as an expanded role for the United States in the Americas. Students will also read primary source material reflecting the independence movement in South America, which served as the direct impetus for the Monroe Doctrine. Finally, small groups will analyze some documentary evidence of Adams's role and Jefferson's advice regarding the Monroe Doctrine. The class will debate how credit for the Doctrine should be "allocated."
This unit of study prepares students to reflect on the Doctrine. What were its most significant goals? In what ways, if any, was it intended to provide peace and safety for the United States, protect the newly independent Latin American states, and/or promote expansionist goals of the United States in the Western Hemisphere?
Guiding Questions
- What were the circumstances leading to the formulation of the Monroe Doctrine?
- What were its major provisions?
- What were Monroe's contributions to American foreign policy prior to and during his terms as president?
- What contributions did John Quincy Adams and Thomas Jefferson make to the formulation of the Monroe Doctrine?
Learning Objectives
After completing all of the lessons in this unit, students will be able to:
- List events in early American diplomatic history that contributed to the formulation of the Monroe Doctrine.
- Discuss the reasons President Monroe used when recommending that Congress recognize the revolutionary governments of Spanish America.
- Paraphrase the central points of the Monroe Doctrine.
- Weigh the relative contributions to the Monroe Doctrine of President Monroe, Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, and former President and unofficial advisor Thomas Jefferson.
- Decide whether the Doctrine was intended to provide peace and safety for the United States, protect the newly independent Latin American states, and/or promote expansionist goals of the United States in the Western Hemisphere.
Preparing to Teach This Curriculum Unit
- Review each lesson plan. Locate and bookmark suggested materials and other
useful websites. Download and print out documents you will use and duplicate
copies as necessary for student viewing.
- Download the blackline
masters for this lesson, available here as a PDF file. Print out and make
an appropriate number of copies of any handouts you plan to use in class.
- Each activity in this unit of study is designed for use as a stand-alone
lesson. Taken all together, the lessons provide a fairly comprehensive review
of U.S. diplomacy before 1823. Since available time and curriculum needs vary
by classroom, the following guidelines for use are provided:
- According to Information USA, an
exhibit of the website of the U.S. Department
of State (a link from the EDSITEment resource Internet
Public Library):
In Monroe's message to Congress on December 2, 1823, he delivered what
we have always called the Monroe Doctrine, although in truth it should
have been called the Adams Doctrine.
Information USA should not be regarded
as an authoritative scholarly source. However, the suggestion that John
Quincy Adams—Monroe's Secretary of State—has received insufficient
credit for his role in formulating the Monroe Doctrine is not unique. In
this lesson, the suggestion provides a motive for students to take a closer
look at the Monroe Doctrine, as well as some of the international events
and domestic ideas that provided the impetus for it.
When students read correspondence between Monroe and former President Thomas
Jefferson, they also will note Jefferson's apparent influence on Monroe.
In the culminating lesson of this unit of study, students will decide for
themselves if the famous Doctrine has been correctly or incorrectly named.
Any well-reasoned conclusion based on evidence will be fine because this
unit has a different underlying purpose: As students explore the relative
influence of Monroe, Adams, and Jefferson on the Monroe Doctrine, they also
will be analyzing the Monroe Doctrine itself and events contemporary to
it.
