When the Napoleonic Wars drew to a close, several colonies under Spanish rule fought for and gained their independence leading to the breakup of the large Spanish empire. These colonies are today known as Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, each of them gained their freedom between 1815 and 1822. The United States was the first country to recognize these newly established countries as independent. Britain on the other hand did not because it was felt that Britain had to stand behind the principle of having a monarchical government. Spain demanded that the new independent countries return to its rule, and was backed up by France in addition to the Holy Alli

George Canning who was the British foreign minister got in contact with Richard Rush an American minister in the summer of 1823 to propose a joint agreement between Britain and the United States regarding Spanish American affairs. There were several points that both sides agreed on ; including that the recovery of the colonies by Spain was without a doubt hopeless, Britain could decide to recognize the new Spanish America as independent at any time and circumstance it so choose. Also, it was stated that neither Britain nor the United States had any intention of taking over these new independents, and they did not want them transferred to any other higher power. While this at first seemed like an ideal document, John Quincy Adams was against the agreement, and convinced James Monroe to go about this without Britain. This was supported because while Britain was still refusing to recognize Spanish America as independents, they had decided that whether or not the US and Britain reached an agreement they would protect Spanish America with their navy. Monroe said that it would be more effective to “come in as a cock boat [small boat] in the wake of the British man-of-war [large fighting ship].” As long as a powerful country was protecting them, the United States felt comfortable issuing this statement on their own.

President James Monroe wrote the Monroe Doctrine when he included two different excerpts regarding Spain and Russia in his annual letter to Congress discussing f

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