America's Backyard: Difference between revisions

During the early 19th century, many [[Spanish colonies]] in Latin America were trying to take advantage of the failing Spanish empire and were trying to gain their independence from Spain. However, during the early 1820s, Spain was on the verge of restoration.<ref name=monroe>{{cite web |url=http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h255.html |title= Monroe Doctrine |accessdate=2008-04-15 |year=2010 |publisher=Online Highway}}</ref> The United States and Great Britain did not want Spain to gain any power back in Latin America because they wanted those colonies to become independent. [[Simon Bolivar]] was a leader in the fight for independence. He greatly admired the USA and in turn was supported by the USA {{Citation needed|date=December 2012}}. With those colonies independent, they could trade in a mutually beneficial way with the United States and Great Britain and not be restricted by [[Mercantilism|mercantilistic]] Spain which wanted to benefit its home economy at the expense of the South Americans. In light of all of this, President [[James Monroe]] proposed the [[Monroe Doctrine]] on December 2, 1823. The Doctrine stated that any 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 and asserted that the Western Hemisphere was not to be further colonized by European countries, and that the United States would not interfere with existing European colonies nor in the internal concerns of European countries. Since the United States at the time was not known as a powerful country, the Doctrine was not internationally taken seriously, however, since Great Britain agreed with it no countries challenged it.