text: Primarily, #3 epitomizes the doctrine.\n\nThe Monroe Doctrine states three major ideas, with one more added by President Theodore Roosevelt. First, it conveys that European countries cannot colonize in any of the Americas: North, Central, or South. Second, it enforces Washington's rule of foreign policy, in which the U.S. will only be involved in European affairs if America's rights are disturbed. Third, the U.S. will consider any attempt at colonization a threat to its national security. Roosevelt added to the doctrine, and summed up his additions with the statement, "Speak softly and carry a big stick."\n\nThe border dispute with Venezuela would have essentially grown British holdings in South America, thus breaking the primary tenant of the doctrine >> European countries cannot colonize in any of the Americas: North, Central, or South.\n\nBut more deeply seeded and self-serving plans were behind the creation of the Monroe Doctrine...\n\nThe end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 marked the breakup of the Spanish empire in the New World. Between 1815 and 1822 Jose de San Martin led Argentina to independence, while Bernardo O'Higgins in Chile and Simon Bolivar in Venezuela guided their countries out of colonialism. The new republics sought -- and expected -- recognition by the United States, and many Americans endorsed that idea.\n\nBut President James Monroe and his secretary of state, John Quincy Adams, were not willing to risk war for nations they did not know would survive. From their point of view, as long as the other European powers did not intervene, the government of the United States could just let Spain and her rebellious colonies fight it out.\n\nGreat Britain was torn between monarchical principle and a desire for new markets; South America as a whole constituted, at the time, a much larger market for English goods than the United States. When Russia and France proposed that England join in helping Spain regain her New World colonies, Great Britain vetoed the idea.\n\nThe United States was also negotiating with Spain to purchase the Floridas, and once that treaty was ratified, the Monroe administration began to extend recognition to the new Latin American republics -- Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia and Mexico were all recognized in 1822.\n\nSo the dispute over the Venezuelan border was truthfully the best example of enforcement, as we (and the British) tacitly supported the Bolivarian movement in Venezuela. So we publicly chastised Britain t give them an image of compliance while, gaining their support of the doctrine against France, Russia and Spain... giving us and the British free reign over the commercial markets.