Pan-Americanism is a movement that seeks to create, encourage, and organize relationships, an association (a Union), and cooperation among the states of the Americas, through diplomatic, political, economic, and social means.
Following the independence of the United States of America in 1776 and the independence of Haiti in 1804, the struggle for independence after 1810 by the nations of Hispanic America evoked a sense of unity, especially in South America, where, under Simón Bolívar in the north and José de San Martín in the south, there were co-operative efforts. Francisco Morazán briefly headed a Federal Republic of Central America. Early South American Pan-Americanists were also inspired by the American Revolutionary War, in which a suppressed and colonized society struggled, united, and gained independence. In the United States, Henry Clay and Thomas Jefferson set forth the principles of Pan-Americanism in the early 19th century, and soon, the United States declared through the Monroe Doctrine a new policy concerning interference by Europe in the affairs of the Americas.
In the 19th century, South American military nationalism came to the fore. Venezuela and Ecuador withdrew in 1830 from Gran Colombia, the Central American Federation collapsed in 1838, Argentina and Brazil fought continually over Uruguay, all three combined in the Paraguayan War (1865–1870) to defeat Paraguay, and Chile defeated Peru and Bolivia in the War of the Pacific (1879–1883). However, during that period, Pan-Americanism existed in the form of a series of Inter-American Conferences—Panama (1826), Lima (1847), Santiago (1856), and Lima (1864). The meetings' main objective was to provide for a common defense. The first of the modern Pan-American Conferences was held in Washington, DC (1889–1890), with all nations represented except the Dominican Republic. Treaties for arbitration of disputes and adjustment of tariffs were adopted, and the Commercial Bureau of the American Republics, which later became the Pan-American Union, was established.