Roosevelt's Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine
by Lillian Bonar
Essay: Roosevelt's Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine
Pages: 11
Rating: 3 stars
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Before considering Professor X’s assertion that the Roosevelt Corollary actually corrupted the Monroe Doctrine’s
“benevolent intent,” it is worth considering whether or not the Monroe Docterine was as benevolent as the
unnamed professor seems to suggest. Professor X considers Monroe’s 1823 Doctrine an act of benevolence, in
which an increasingly dominant world power generously extends protection over its continental neighbors. Yet the
Professor ignores the inherently imperialistic subtext that is contained within the Doctrine, and thus his
comparison of the Monroe Doctrine to the Roosevelt Corollary omits a fundamental aspect of America’s
colonialist history.
Monroe wrote that Spain and Portugal’s efforts "to improve the condition of the people of [colonized countries in
the Americas]” yielded disappointing results, and suggests that the United States was better positioned to take on
the role of colonial overseer given the nation’s unique geographical, social, and political connection to the
Americas. Monroe justified this right to benevolent imperialism largely around the idea that America’s
government, “has been achieved by the loss of so much blood and treasure, and matured by the wisdom of their
most enlightened citizens, [which has produced] unexampled felicity [throughout America].” Yet contained within
this utopian treatment of the American political system is the inherent suggestion that the American definition of
“unexampled felicity” was universally applicable throughout the Americas. Here, the issue of textuality is raised,
while politically, the protection of American countries by the United States suggests a benevolent intention, the
idea that America had indirect authority over its neighbors indicates an impe...