Download The Roosevelt Corollary

Roosevelt and Latin America
The Main Idea
The United States began to exert its influence over Latin America in
the wake of the Spanish-American War.
Section Question
• How did the United States govern Cuba and Puerto Rico?
• Why and how was the Panama Canal built?
• What was the Roosevelt Corollary?
• How did Presidents Taft and Wilson reshape U.S. diplomacy?
The United States in Cuba
• President William McKinley set up a military government in Cuba.
• Advances were made to eliminate yellow fever.
– U.S. Army doctors Walter Reed and William C. Gorgas based their efforts on
work done by Carlos Juan Finlay of Cuba to virtually eliminate yellow fever from
Havana.
– Standing water was eliminated in Cuba, and yellow fever was virtually eliminated
in Havana within six months.
• U.S.-appointed Governor of Cuba Leonard Wood oversaw the drafting of a
new Cuban Constitution in 1901.
– U.S. forced Cuba to include the Platt Amendment. This limited Cuba’s ability to sign treaties
with other nations and gave the U.S. the right to intervene in Cuban affairs and set up military
bases.
• One reason the Platt Ammendment was signigicant is that it led to the establishment of
the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay.
The United States in Puerto Rico
• President McKinley also set up a military government on this
island.
• The United States governed Puerto Rico as a territory.
• Foraker Act of 1900 established that the U.S. would appoint a
governor and upper house of legislature. Puerto Rican voters
elected the lower house.
• A 1917 law gave Puerto Ricans U.S. citizenship
• In 1952, Puerto Rico became a self-governing commonwealth, with
power over most of its domestic affairs. The U.S. still controls
interstate trade, immigration, and military affairs.
Preparing for the Panama Canal
U.S. Interest
Panama’s
Revolution
The United States bought the rights to build the
canal from the French in 1902.
Panama was a part of the Republic of Colombia.
Revolutionaries were plotting to break free of
Colombian rule. The United States supported
Panamanian revolutinaires in 1903 in their fight
for independence from Colombia. A new treaty
with the government gave the United States
complete control of the 10-mile-wide Canal Zone.
Building the Panama Canal
• American work began in May 1904.
• Harsh working conditions, material shortages, malaria, and the
yellow fever hampered construction.
• President Roosevelt appointed John F. Stevens as chief engineer
and architect. Dr. William C. Gorgas focused on sanitation and
health concerns.
• By draining standing water and encouraging spiders, ants, and
lizards to breed, malaria was almost eliminated by 1913.
• After the resignation of Stevens in 1907, Lt. Col. George W.
Goethals took over the job of building the canal. Progress
continued, and in August 1914 the SS Ancon became the first ship
to pass through the canal.
The Roosevelt Corollary
Background
The Roosevelt Corollary
• The Monroe Doctrine, proclaimed in
1823, declared the Western
Hemisphere off-limits to European
nations.
• The United States pledged to
use force to prevent European
countries from seizing
Dominican territory.
• After the Spanish-American War,
presidents backed up the Monroe
Doctrine with military strength.
• The Corollary was issued
without seeking approval from
any Latin American nation.
• In 1904, the Dominican Republic
could not pay back European
lenders. To prevent Europeans from
using force to collect the debt,
Roosevelt issued the Roosevelt
Corollary.
• The United States renewed its
commitment to support the
Monro Doctrine with lmilitary
force after the SpanishAmerican War in order to
protect its interest in Latin
America
U.S. Diplomacy
• President William H. Taft promoted advancing U.S. interests in
other countries through dollar diplomacy, a policy of promoting
American economic interests in other countries and using that
economic power to achieve American goals.
• By 1914, Americans had bought out European loans, resulting in
an American investment of more than $1.6 billion in Latin America.
• President Woodrow Wilson, who succeeded Taft in 1913, favored
moral diplomacy, which used persuasion and American ideals to
advance the nation’s interests in other countries.
• President Wilson also used military troops to stop civil unrest in
Haiti in 1915 and the Dominican Republic in 1916. The U.S. Marines
occupied the countries for years.
Roosevelt and Latin America


Examine the political cartoon
on P.566
Ask yourself the following
questions

How are the
children dressed

What are their
expressions

Why are the
nations
represented as
children

Think about the bias
of the author of the
cartoon (The winners
write history) Then
think about how each
nation represented
would have felt