The Monroe Doctrine simply stated that the west will not interfere with the affairs of Europe as long as they didn't interfere with us. This enabled us to be able to deal with the smaller countries and help them reform their government. The Monroe doctrine allowed the United States to become "protectors" of the smaller countries in the western hemisphere.
I think he uses a metaphor about africa being a cake and he wants a piece of it, like the rest of of the european powers
Historical context is made of the social and economic characteristics. in history, economics is a big factor of our past that leads to our present situation today. one large factor of history are people in it that make significant discovery, movement, decision, mistakes and etc that make our world today