Laissez Faire and Special Relationship Between US & UK
The Monroe Doctrine sparked mixed feelings throughout the nations during the time of its announcement. Some countries disregarded the conceptual ideas due to the United States’ lack of naval power. On the other hand, some countries acknowledged this document in order to gain power in their own nation. For example, Britain used this option to exclaim their policy of laissez-faire to gain new locations to expand their trade. Their goal was to expand their outputs of manufactured goods in their country to nations that could be possible importers of their products. This complex partnership between the United States and Great Britain is what will lead to an elongated relationship between the two nations.
Before the Monroe Doctrine was released, both nations were growing and expanding their power to other countries. The United States, being the weaker of the two, struggled to expand power which led to the indication of the doctrine. Britain on the other hand was an already strong and expanding nation of power seeking more outputs for their manufactured goods being processed back in Europe. Feeling under the control of the European powers, the United States wanted to limit their expansion and gain economic progression at the same time. The main goals of establishing rules and regulations within the foreign policy of European powers were, “separate spheres of influence for the Americas and Europe, non-colonization, and non-intervention”.[1] These concepts and ideas were what led to the Monroe Doctrine being published.
After the concepts of the document were reviewed by the European nations seeking colonies in the region of Central America, most ignored them due to the extreme requests. Britain however saw it as an option to limit the competing nations from gaining colonies that Britain also wanted for themselves. The British was growing at an incredible rate and ws looking for places to spread their market and if “the newly independent Latin American states [were] to become Spanish colonies once more, British access to these markets would be cut off by Spanish mercantilist policy”.[2] In agreeing with the doctrine, Britain provided support to the United States in what they were hoping to accomplish. The United States at the time didn’t want the British to be apart of their plans as it seemed that they would hold them back from what they are hoping to achieve. Easily illustrated in the artwork of William Allen Rogers, the announcement of this policy could be best described as the act of the United States drawing a line in the sand and not letting European nations cross it.[3] The United States also believed that Great Britain was only trying to gain more access to Latin America with no respect of their newly gained independence. To increase the seriousness of the United State’s reasoning behind the doctrine, they stated that any act or motivation to spread into Latin America would interfere with their country and would be “dangerous to their peace and safety”.[4]
The main focus of Great Britain at the time was to expand the manufacturing outputs of their industries and exclaim their economic policy of laissez-faire. This process was a great leap in the economy of Great Britain as it aimed to expand trade resources and possible partnerships with willing nations. This great leap, however, led to the corruption that was viewed in the amount of effort and resources that the government was putting into this newfound policy. In J. Bartlet Brebner’s book about laissez-faire, it is stated that, ”it is difficult to summarize justly the interplay of laissez-faire and state intervention in Great Britain during the nineteenth century,” illustrating the complicated scenario that the government played into this new foreign policy.[5] Giving an example to the willingness of Great Britain’s government, they were willing to have any excuse to elaborate on their economic strategy. In the end, laissez-faire was the main contributor to the reasoning behind Great Britain’s acknowledgement of the Monroe Doctrine as an established and documented policy.
As time went on, the Monroe Doctrine saw progress as it was published into the world. Although it was ignored by most nations of great power, one nation saw an opportunity for economic prosperity and took it. This government choice by Great Britain of siding with the United States developed a relationship between the two nations that started a confrontation between two different motivations. The British put everything aside and appreciated the United State’s ideas with open arms hoping to expand their economic policy of laissez-faire. Even though there was a corruption with power between the government and the people over this trade policy, Great Britain moved forward with their agreement. The Monroe Doctrine had seized the reaping of newfound independence and established new partnerships as well.[6]
1. History.state.gov. "Monroe Doctrine, 1823 - 1801–1829 - Milestones - Office of the Historian." 2014. https://history.state.gov/milestones/1801-1829/monroe (accessed 20 Feb 2014).
2. Boundless. "The Monroe Doctrine - Boundless Open Textbook." 2014. https://www.boundless.com/u-s-history/democracy-in-america-1815-1840/the-monroe-and-adams-presidency/the-monroe-doctrine/ (accessed 20 Feb 2014).
3. allposters.com. "Monroe Doctrine Cartoon Prints by William Allen Rogers at AllPosters.com." 2014. http://www.allposters.com/-sp/Monroe-Doctrine-Cartoon-Posters_i9099109_.htm (accessed 20 Feb 2014).
4. YouTube. "The Monroe Doctrine 1823." 2014. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kInJWF5--jE (accessed 20 Feb 2014).