- Throughout this unit, students will read and analyze a variety of primary
documents. The following materials from EDSITEment resources may be useful
to teachers seeking expert advice on the use of primary documents:
Unit Lessons
Selected EDSITEment Websites
American Memory
[http://memory.loc.gov/]
- 1818,
November 28 From Adams
[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsp&fileName=
004/llsp004.db&Page=539]
- Act
of the Independence of Peru (July 15, 1821)
[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsp&fileName=
004/llsp004.db&recNum=834]
- Background
on Letter, James Monroe to Thomas Jefferson seeking foreign policy advice,
17 October 1823
[http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mcc:@field
(DOCID+@lit(mcc/082))]
- Bernardo
O'Higgins to the President of the United States, April 1, 1817
[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsp&fileName=
004/llsp004.db&recNum=183]
- Convention
with Central America
[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsp&fileName=
005/llsp005.db&Page=774]
- Convention
with Russia (1824)
[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsp&fileName=
005/llsp005.db&recNum=442]
- Don
Manuel Torres to the Secretary of State (John Quincy Adams), November 30,
1821
[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsp&fileName=
004/llsp004.db&recNum=841]
- Independence
of the Spanish Provinces
[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsp&fileName=
004/llsp004.db&Page=173]
- INDEX
TO FOREIGN RELATIONS. VOLUME IV
[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hlaw:@field
(DOCID+@lit(sp0043))]
- Instructions
from Adams to Middleton in Negotiating with Russia, July 22, 1823
[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsp&fileName=
005/llsp005.db&recNum=445]
- Jefferson
to James Monroe, February 21, 1823
[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mtj:@field
(DOCID+@lit(jm040128))]
- Jefferson
to James Monroe, June 11, 1823
[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mtj:@field
(DOCID+@lit(jm040132))]
- Jefferson
to James Monroe, June 23, 1823
[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mtj:@field
(DOCID+@lit(jm040133))]
- Jefferson
to Monroe on South America, February 4, 1816
[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mtj:@field
(DOCID+@lit(tj110168))]
- John
Forsythe to JQ Adams on the Cessation of Florida, September 21, 1820
[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsp&fileName=
005/llsp005.db&recNum=280]
- Adams
on Greek Revolution, August 18, 1823
[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsp&fileName=
005/llsp005.db&Page=257]
- John
Quncy Adams to the Russian Minister to the United States, February 25, 1822
[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsp&fileName=
004/llsp004.db&Page=861]
- Message
to Congress: Permission from Monroe to Jackson to Enter Florida, March 25,
1818
[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsp&fileName=
004/llsp004.db&recNum=190]
- Monroe
to Thomas Jefferson, April 14, 1823
[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mtj:@field
(DOCID+@lit(jm040130))]
- Monroe
to Thomas Jefferson, August 18, 1823
[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mtj:@field
(DOCID+@lit(jm040135))]
- Monroe
to Thomas Jefferson, December 1823
[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mtj:@field
(DOCID+@lit(jm040141))]
- Monroe
to Thomas Jefferson, December 4, 1823
[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mtj:@field
(DOCID+@lit(jm040140))]
- Monroe
to Thomas Jefferson, June 2, 1823
[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mtj:@field
(DOCID+@lit(jm040131))]
- Monroe
to Thomas Jefferson, October 17, 1823
[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mtj:@field
(DOCID+@lit(jm040137))]
- New
map of South America from the latest authorities. From Samuel Lewis' Atlas,
1817
[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/gmd:@field
(NUMBER+@band(g5200+ct000170))]
- New
York Citizens Petition of Sympathy for Greece, December 29, 1823
[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsp&fileName=
005/llsp005.db&recNum=260]
- Political
Condition of the Spanish Provinces of South America (March and April 1822)
-- Response to the Resolution of January 30, 1822
[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsp&fileName=
004/llsp004.db&recNum=825]
- Presenting
Colonel Martin Thompson as the authorized deputy or minister of Buenos Ayres,
and requesting the protection and assistance of the United States, January
16, 1816
[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsp&fileName=
