Monroe Doctrine

About the Author

The Monroe Doctrine has two principal authors, President James Monroe and Secretary of State John Quincy Adams . The best way to balance credit between these two men is a point of contention among historians. Most agree that Monroe was an advocate for the major principles of the doctrine—noncolonization, neutrality, and support for South American independence movements—but Adams's ideas and his diplomatic efforts created conditions enabling the successful pronouncement of the Monroe Doctrine. The doctrine's original name, the American System, reflects its shared authorship as well as its debt to longstanding practices in American foreign policy, which involved the work of many individuals.

James Monroe was born in Virginia in 1758 into a slaveholding family of the landed gentry, a class slightly below that of the exalted planters. As a young man, Monroe participated in the American Revolution, fighting in the battles of Trenton and Monmouth under the command of General George Washington. Monroe had hoped this experience would lead to a career in the military, but he was unable to raise a regiment and sought a professional future in law and politics instead. For more than three decades, Monroe amassed a successful political career that included terms as Virginia's senator and governor as well as diplomatic experience as minister to France during Washington's presidency. He served as secretary of state during the War of 1812. A founding member of the Democratic-Republican Party, Monroe enjoyed a close political and personal association with his presidential predecessors, Virginia neighbors, and fellow partisans Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. After completing his second term as president, Monroe retired to New York City, where he died on July 4, 1831, at the age of seventy-three.

John Quincy Adams, the son of President John Adams, was born in Massachusetts in 1767. The younger Adams enjoyed a distinguished public career that began in foreign affairs and culminated with his election to the presidency in 1824. Before becoming secretary of state, Adams had served as the American ambassador in a string of European capitals, including Holland, Portugal, Prussia, Russia, and Britain. He also participated in the Treaty of Ghent negotiations that ended the War of 1812. Breaking with tradition, Adams abandoned his postpresidential retirement to become a member of Congress from Massachusetts, where he emerged as a major opponent of slavery. Adams collapsed on the floor of the House of Representatives and died a few days later on February 23, 1848, at the age of eighty.