Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, images, and additional information follow below.
All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 12-4-15.
TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO
From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is
Virginia Water Radio for the week of December 7, 2015.
MUSIC – ~4 sec
This week, the music of “A New World Overture,” by Timothy
Seaman of Williamsburg, sets the stage for remembering a Virginia-born
president’s declaration in 1823 about European involvement across the seas in
the affairs of the New World, or the Western Hemisphere. Have a listen for about 25 more seconds, and
see if you can guess that Virginia president and that declaration.
MUSIC – ~26 sec
If you guessed, James Monroe and the Monroe Doctrine, you’re
right! Born in Westmoreland County,
Virginia, in 1758, James Monroe served in the Revolutionary War and then in
several political and diplomatic posts before becoming the fifth U.S. president
in 1817. His eight-year presidency is
most noted for what eventually came to be called the Monroe Doctrine, first
declared in Monroe’s annual message to Congress on December 2, 1823. In that address, Monroe stated that “the
American continents are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future
colonization by any European powers....”
He also stated that the United States would view as “dangerous to our
peace and safety” any attempt by European nations to extend their political systems
to the Western Hemisphere, particularly in former Spanish colonies that had
recently declared their independence.
Monroe’s declaration aimed to do several things: secure U.S. territory
from European powers; keep the United States neutral in European conflicts;
keep those conflicts from playing out across the Atlantic in revolutionary
movements in Spain’s Latin American colonies; and assert diplomatic
independence from Britain, whose navy was the most powerful force on the seas.
Later extensions of the Doctrine, such as the Theodore
Roosevelt Corollary in 1904, have been used to justify various U.S. military
interventions, particularly in Latin America, and that legacy continues to be
debated and controversial. But in 1823,
Monroe’s message was a widely popular statement of principle by a young,
ocean-surrounded, New World republic to the powerful monarchs and navies of the
Old World.
Thanks for Timothy Seaman for permission to use this week’s
music, and we close with a few more seconds of “A New World Overture.”
MUSIC - ~12 sec
For more Virginia water sounds, music, and information, visit
us online at virginiawaterradio.org,
or call us at (540) 231-5463. Virginia
Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part
of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment. Thanks to Stewart Scales for his banjo
version of Cripple Creek to open and close the show. In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health,
wisdom, and good water.
AUDIO NOTES AND
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
“A New World Overture (Virginia the Beautiful),” on the 2006
album, “Jamestown: On the Edge of a Vast Continent,” is copyright by Timothy
Seaman and Pine Wind Music, used with permission. More information about Timothy Seaman is
available online at http://timothyseaman.com/.
IMAGES
 |
| Photocopy of The Annals of Congress, 18th Congress, First Session, pages 13-14, showing President James Monroe’s statement to Congress on December 2, 1823, about colonization of the American continents by European powers, part of what has become known as the Monroe Doctrine. Image acquired from the Library of Congress Web site, “A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774 – 1875,” online at http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llac&fileName=041/llac041.db&recNum=4. |
 |
| A modern-day printing of the Monroe Doctrine, photographed in a Blacksburg, Va., restaurant in November 2015. |
SOURCES
Used in Audio
Harry Ammon, James
Monroe: The Quest for National Identity, University of Virginia Press,
Charlottesville, 1990.
Noble E. Cunningham, Jr., The Presidency of James Monroe, University Press of Kansas,
Lawrence, 1996.
Independence Hall Association (Philadelphia, Penn.),
USHistory.org Web site, “Monroe Doctrine,” online at http://www.ushistory.org/documents/monroe.htm. This site has the text of the part of
President Monroe’s December 2, 1823, address to Congress that has come to be
known as the Monroe Doctrine.
James Monroe Museum and Library at the University of Mary
Washington in Fredericksburg, Va.: “America Enters the World Stage: The Monroe
Doctrine,” virtual exhibit online at this
link; main Web site: http://jamesmonroemuseum.umw.edu/.
Library of Congress, “Primary Documents in American History/Monroe
Doctrine,” online at http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Monroe.html.
U.S. Department of State/Office of the Historian, “Monroe
Doctrine 1823,” online at https://history.state.gov/milestones/1801-1829/monroe.
U.S. Department of State/Office of the Historian, “Roosevelt
Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine 1904,” online at https://history.state.gov/milestones/1899-1913/roosevelt-and-monroe-doctrine.
For More Information on James Monroe and the Monroe Doctrine
James Monroe Museum and Library at the University of Mary
Washington in Fredericksburg, Va., “James Monroe: Life and Legacy,” eight
lectures delivered in October 2013, online at http://academics.umw.edu/jamesmonroepapers/media/lectures/.
Fort Monroe Authority, “The Fort Monroe Story,” online at http://www.fmauthority.com/about/fort-monroe/history/. Fort Monroe in Hampton, Va., constructed
between 1819 and 1836, was named for James Monroe. It’s now a National Historic Monument,
managed by the Fort Monroe Authority, a political subdivision of the
Commonwealth of Virginia.
RELATED VIRGINIA WATER RADIO EPISODES
All Water Radio episodes are listed by category at the Index
link above (http://www.virginiawaterradio.org/p/index.html). Please see the “History” category for
episodes related to other water-related aspects of historical people or events.
SOLS INFORMATION FOR
VIRGINIA TEACHERS
The episode may help with the following Virginia 2008 Social
Studies SOLs:
United States History to 1865 Course
USI.2 – water features important to the early history of the
United States.
USI.7 – challenges faced by the newly independent United
States.
United States History: 1865 to Present Course
USII.5 – changing role of the United States from the later
19th Century through World War I.
USII.8 – economic, social, and political transformation of
the United States after World War II, including role of U.S. military.
Civics and Economics Course
CE.9 – public policy at local, state, and national levels.
World History and Geography: 1500 A.D. to Present Course
WHII.7. – Latin American revolutions in the 19th
Century, including the impact of the Monroe Doctrine.
Virginia and United States History Course
VU.6 – Major events of 1788 to 1860.
Government Course
GOVT.9 – public policy at local, state, and national levels.
GOVT. 12 – role of the United States in a changing world,
including responsibilities of the national government for foreign policy and
national security.
