Passages in President James Monroe's seventh annual address to Congress, delivered on 2 December 1823, supplied the basis for the doctrine. These were portions of a speech, with no separate act of Congress or codified report to fix their interpretation. Monroe promised restraint toward Europe's internal affairs and existing colonies while treating renewed European control over recognized independent American governments as unfriendly. The United States had declared neutrality in those governments' wars with Spain, while reserving the right to change policy if its own security required it. Monroe also judged that Spain's relative strength and distance made reconquest impossible without other powers intervening. Later leaders could narrow, widen, or repurpose the language for policies beyond those Monroe could have anticipated.
Notable Point · 14:40-22:04
An annual address became a living doctrine
Monroe's 1823 annual address supplied a handful of passages rather than a codified law, leaving later governments wide room to reinterpret its meaning.