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Manuscript/Mixed Material Letter, James Monroe to Thomas Jefferson seeking foreign policy advice, 17 October 1823.

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About this Item

Title

  • Letter, James Monroe to Thomas Jefferson seeking foreign policy advice, 17 October 1823.

Created / Published

  • 17 October 1823

Headings

  • -  Diplomacy
  • -  Jefferson, Thomas (1743-1826)
  • -  Presidents
  • -  Adams, John Quincy (1767-1848)
  • -  Great Britain
  • -  Madison, James (1751-1836)
  • -  Canning, George (1770-1827)
  • -  Monroe, James (1758-1831)
  • -  Monroe doctrine (1823)
  • -  Russia
  • -  Manuscripts

Genre

  • Manuscripts

Notes

  • -  Reproduction number: A117 (color slide; page 1); A118 (color slide; page 2)
  • -  Responding to a series of proposals from British Foreign Minister George Canning (1770-1827) for a joint Anglo-American condemnation of Spanish efforts to regain sovereignty in South America, President James Monroe (1758-1831) conferred with former presidents Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) and James Madison (1751-1836). Both men urged President Monroe to cooperate with Great Britain, but Jefferson also reminded him that the two cornerstones of American foreign policy had been the country's non-involvement in European affairs and intolerance of European meddling in America. Monroe, however, was also concerned with Russian encroachments on the west coast of North America, and his secretary of state John Quincy Adams (1767-1848), suspicious of Canning, suggested that Russia was more dangerous than Spain, since the latter would be intimidated by the British fleet which controlled the Atlantic Ocean. Thus, Adams cautioned against an alliance with Britain, arguing instead for an independent denunciation of any further European colonization of America. Monroe chose to take no action on the Canning proposal and instead laid down the principle that European countries could establish no new colonies in the New World and their interference would not be tolerated in the affairs of nations in either North or South America. As stated in the president's annual message to Congress on 2 December 1823, the "Monroe Doctrine" became and still remains one of the foundations of American foreign policy.

Source Collection

  • Thomas Jefferson Papers

Repository

  • Manuscript Division

Online Format

  • image

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Letter, James Monroe to Thomas Jefferson seeking foreign policy advice, 17 October. 17 October, 1823. Manuscript/Mixed Material. https://www.loc.gov/item/mcc.082/.

APA citation style:

(1823) Letter, James Monroe to Thomas Jefferson seeking foreign policy advice, 17 October. 17 October. [Manuscript/Mixed Material] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/mcc.082/.

MLA citation style:

Letter, James Monroe to Thomas Jefferson seeking foreign policy advice, 17 October. 17 October, 1823. Manuscript/Mixed Material. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/mcc.082/>.