As the 19th century ended and the 20th century began imperialism was in full swing, especially in the United States. The United States was becoming more powerful because of all their new territories around the world. One cause of the rising imperialism was the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine. The Roosevelt Corollary was made to keep European powers out of nations to the south of the Untied States in order to benefit the United States.

The Roosevelt Corollary was a speech given by Theodore Roosevelt on December 6, 1904. It readdressed the Monroe Doctrine, which stated that European nations were not allowed to interfere with nations in the Western Hemisphere unless they had already set up colonies prior to the announcement of the Monroe Doctrine. The Monroe Doctrine was basically an angry worded letter to European nations to stay out of the Western Hemisphere. If the Monroe Doctrine was not followed by the European nations there was no direct impact on the European nations from the United States. Most European nations respected the Monroe Doctrine until 1903 when two European nations, Britain and Germany, interacted financially with the Caribbean and Latin American nations. As a result, President Roosevelt issued the Roosevelt Corollary, which was an extension to the Monroe Doctrine.

President Roosevelt issued the Roosevelt Corollary as an addition to the Monroe Doctrine because Britain and Germany violated the terms of the Monroe Doctrine. The Roosevelt Corollary stopped European nations from having any sort of interaction with Caribbean and Latin America nations for any means necessary. Roosevelt stated that any financial problems that occurred in Caribbean or Latin American nations would be assisted and solved by the United States. If any country broke these rules then the United States military action would follow. The Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine was directed towards all European nations but it was mainly a message towards the Britain and Germany to stay away from the Western Hemisphere because the nex step could possibly be war.

The Roosevelt Corollary was the first major action the United States took towards becoming a world power. By financially controlling the Caribbean and Latin American nations the United States became the western hemisphere regional police. European nations were controlling nations to the south of the United States because they owed European nations money. Under the terms of the Roosevelt Corollary the U.S. was allowed to pay the European nations the debts of Caribbean and Latin American nations. These nations could not pay the United States back therefore they were now in debt, which the United States used to their advantage and used it as a mechanism to control those nations. As a result the United States had more land, more power and a larger sphere of influence.

The Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine is a document that directly addresses and controls the issue with European nations and their influence in the Caribbean and Latin American nations. The effects however, were unfair to the European powers and to the Caribbean and Latin American nations. Since those nations were now controlled by the United States their cultures were influenced by the United States instead of the European nations. Also, the Caribbean and Latin American nations didn’t get a say with which nation they would rather be controlled by. In other words this shows imperialism because the United States took control of nations in the western hemisphere without consulting those nations themselves because they were determined to become a world power. The United States became greedy and wanted to be the most powerful nation in the world. Many Americans during the 19th century referred to United States expansion as manifest destiny, the belief that United States expansion across the American continents was justified and that they had a duty to “civilize” people in foreign countries, and many people saw economic opportunities as another reason to expand the United States influence.

In the early 1900’s imperialism had grown in the United States because of their growing desire to become more powerful. The United States demonstrated imperialism through the announcement of the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine. The Roosevelt Corollary was designed to keep European nations away from Caribbean and Latin American nations. The Roosevelt Corollary was an issue unfairly addressing the issue between the relationship of European powers and Caribbean and Latin American nations.