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Explain in what ways has America played a role in the world. Using the text as evidence.

Explain in what ways has America played a role in the world. Using the text as evidence.

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Explain in what ways has America played a role in the world. Using the text as evidence.
In 1796, as Washington prepared to leave office after two terms, he urged his countrymen to remain "detached and distant" from the quarrels of European nations. Five years later, President Thomas Jefferson echoed him, calling for "peace, commerce, and honest friendship, with all nations-entangling alliances with none." These statements reflected a widely held belief that the young United States should remain aloof from foreign conflicts whenever possible. For most of the nineteenth century, the U.S. government avoided foreign military engagements, with some exceptions. In 1823, after various Spanish colonies in Central and South America gained their independence, President James Monroe proclaimed a new American foreign policy, known as the Monroc Doctrine. The president declared, "The American continents...are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers." According to the Monroc Doctrine, the United States would resist any European attempts to set up new colonies in the Americas or to interfere with Latin American affairs. At the time, the United States did not have the military strength to back up its bold words. Still, Monroe's statement had long-term implications in suggesting that Europe and the Americas were two separate spheres, and that the United States should take the leading role in the Westcrn Hemisphere.
Transcribed Image Text:In 1796, as Washington prepared to leave office after two terms, he urged his countrymen to remain "detached and distant" from the quarrels of European nations. Five years later, President Thomas Jefferson echoed him, calling for "peace, commerce, and honest friendship, with all nations-entangling alliances with none." These statements reflected a widely held belief that the young United States should remain aloof from foreign conflicts whenever possible. For most of the nineteenth century, the U.S. government avoided foreign military engagements, with some exceptions. In 1823, after various Spanish colonies in Central and South America gained their independence, President James Monroe proclaimed a new American foreign policy, known as the Monroc Doctrine. The president declared, "The American continents...are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers." According to the Monroc Doctrine, the United States would resist any European attempts to set up new colonies in the Americas or to interfere with Latin American affairs. At the time, the United States did not have the military strength to back up its bold words. Still, Monroe's statement had long-term implications in suggesting that Europe and the Americas were two separate spheres, and that the United States should take the leading role in the Westcrn Hemisphere.
The Truman Doctrine and the Policy of Containment In February 1946, George F. Kennan, an American diplomat stationed in Moscow, sent a dramatic 5,000-word telegram to his bosses at the State Department. In this so-called "Long Telegram," Kennan warned that the Soviet Union had become a dangerous, expansionist state. Soviet leaders, he explained, had convinced their people of the hostility of the outside world-especially from the United States- because it was the only way they could justify the harshness of their rule at home and their desire to spread communism abroad. Therefore, no friendly gestures by the West would have any effect on the Soviet Union. All that the United States could do, Kennan argued, was stand firm against Soviet aggression. The following year, Kennan wrote an article in which he called for a "long-term, patient, but firm and vigilant containment of Russian expansive tendencies." His ideas deeply influenced American leaders. American foreign policy throughout the Cold War would follow Kennan's strategy of containment preventing the cxpansion of communism, especially by strengthening noncommunist countrics bordering the Sovict Union.
Transcribed Image Text:The Truman Doctrine and the Policy of Containment In February 1946, George F. Kennan, an American diplomat stationed in Moscow, sent a dramatic 5,000-word telegram to his bosses at the State Department. In this so-called "Long Telegram," Kennan warned that the Soviet Union had become a dangerous, expansionist state. Soviet leaders, he explained, had convinced their people of the hostility of the outside world-especially from the United States- because it was the only way they could justify the harshness of their rule at home and their desire to spread communism abroad. Therefore, no friendly gestures by the West would have any effect on the Soviet Union. All that the United States could do, Kennan argued, was stand firm against Soviet aggression. The following year, Kennan wrote an article in which he called for a "long-term, patient, but firm and vigilant containment of Russian expansive tendencies." His ideas deeply influenced American leaders. American foreign policy throughout the Cold War would follow Kennan's strategy of containment preventing the cxpansion of communism, especially by strengthening noncommunist countrics bordering the Sovict Union.
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