and then coming to the monroe doctrine. monroe, issues a declaration in which he says no, no new european colonies in the western hemisphere. this was after many spanish colonies have turned into republicans and the americans were afraid that the spanish might come back. >> in the conventional wisdom in the public mind this is the great declaration. most of the rest of the 19th century. did not lift a finger to defend hegemony in the western hemisphere and a couple of years later in 1826. when an american delegation was invited to panama. i talk fast about the future of republican government in latin america. and the president at that time was john quincy adams. congress went berserk. and they said we have no business interfering in the affairs of latin america in any way we don't want to sit down at a table with people of african descent with latin americans with catholics, that is not us and our business. there was a strong racist reaction. eventually they approved the declaration but it was so late that one of the delegat

later, fort monroe would become the center of training and doctrine command for the united states armythe rest of our museum talks about not only the military history that occurred here, but the social aspects of point comfort here at fort monroe. it is here, through the rest of our exhibits that you will learn how the social aspects of virginia merged with the military aspects of fort monroe. this is a living, breathing, viable community, and would stay that way all the way until its closure in 2011. >> you can watch this and other american artifacts programs by visiting our website, c-span.org/history. >> you are watching american history tv, 48 hours of programming on american history, every weekend on c-span. follow us on twitter. and to keep up with the latest history news. month, wehts this feature american history tv programs as a preview of what is available every weekend on c-span three. monday night, we look at the cold war. historian william hitchcock discusses presidential leadership and the lasting impact of the air on politics. is the author of the age of eisenhower, amer