The Lodge Corollary was a

corollary In mathematics and logic, a corollary ( , ) is a theorem of less importance which can be readily deduced from a previous, more notable statement. A corollary could, for instance, be a proposition which is incidentally proved while proving another ...

to the

Monroe Doctrine The Monroe Doctrine was a United States foreign policy position that opposed European colonialism in the Western Hemisphere. It held that any intervention in the political affairs of the Americas by foreign powers was a potentially hostile act ...

. Proposed by

Henry Cabot Lodge Henry Cabot Lodge (May 12, 1850 November 9, 1924) was an American Republican politician, historian, and statesman from Massachusetts. He served in the United States Senate from 1893 to 1924 and is best known for his positions on foreign polic ...

and ratified by the U.S. Senate in 1912, it forbade any foreign power or foreign interest of any kind from acquiring sufficient territory in the

Western Hemisphere The Western Hemisphere is the half of the planet Earth that lies west of the prime meridian (which crosses Greenwich, London, United Kingdom) and east of the antimeridian. The other half is called the Eastern Hemisphere. Politically, the te ...

as to put that government in "practical power of control." As Lodge argued, the corollary reaffirmed the basic right of nations to provide for their safety and extended the principles behind the Monroe Doctrine beyond

colonialism Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose their reli ...

to include corporate territorial acquisitions as well. The proposal was a reaction to negotiations between a Japanese syndicate and

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

for the purchase of a considerable portion of

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

including a harbor considered to be of strategic value,

Magdalena Bay Magdalena Bay ( es, Bahía Magdalena) is a long bay in Comondú Municipality along the western coast of the Mexican state of Baja California Sur. It is protected from the Pacific Ocean by the unpopulated sandy barrier islands of Isla Magdalen ...

. After the ratification of the Lodge Corollary, Japan disavowed any connection to the syndicate, and the deal was never completed.

External links

Lodge's defense of the corollary before the 62nd Congress
Monroe Doctrine Foreign policy doctrines of the United States 1912 in the United States 1912 in international relations {{US-gov-stub