Overview

Overview

The Monroe Doctrine has been a cornerstone of United States foreign policy since its inception in 1823. The doctrine supported the independent nations of the Western Hemisphere against European interference "for the purpose of oppressing them, or controlling in any other manner their destiny." The doctrine showed that the United States would not allow new colonies to be created in the Americas, nor would it permit existing colonies to extend their boundaries.

In the first decades of the 1900's, President Theodore Roosevelt expanded the meaning of the Monroe Doctrine. According to Roosevelt, the Monroe Doctrine required the United States to prevent European intervention by intervening itself. Under this "big stick" policy, the United States sent troops into the Dominican Republic in 1905, into Nicaragua in 1912, and into Haiti in 1915.