• To what events in United States and European foreign affairs does the Monroe Doctrine refer?
• What was the primary purpose behind the Monroe Doctrine?

• Relate specific passages in the Monroe Doctrine to events in early U.S. diplomacy.

If desired, provide background information on the Monroe Doctrine from the class text or a source such as Monroe Doctrine, from the website of the U.S. Department of State, a link from the EDSITEment resource Internet Public Library. To understand the Monroe Doctrine, it is essential that the class have a basic background in early American diplomacy. If desired, see Lesson One, above, and particularly the handout "Documentary Timeline: American Diplomacy Before the Monroe Doctrine," on pages 1-7 of the Master PDF, for a capsule review of early American diplomacy and related events that provides sufficient background for the discussion to follow.

• Activity 1. A Close Reading

Activity 1. A Close Reading

Read with the class the text of The Monroe Doctrine from the handout "The Monroe Doctrine: A Close Reading" on pages 14-15 of the Master PDF. The handout replaces the original paragraphing and, instead, organizes the text by subject. It contains all of the language of the original as presented by the EDSITEment-reviewed website The Avalon Project. Discuss the text with the class using the following questions as guidelines:

• To what event(s) or condition(s) in the history of the United States and/or its diplomacy does each section refer?
• In what ways, if any, does the Monroe Doctrine address American concerns for peace and safety?
• In what ways, if any, does the Monroe Doctrine invoke U.S. sympathy for revolutionary governments in South America?
• In what ways, if any, does the Monroe Doctrine continue the American policy of neutrality?
• In what ways, if any, does the Monroe Doctrine address American desires to expand its territory?
• Do students see any other motives behind the Monroe Doctrine?

Students should be able to respond effectively to the bulleted questions above. Ask students to state in writing, supported by evidence, their answer to this question: What was the primary purpose behind the Monroe Doctrine?

Selected EDSITEment Websites

The Avalon Project

• Annual Messages of the Presidents
• The Barbary Treaties
• Convention of 1818 between the United States and Great Britain
• Convention of Peace, Amity, Commerce, and Navigation, May 16, 1832
• Exchange of Notes 1817: Proclamation (Relative to Naval Forces on the American Lakes)
• Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents
• Monroe Doctrine, December 2, 1823
• Monroe's Second Inaugural Address
• Preliminary Articles of Peace
• The Proclamation of Neutrality, 1793
• The Quasi War with France, 1791-1800
• Treaty of Ghent
• Treaty of San Ildefonso: Retrocession of Louisiana from Spain to France
• Washington's Farewell Address, 1796

Digital Classroom

• Cartoon Analysis Worksheet
• Document Analysis Worksheets
• History in the Raw
• Notes on the Louisiana Purchase
• Written Document Analysis Worksheet

Harpweek

• The First Great Western Empire

Internet Public Library

• The American Presidency
  
  • James Monroe Biography
• The Columbia Encyclopedia: Sixth Edition
  
  • Argentina
• United States Department of State
  
  • Foreign Relations of the United States
  • John Jay's Treaty
  • Monroe Doctrine
  • Washington's Farewell Address
  • Information USA
    
    • The Monroe Doctrine (1823)