... stated that further efforts by European nations to take control of any independent state in North or South America would be viewed as "the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the United States." It also noted that the US would recognize and not interfere with existing European colonies, nor meddle in the internal concerns of European countries. The Doctrine was issued in 1823, at a time when nearly all Latin American colonies of Spain and Portugal had achieved or were at the point of gaining independence from the Portuguese and Spanish Empires.
James Monroe was the fifth President of the United States, holding office from 1817 to 1825. He first stated the doctrine during his seventh annual State of the Union Address to Congress. The term "Monroe Doctrine" itself was coined in 1850. By the end of the 19th century, Monroe's declaration was seen as a defining moment in the foreign policy of the United States, and one of its longest-standing tenets. It has since been invoked by many US statesmen and several presidents, including Ulysses S. Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan.
The intent and impact of the Monroe Doctrine persisted, with only minor variations, for more than a century. Its stated objective was to free the newly independent colonies of Latin America from European intervention and avoid situations which could make the New World a battleground for the Old World powers, so that the US could exert its own influence undisturbed. The doctrine asserted that the New World and the Old World were to remain distinctly separate spheres of influence, since they were composed of entirely separate and independent nations.
After 1898, Latin American lawyers and intellectuals reinterpreted the Monroe doctrine in terms of multilateralism and non–intervention. In 1933, under President Franklin Roosevelt, the US went along with the new reinterpretation, especially in terms of the Organization of American States.
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