5. Brebner, J. Bartlet. Laissez Faire and State Intervention in Nineteenth-Century Britain. Cambridge University Press, 2014.
6. Foner, Eric. Give me liberty!. New York: W.W. Norton, 2012.
Before the Monroe Doctrine was released, both nations were growing and expanding their power to other countries. The United States, being the weaker of the two, struggled to expand power which led to the indication of the doctrine. Britain on the other hand was an already strong and expanding nation of power seeking more outputs for their manufactured goods being processed back in Europe. Feeling under the control of the European powers, the United States wanted to limit their expansion and gain economic progression at the same time. The main goals of establishing rules and regulations within the foreign policy of European powers were, “separate spheres of influence for the Americas and Europe, non-colonization, and non-intervention”.[1] These concepts and ideas were what led to the Monroe Doctrine being published.
After the concepts of the document were reviewed by the European nations seeking colonies in the region of Central America, most ignored them due to the extreme requests. Britain however saw it as an option to limit the competing nations from gaining colonies that Britain also wanted for themselves. The British was growing at an incredible rate and ws looking for places to spread their market and if “the newly independent Latin American states [were] to become Spanish colonies once more, British access to these markets would be cut off by Spanish mercantilist policy”.[2] In agreeing with the doctrine, Britain provided support to the United States in what they were hoping to accomplish. The United States at the time didn’t want the British to be apart of their plans as it seemed that they would hold them back from what they are hoping to achieve. Easily illustrated in the artwork of William Allen Rogers, the announcement of this policy could be best described as the act of the United States drawing a line in the sand and not letting European nations cross it.[3] The United States also believed that Great Britain was only trying to gain more access to Latin America with no respect of their newly gained independence. To increase the seriousness of the United State’s reasoning behind the doctrine, they stated that any act or motivation to spread into Latin America would interfere with their country and would be “dangerous to their peace and safety”.[4]
The main focus of Great Britain at the time was to expand the manufacturing outputs of their industries and exclaim their economic policy of laissez-faire. This process was a great leap in the economy of Great Britain as it aimed to expand trade resources and possible partnerships with willing nations. This great leap, however, led to the corruption that was viewed in the amount of effort and resources that the government was putting into this newfound policy. In J. Bartlet Brebner’s book about laissez-faire, it is stated that, ”it is difficult to summarize justly the interplay of laissez-faire and state intervention in Great Britain during the nineteenth century,” illustrating the complicated scenario that the government played into this new foreign policy.[5] Giving an example to the willingness of Great Britain’s government, they were willing to have any excuse to elaborate on their economic strategy. In the end, laissez-faire was the main contributor to the reasoning behind Great Britain’s acknowledgement of the Monroe Doctrine as an established and documented policy.
As time went on, the Monroe Doctrine saw progress as it was published into the world. Although it was ignored by most nations of great power, one nation saw an opportunity for economic prosperity and took it. This government choice by Great Britain of siding with the United States developed a relationship between the two nations that started a confrontation between two different motivations. The British put everything aside and appreciated the United State’s ideas with open arms hoping to expand their economic policy of laissez-faire. Even though there was a corruption with power between the government and the people over this trade policy, Great Britain moved forward with their agreement. The Monroe Doctrine had seized the reaping of newfound independence and established new partnerships as well.[6]
1. History.state.gov. "Monroe Doctrine, 1823 - 1801–1829 - Milestones - Office of the Historian." 2014. https://history.state.gov/milestones/1801-1829/monroe (accessed 20 Feb 2014).
2. Boundless. "The Monroe Doctrine - Boundless Open Textbook." 2014. https://www.boundless.com/u-s-history/democracy-in-america-1815-1840/the-monroe-and-adams-presidency/the-monroe-doctrine/ (accessed 20 Feb 2014).
3. allposters.com. "Monroe Doctrine Cartoon Prints by William Allen Rogers at AllPosters.com." 2014. http://www.allposters.com/-sp/Monroe-Doctrine-Cartoon-Posters_i9099109_.htm (accessed 20 Feb 2014).
4. YouTube. "The Monroe Doctrine 1823." 2014. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kInJWF5--jE (accessed 20 Feb 2014).
5. Brebner, J. Bartlet. Laissez Faire and State Intervention in Nineteenth-Century Britain. Cambridge University Press, 2014.
6. Foner, Eric. Give me liberty!. New York: W.W. Norton, 2012.