004/llsp004.db&Page=174]
- President
Monroe to Congress: Recognition of the Independent States of South America
[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsj&fileName=
011/llsj011.db&recNum=178]
- Ratified
convention with Russia of April 5, 1824
[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsp&fileName=
005/llsp005.db&recNum=592]
- Resolution
of the House Passed January 30, 1822
[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hlaw:@field
(DOCID+@lit(hj01541))]
- The
Republic of Columbia Declared, February 20, 1821 (uniting Columbia, Venezuela,
and Ecuador)
[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsp&fileName=
004/llsp004.db&recNum=839]
- Thomas
Jefferson to James Monroe, October 24, 1823 (full text)
[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mtj:@field
(DOCID+@lit(jm040139))]
- THURSDAY,
APRIL 25, 1822
[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hlaw:@field
(DOCID+@lit(sj011105))]
- To
Chiefs and Warriors From President, November 28, 1817
[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsp&fileName=
016/llsp016.db&recNum=693]
- Today in History:
October 17
[http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/oct17.html]
- American Memory:
Sources
[http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/sources.html]
- PBS History
[http://www.pbs.org/neighborhoods/history/#us]
- The Library of Congress
[http://www.loc.gov/]
The American President
[http://www.americanpresident.org/]
American Studies at the University of Virginia
[http://xroads.virginia.edu/]
The Avalon Project
[http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/avalon.htm]
Congress Link
[http://www.congresslink.org/]
Digital Classroom
[http://www.archives.gov/digital_classroom/index.html]
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
[http://www.gilderlehrman.org]
Harpweek
[http://loc.harpweek.com/]
History Matters
[http://historymatters.gmu.edu/]
Internet Public Library
[http://www.ipl.org]
- The American Presidency
[http://www.grolier.com/presidents/preshome.html]
- The Columbia Encyclopedia: Sixth Edition
[http://www.bartleby.com/65/]
- Argentina
[http://www.bartleby.com/65/ar/Argentin.html]
- United States Department of State
[http://www.state.gov/]
- University of Virginia Electronic
Text Center
[http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/]
- Independence
of SPANISH AMERICA: 1820
[http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/foley-section?id=JCE8019]
- James
Monroe to Thomas Jefferson, October 17, 1823
[http://etext.virginia.edu/etcbin/ot2www-singleauthor?specfile=
/web/data/jefferson/texts/jefall.o2w&act=
text&offset=7062376&textreg=1&query=monroe+doctrine]
- Letter
from Jefferson To General Horatio Gates, July 1803
[http://etext.virginia.edu/etcbin/ot2www-foley?specfile=/texts/english/
jefferson/foley/public/JefCycl.o2w&act=surround&offset=6369469&tag=5480.+
MONROE+(James),+Louisiana+purchase.+--+&query=monroe&id=JCE5480]
- Revolt
In South America
[http://etext.virginia.edu/etcbin/ot2www-foley?specfile=/texts/english/
jefferson/foley/public/JefCycl.o2w&act=surround&offset=9006069&tag=
8019.+SOUTH+AMERICA,+Revolt+in.+--+&query=
south+america&id=JCE8019]
- Thomas Jefferson Digital
Archive
[http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/jefferson/bibliog/]
- Thomas
Jefferson on the Monroe Doctrine
[http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/foleyx-browse?id=Monroe%20Doctrine]
- To
John C. Breckinridge Monticello, August 12, 1803
[http://etext.virginia.edu/etcbin/ot2www-singleauthor?specfile=/web/data/jefferson/
texts/jefall.o2w&act=text&offset=6224382&textreg=1&query=Louisiana]
- To
the Special Envoy to France (JAMES MONROE) Washington, January 13, 1803
[http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=JefLett.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/
texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=148&division=div1]
- To
the U.S. Minister to France (ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON) Washington, April 18,
1802
[http://etext.virginia.edu/etcbin/ot2www-singleauthor?specfile=
/web/data/jefferson/texts/jefall.o2w&act=text&offset=6142763&textreg=
1&query=Louisiana]
LANIC
[http://lanic.utexas.edu/]
Liberty, Equality, Fraternity:
Exploring The French Revolution
[http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/index.html]
National Geographic Xpeditions
[http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/]
Naval Historical Center
[http://www.history.navy.mil/]
World War I Document Archive
[http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/]
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