"The American continents, by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers... We owe it, therefore, to candour and to the amicable relations existing between the United States and those powers to declare that we should consider any attempt on their part to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety."

President James Monroe, seventh annual message to Congress, Washington D.C., 2 December 1823. The passage on European colonisation was drafted primarily by Secretary of State John Quincy Adams.