The
Monroe Doctrine was a U.S. foreign policy regarding domination of the
American continent in
1823. It stated that further efforts by
European nations to
colonize land or interfere with states in
North or
South America would be viewed as acts of aggression, requiring U.S. intervention. At the same time, the doctrine noted that the United States would neither 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. The United States, working in agreement with Great Britain, wanted to guarantee that no European power would move in.