Roosevelt Corollary

In 1823, after many discrepancies dealing with European nations, President James Monroe “incorporated a stern warning to European powers,� (Bailey, Cohen, and Kennedy, 253) in the form of the Monroe Doctrine. The Doctrine stated that all European intervention with both of the American continents would cease to exist. In 1905, President Roosevelt altered the true purpose of the Monroe Doctrine to fit his needs. He used the Monroe Doctrine to validate the involvement of the United States in the affairs of South American nations. Roosevelt gained support by this relation to the much respected Doctrine, and used his “big stick policy� to enforce his Corollary. U.S. foreign policy changed in the face of the Corollary both negatively and positively, leaving lasting effects upon the nation.
President Monroe’s Doctrine intended to keep Europe from meddling in affairs of the Western Hemisphere. Many South American nations, such as Venezuela and the Dominican Republic, owed debts to European countries, and were not capable of compensation. “Seeking to force payment, German warships sank two Venezuelan gunboats and bombarded a town in early 1903,“ (Bailey, Cohen, and Kennedy, 657). Also, “the European creditors then ha

In 1933, “President Franklin D. Roosevelt formally renounced the doctrine intervention in Latin America. Thus what the first Roosevelt gave, the second Roosevelt took away,” (Bailey and Kennedy, 196). By forcing the Roosevelt Corollary on more than the initial intended Western Hemisphere, the United States reserved it’s status as a dominating world power, which has continued well past the time of Roosevelt. The United States still plays a large part in much of the world, helping countless foreign countries with military, economic, and financial aid when considered necessary. A recent example of this is the United States’ involvement with Iraq, providing evidence that, if needed, the nation still has authority to enforce the “big stick policy.”

In 1904, hostilities between Russia and Japan allowed Roosevelt to demonstrate his authority and gave him the opportunity to expand American influence into Asia. As the war began to show the loss of Japanese troops and money, Tokyo officials “approached Roosevelt in the deepest secrecy and asked him to help sponsor peace negotiations,” (Bailey, Cohen, and Kennedy, 659). Roosevelt felt that it was his obligation, under the Monroe Doctrine and the newly penned Roosevelt Corollary, to take charge of this matter. For the agreement between the two