Download Chapter 12 Lesson 4 - Guthrie Public Schools

Discussion
• How might the building of the Panama
Canal have led to U.S. intervention
elsewhere in Latin America?
The success of the canal in Panama
showed investors and politicians that the
United States could benefit from
intervening in Latin American countries.
Background
• The battleship USS Maine exploded in the
harbor at Havana, Cuba, in 1898, while it was
anchored to assist evacuation of Americans and
protection of U.S. property during a Cuban
rebellion. Spain did not send forces to defend
Cuba after the United States attacked its
Caribbean fleet and destroyed it. The U.S. Navy
also attacked the Spanish fleet in the Philippines
and destroyed it in a single morning. Spain gave
up rights to Cuba, Guam, and Puerto Rico, and
the United States paid $20 million to Spain for
rights to the Philippines.
Background
• Panama was once part of Colombia. In 1811, a French
company obtained a commission to build a canal but
failed to construct one. In 1902, the U.S. Congress
authorized buying the French rights. When political
negotiations with Colombia failed, the U.S. backed
Panama's rebellion and won the right to a strip of
Panamanian land. The U.S. could now build a canal. It
took 40,000 laborers twelve years to remove
approximately 100 million cubic yards of rock from the
canal. The workers had to deal with deep mud, disease,
and poor medical care. Thousands died.
Background
• Britain, Germany, and Italy constructed a blockade of
Venezuela in 1902 to force it to pay its debts. The
Germans even bombed a town. President Theodore
Roosevelt threatened Germany, which turned to legal
means of collecting the debt instead. In 1904, Roosevelt
went before Congress in his annual address and
established what later became called the Roosevelt
Corollary, which was an extension of his policy for U.S.
force in the region, called "talk softly and carry a big
stick." He said the United States would police any nation
guilty of "chronic misconduct" or mismanagement of its
finances.
Discussion
• Why were U.S. troops sent into Latin
American countries?
U.S. troops were sent to protect U.S.
investments.
Discussion
• What issues do the constitution's
articles address?
public education, fair trials and
government, control of resources
Discussion
• What do the events in the time line
have in common?
They are all revolutions in which a Latin
American country revolted against a
European country.
Background
• The long struggle for revolutionary reform in Mexico
began in 1910 when the dictator Porfirio Díaz arrested
Francisco Madero, who then called for a revolution.
Pancho Villa, Emiliano Zapata, and Pascual Orozco led
forces against Díaz, who resigned in 1911. Zapata later
opposed Madero for not righting the wrongs of Díaz's
government fast enough. The U.S. government feared
Madero was threatening American business interests
and helped to install a new president. Madero was
assassinated. Rebels again overthrew the government.
Further quarrelling weakened Zapata and Villa.
Venustiano Carranza became president, and although
he had still the power of a dictator, he oversaw the
writing of the Constitution of 1917.
Discussion
• How did the Constitution of 1917 limit
the power of political leaders and the
social elite?
It limited a president's power and
redistributed land.
Background
• The Constitution of 1917 removed the debt
patronage system and redistributed land to
communal holdings. It guaranteed
schooling for the poor, a social welfare
program, and the rights of urban workers.
It asserted national ownership of mineral
rights and restricted the rights of foreign
interests.
Economic Growth
• Latin America prospered from food
exports, but most of the population
remained poor.
• A new middle class emerged in large
cities.
• The working class also grew in size.
• Industrialization drew immigrants from
Europe.
Discussion
• Why did Latin American still rely on
Western nations?
Despite a growing economy, Latin
American countries lacked money to
invest in their own economies and relied
on others for foreign investment.