The+Roosevelt+Corollary+to+the+Monroe+Doctrine

Table of Contents I. Introduction II. The Monroe Doctrine III. Background IV. The Roosevelt Corollary V. Results VI. Sources

I.Introduction In 1904 Roosevelt announced the "Roosevelt Corollary", an extension of the Monroe Doctrine. It stated that the United States had the right to intervene in the domestic affairs of its neighbors if those neighbors probed unable to maintain order and national sovereignty. II. The Monroe Doctrine The Monroe Doctrine is a United States policy that was introduced on December 2, 1823, which stated that further efforts by European countries to colonize land or interfere with states in the Americas would be viewed by the United States of America as acts of aggression requiring US intervention. Basically, the doctrine warned the European powers “to leave America for the Americans.”

III. Background Rumors emerged that European nations were trying to establish bases in Latin America. Their justification was that the countries had not paid debts. Roosevelt perceived this as a threat to the United States sphere of influence and paid of the debts resulting in the Roosevelt Corollary. The white man's burden was another factor in the Roosevelt Corollary. Roosevelt thought it was the duty of the civilized nations to "civilize" the uncivilized nations (white man's burden). In this case, Roosevelt did not think that Latin America was behaving appropriately in the United States sphere of influence. IV. The Roosevelt Corollary The Roosevelt Corollary was an amendment to the Monroe Doctrine. Basically it stated that not only should Europe leave America, but the  United States had the right to involve itself in the business of its neighbors. This increased the strength of America's sphere of influence, originally established by the Monroe Doctrine. The Roosevelt Corollary was part of the big stick philosophy

V. Results The Roosevelt Corollary gave justification for the United States intervention of Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. Europeans thought that the U.S. was intervening not only in defense of South American states in the face of European imperialism, but was also using its muscle to obtain concessions and privileges for American corporations. Critics argued that the Roosevelt Corollary would lead to negative consequences both in national security terms and in terms of its effect on domestic politics VI.Sources code American History, Brinkley http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/time/jd/16321.htm http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/time/ip/17660.htm http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1449.html http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Monroe.html code