Address • 1823

The Monroe Doctrine

James Monroe & John Quincy Adams

On This Document

Delivered in President Monroe's 1823 annual message and drafted largely by Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, the Monroe Doctrine warned European powers against further colonization or intervention in the Americas. Modest in its enforcement at the time, it became the cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy in the Western Hemisphere for the next century.

The occasion has been judged proper for asserting, as a principle in which the rights and interests of the United States are involved, 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. We owe it, therefore, to candor to declare that we should consider any attempt on their part to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety.

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