Two years before Monroe's speech to Congress introduced the Monroe Doctrine to the nation, his secretary of state John Quincy Adams gave a short address to the House, in which he too worried about the relationship between America and Europe.

It was the hot button issue on everyone's minds.

Adams' general message in the speech is that the United States is the defender of freedom and liberty against the corruption of Europe, and therefore the U.S. shouldn't let itself fall under the influence of any of those old countries.

Adams talks about how America's relationship to European countries, and how "she" has, "though often fruitlessly, held forth to them the hand of honest friendship, of equal freedom, of generous reciprocity." (Source)

The speech was a reaction not only to rumors of possible European interference in the Americas, but also to the cultural influence countries like Britain and France still held in America. Adams declares that the U.S. "is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all," and must not be taken into Europe's corrupt sphere. (Source)

Adams' speech shows us some of the concerns that people had about the influence and potential expansion of European power in the years leading up to the Monroe Doctrine. He also specifically points out, as Monroe does in his speech, the fact that America has stayed away from European affairs. Adams goes a step further, by talking about how the country also hasn't sought a larger "dominion," like Europe has:

But she goes not abroad, in search of monsters to destroy. (Source)

Now that's a good line.