On
the other hand, Adams stood firmly on the well-established doctrine
of isolation from Europe, and of an independent utterance, by the
United States, as the leader in the New World, of the principles of
a purely American system. In the final draught, these ideas were all
accepted, as well as the principles affirmed by Adams in his
conferences with the Russian minister.
When sent to Congress, on December 2, 1823, Monroe's message
asserted "as a principle in which the rights and interests of the
United States are involved, that the American continents, by the
free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintain,
are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future
colonization by any European powers." This was in effect the
proclamation of the end of a process that began with Columbus,
Cabot, and Cartier--the rivalry of the nations of the Old World in
the discovery, occupation, and political control of the wild lands
of the western hemisphere. The interpretation by the next
administration left the enforcement of this general principle to the
various American states according to their interests.
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