Monroe Doctrine

This excerpt of a speech by U.S. President James Monroe (1758-1831), addressing the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate in his seventh annual message on December 2, 1823, lays out international policy of the United States in regard to the Americas.

This part of Monroe's speech has become widely known as the "Monroe Doctrine" and many point to this policy as part of the reasons of the numerous military and political interventions by the U.S. in other parts of the Western Hemisphere, for example the 1915 invasion and occupation of Haiti, that would last until 1934.

The doctrine was conceived by its authors, including John Quincy Adams, as United States declaration of moral opposition to colonialism, but has subsequently been re-interpreted in a wide variety of ways, including by President Theodore Roosevelt as a license for the U.S. to practice its own form of colonialism (known as the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine.)

Since U.S. actions against Haiti, for example the 58 year delay in the recognition of the country, as well as military occupation had a profound impact on the development of the former French colony, it is vital to take the Monroe Doctrine into consideration when looking at Haiti's development. The Haitian progress since Jean-Jacques Dessalines declaration of independence on January 1, 1804 until today can only be understood by examining how Haiti has been impacted by foreign influence.

Excerpt of President Monroe's speech
(Richardson p. 287)