Roosevelt Corollary

noun

U.S. History.

1. a corollary (1904) to the Monroe Doctrine, asserting that the U.S. might intervene in the affairs of an American republic threatened with seizure or intervention by a European country.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Roosevelt Corollary¹

After Theodore Roosevelt

Example Sentences

In the first quarter of the twentieth century, that Roosevelt Corollary would be used to justify U.S. occupations of Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Nicaragua.

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He oversaw the building of the Panama Canal and established a "Roosevelt corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine that would allow America to intervene in Western Hemisphere nations on economic issues.

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“That’s the Roosevelt Corollary. I haven’t invoked that—yet.”

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The so-called Roosevelt Corollary of 1904 adds that if other nations in the Western Hemisphere default...

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The 1904 Roosevelt Corollary expanded that attitude to the hemisphere.

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When To Use

What was the Roosevelt Corollary?

The Roosevelt Corollary was a United States foreign policy established by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1904. It stated that the U.S. would intervene in Latin American countries where European powers sought to collect debts or whose governments were thought to be unstable.A corollary, in the general sense, is a natural consequence or result. In this context, it indicates that the Roosevelt Corollary was an extension of the Monroe Doctrine, a U.S. policy established in 1823 stating that the United States opposed any European interference in the Western Hemisphere.The Roosevelt Corollary was conceived as a means to protect U.S. interests and preserve stability in Latin America by preventing European countries from interfering there. However, it came to be used as a justification for the U.S. to intervene in Latin American internal affairs and expand its influence in the region.