The United States in Latin America and Asia

Foreign Policy Under

T. Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson

The Philippines Insurrection• Spanish-American war ended in

1898; US purchased Philippines from Spain; Filipino revolt against American rule began in 1899

• Led by Emilio Aguinaldo, a Filipino leader who had fought with the American’s against the Spanish during the S-A War

• American refusal to give up the Philippines costs 5,000 American and 200,000 Filipino lives (yep…we used Concentration Camps)

• US gives the Filipinos (very) limited self rule in 1901.

• The Philippines are given their independence in 1946.

China• Big and once wealthy, by 1899,

China had fallen into political, economic and military disarray, with a weak imperial family…a perfect target for Imperialism.

• Rather than fighting over the area, European colonial powers carved China up into special trading zones- “Spheres of Influence” In each zone, a particular country had special trade and investment privileges.

• America had no zone.

• So what did we do?Queen Victoria (UK), William II (Germany), Nicholas II (Russia), Marianne (France), and a samurai (Japan) cutting up a Chine ("China" in French) cake

US Declared Equal and Free Trade in China:• Riding high on our recent win in

the S-A War, we had gained some confidence.

• US Secretary of State John Hay wrote a series of Open Door Notes to the major Imperial powers. In his Open Door Policy, Hay asked the imperial powers to accept all nations having equal trading privileges in China…most of the nations evaded a response, so Hay took this as a general acceptance of his Open Door Policy, and declared it so, and the US began trading freely in China.

Boxer Rebellion• In 1900 a secret society of

Chinese nationalists, tired of European influence in China, started a rebellion.

• They targeted Western settlements and Christian missionaries.

• (Called themselves “The Righteous and Harmonious Fists”…thus “Boxer Rebellion”)

• US troops joined an international force that quickly succeeded in putting down the Rebellion

US Foreign Policy Under

T. Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson

Japan• The Japanese begin to create their own empire around

the same time as the US, so naturally competitive.

• Tensions begin to rise between the Japanese and the US, first after T. Roosevelt brokered the treaty between Russia and Japan ending the Russo-Japanese War...

• Then tensions rose further when the San Francisco School Board segregated their schools, making the Japanese very angry…a national insult

• Gentleman’s Agreement: Japanese agreed to limit Japanese emigration to the US, while the San Francisco school board ended its discriminatory policy.

Roosevelt: Big stick Diplomacy

• Term comes from the saying “speak softly and carry a big stick, and you will go far.”

• Roosevelt relied on having a strong military and aggressive foreign policy to build America’s reputation and achieve American goals.

• Aggressive Foreign Policy – we can intervene wherever we want, because we can

Panama Canal• Now that the US had and empire from Puerto Rico to

the Philippines, we wanted a canal through Central America to connect our far-flung Empire. (cut the trip in ½)

• The narrowest path was through modern-day Panama, but Colombia controlled the Isthmus and would not allow US access to dig the canal.

• A Panamanian rebellion was engineered and militarily supported by the US…and in 1903, the newly independent Panama gave the use of the land to the US in return for 10 million dollars and 250,000 dollars a year.

First started (in 1881) by a French company and abandoned in 1889, The French Panama Canal construction equipment and excavations were purchased for $40 million, and the 48-mile Canal construction was completed from 1904 to 1914. When finished, the canal would cut the trip between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in half.

Roosevelt Corollary• Added to the Monroe Doctrine• Instead of allowing a European

nation to intervene in a Latin American nation to enforce debt repayment, the US would send military force to any Latin American country that was delinquent in paying their European debts…US would then monitor customs tax collections until European debts were satisfied.

• Corollary used as a justification for sending US troops to Haiti, Honduras, DR, Nicaragua

Great White Fleet • The popular nickname for

the US Navy battle fleet that completed a “goodwill” circumnavigation of the globe from December 16, 1907 to February 22, 1909 by order of President Theodore Roosevelt.

• 16 Brand-Spankin’ new all-steel American Battleships (painted bright white) went on a (naval muscle-flexing) tour around the world…Now that is a Big Stick!

Flagship Connecticut: one of a set of commemorative postcards of the ships of the Great White Fleet

Taft: Dollar Diplomacy• Substitute “Dollars for bullets”• Instead of having a big stick

(strong military/aggressive foreign policy), concentrate on increasing private American trade and financial investments in foreign nations and tie the economies of the smaller/weaker countries to the economy of the United States.

• Sometimes Taft still had to use the Big American Stick to enforce issues and protect American interests (ex. Nicaragua civil war, 1912)

• Example of $ Diplomacy:– Private American Investment

in Railroads in China (1911)

Wilson: Moral Diplomacy• Wilson (Democrat) proclaimed he would

“never again seek one additional foot of territory by conquest” (as had his Republican predecessors)

• Instead he would promote “human rights, national integrity and opportunity” and work on righting past wrongs:– US citizenship to Puerto Ricans and

limited self-rule– Full territorial status, bill of rights,

universal male suffrage, and promise of independence for Filipinos

• But sometimes Moral Diplomacy translated into him using the US military to guide countries in the direction the US (Wilson) wanted them to go…

• US determined to only deal with Democratic states.

In Mexico• 1914- US (Wilson)Interfered in the Mexican

Revolution against new dictatorial regime, calling it a “government of butchers”.

• US sent ships and occupied the port of Veracruz in order to enforce an arms embargo against the Mexican dictatorial government, which soon collapsed.

• But new, US-backed government was slow to reform, so yet another Mexican rebellion, led by Pancho Villa

• Considering Pancho Villa an outlaw, Wilson sent General John Pershing (and 10,000 US troops) chasing after Mexican Revolutionary Hero Pancho Villa around the Southwest and Northern Mexico…We gave up the hunt in 1917, as WWI became a much bigger issue.

• Pancho Villa was assassinated in 1917, but not by the US.

Discussion question

• Discuss with the people next to you and write the answer into your writing notebook.

ENTRY # 32

• Which of the three diplomacy policies (Big Stick, Moral, Dollar) was of the largest benefit to the United States during the period of Imperialism? How about over the long term? What do we practice now? Explain.