Monroe Doctrine facts for kids

U.S. President James Monroe.

Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, author of the Monroe Doctrine.

The Monroe Doctrine was a foreign policy proclaimed by the United States in 1823 during the presidency of President James Monroe. It said that European powers do not belong in The Americas. In particular, most of the Spanish Empire in South America had recently become independent, due to the wars against France. Having won the Peninsular War, Spain wanted its empire back, and the Monroe Doctrine said the United States would resist that. The United Kingdom agreed and helped enforce the Monroe Doctrine.

Images for kids

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  The Chilean Declaration of Independence on 18 February 1818

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  Gillam's 1896 political cartoon, Uncle Sam stands with rifle between the Europeans and Latin Americans

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  Spain fails to reconquer Mexico at the Battle of Tampico in 1829

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  French intervention in Mexico, 1861–1867

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  President Cleveland twisting the tail of the British Lion; cartoon in Puck by J.S. Pughe, 1895

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  Spanish–American War, the result of U.S. intervention in the Cuban War of Independence

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  The U.S.-supported Nicaraguan contras

See also

In Spanish: Doctrina Monroe para niños