EthosJust like your Facebook Newsfeed, Monroe's speech uses a bit of all the forms of rhetoric. However, the impact of his statement relies on the listeners' belief in the power and purpose of the...

SpeechThe Monroe Doctrine as a text is a little unusual because it's only part of a speech. The full speech is much, much longer. The reason these paragraphs have been separated out as their own sp...

DiplomaticAlthough President Monroe is making some big foreign policy claims (without a lot of military strength to back them up) he doesn't treat the European nations like enemies. He uses a fair...

Wordy, ShowyMonroe doesn't settle for one direct phrase when a long, multipart sentence will do. Take, for example, this declaration:We owe it, therefore, to candor and to the amicable relations ex...

Technically, the Monroe Doctrine is part of the "seventh annual message to Congress," its official title. The name Monroe Doctrine is much snappier, and refers only to the part that addresses the p...

The first paragraph of the Monroe Doctrine takes the long way around to the first major statement of the text. Continuing from an earlier topic of the speech, Monroe spends several lines talking ab...

The final line of the Monroe Doctrine sort of sums up Monroe's arguments…in a somewhat passive-aggressive way. He says that the U.S. will leave the newly independent nations down south to determi...

(5) Tree LineThe Monroe Doctrine might be a little tricky to get if you don't know the context and basic idea. (But hey: that's exactly why we're around.)Also, Monroe was not scared of long sentenc...

In-Text ReferencesHistorical and Political ReferencesRevolutions in Mexico (1810), Venezuela (1811), and Argentina (1816) (16-17, 23-25)The Convention of 1824 (1, 3): Russia and the United Sta...

This 1843 photo (well, daguerreotype) of John Quincy Adams is the oldest surviving photograph of a U.S. president. Way to be ahead of the curve, JQA, your father would have been proud. (Source)When...