The Monroe Doctrine

The US reacted to the dominant conservative ideology of the Quintuple Alliance by doing three things. One thing they did was negotiate the western seaboard with Russia. Russia claimed the territory belonged to them, when the US and other countries had a share of it. The US resolved this by telling Russia they could not just claim land that belonged to the US. Another way the US reacted was preventing anymore European colonization in the Western Hemisphere. The Monroe Document clearly states: "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...." The US told the Alliance that if they tried to retake the old Spanish colonies, the US would fight with the old colonies to prevent it. The last way the US responded was not forming an alliance with Britain. The US decided to not be involved with Europe any longer and decided it will be more involved in world matters, not letting the world be run solely by Europe any longer.

This quote is an example of the US not letting Europe recolonize the western hemisphere. The rest of the world would have been unhappy and a little shocked by this quote. They would have been shocked that a country that became independent not even 50 years ago was prepared to defend against European colonization. The facial expression in the picture represents the US Congress's reaction to the quote. They are pleased because they do not want Europe to have any colonies in the Western Hemisphere.