The Monroe doctrine - 1916 Author:Albert Bushnell Hart Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: Chapter III EUROPE'S INTEREST IN AMERICA 1814-1823 INTEREST OF SPAIN AND FRANCE However warm and genuine the interest of the United States in the new A... more »merica, it was a long time before American statesmen seized on the idea that their country was to decide the fate of the new neighbors. In fact, one reason why the United States and the new powers were drawn together was that they knew and feared the influence of Europe. Ever since the downfall of Napoleon, the future of America had been much in the minds of European statesmen, though they reached the question through their interest in Spain. In European councils there were no doubts as to the crimes of the Spanish colonists. The wars of liberation were looked upon as temporary defeats for Spain; declarations of independence were waste paper; recognitions by the United States were fanciful and unfriendly statements of a condition which did not exist. Peru, Mexico, and all the other self-styled states were still integral parts of the mighty Spanish Empire; and in due time the wanderers would be restored to their allegiance by a process the severity of which their children and children's children would never forget. In the revolted colonies there was a considerable element of born Spaniards and Creoles who pined for the old regime of order, peace, and profits. Hence, in all the misfortunes of Spain at home, no party favored peace in America; none was willing to accept the independence of the colonies, even as a disagreeable fact. The king, the ministry, and the opposition agreed in holding on to the colonies. So long as they could, they sent troops and ships to reconquer their subjects. When that was no longer possible, they looked to other European powers to help them out. France, Great Britain, and Russia all had a stak...« less