The Monroe doctrine was a intercontinental statement from the US, basically stating that the nation would not seek land in other parts of the world if other parts of the world did not seek land in the US. This became about due to tensions of other nations, fighting over Oregon. After the US purchased the Louisiana Territory from France in 1800, an expedition was sent all the way to the west coast to determine the expanse of land that was to be cultivated. Ultimately, it was appropriate for the foreign policy statement to be issued, as the United States spent a fortune of money, that was really not allowed to be spent by Jefferson at all, on that territory. The other nations were really just trying to get a piece of it, even though the land was rightfully belonging to the US.
Jefferson writes from Paris to Edward Carrington, whom Jefferson sent as a delegate to the Continental Congress from 1786 to 1788, on the importance of a free press to keep government in check. He concludes that if he had to choose between “a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter”:
