Factors leading to Monroe Doctrine
...xist in Europe." The United States feared that these three powers (sometimes called the Holy Alliance) might also try to suppress representative government in the Americas. During and after the Napoleonic Wars, most of the Spanish colonies in America had taken advantage of unsettled conditions in Europe to break away from the mother country. As they won independence, these colonies formed themselves into republics with constitutions much like that of the United States. Only Brazil chose to keep its monarchy when it declared its independence from Portugal. After Napoleon's downfall in 1815, the monarchy was restored in Spain, and it seemed possible that the Holy Alliance might try to restore Spain's colonies as well. The French monarchy, which had followed the policy of the Holy Alliance to the point of actually suppressing a democratic revolution in Spain, was also suspected of intending to help Spain regain its former American possessions. A rumor that France was on the point of doing so spread over Europe during 1823. This threat disturbed not only the United States, but the United Kingdom as well. As free republics, the Spanish-American nations traded with the United Kingdom. If they became colonies again, whether of Spain or of France, their trade with the United Kingdom would certainly be cut down. The United Kingdom had steadily opposed the doctrine of the Holy Alliance and had few allies in Europe. George Canning, the British foreign minister, proposed to Richard Rush, the American minister in London, that the United Kingdom and the United States issue a joint warning against aggression by European countries in the Americas. President Monroe was at first inclined to accept the British offer. Former Presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison strongly favored the idea. Jefferson ar...