In light of the emergence of Donald Trump’s “Donroe” doctrine following the arrest of Venezuela’s Maduro, we’re going to take a few moments to explore the history of the Monroe Doctrine and the earlier Doctrine of Discovery.
The Doctrine of Discovery, issued through fifteenth-century papal bulls, allowed Christian rulers to claim land occupied by non-Christians. Though the Papal States and the Holy Roman Empire dissolved by the early nineteenth century due to Napoleon and the French Revolution, the doctrine persisted. In 1823, the U.S. Supreme Court case Johnson v. M’Intosh relied on it to deny land ownership rights to Indigenous people. That same year, President Monroe delivered the Monroe Doctrine, warning Europe against colonizing the Americas and asserting U.S. regional authority. Bernini’s Four Rivers Fountain, completed in 1651, visually represents the imperial worldview these doctrines promoted. While their form has changed, their effects continue in law and policy.