Pre-WWI U.S. Foreign Policy
A brief tour of events and
developments that don’t really fit into
any cohesive story of American history,
but are good to know about anyway.
TR: “Walk softly, and carry a big stick.”
• “I took the Canal
Zone, and let
Congress
debate, and
while the debate
goes on, the
Canal does
also!” –TR, 1911
The Roosevelt Corollary
• Roosevelt Corollary (1904): the U.S. would intervene in
Latin America due to “chronic wrongdoing,” rather than
allow European powers intrude.
• Dominican Republic defaults on its debts in 1903 and
several European nations threaten to invade; TR
intervenes, takes over the D.R.’s customs house and
sets up a debt repayment plan.
• American troops intervene in Cuba, Panama, D.R.,
Mexico, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Haiti from 1902-1917
• The effect: poor relations with the entire region of
Latin America for a generation
TR: Nobel Peace Prize Winner!
• In 1905, TR helped negotiate the Treaty of Portsmouth, which
ended a war between Japan and Russia and was awarded the Nobel
Peace Prize.
• Gentlemen’s Agreement: Asian American students had been forced
into segregated schools in California; TR makes a deal with Japan to
limit Japanese immigration and persuades California to repeal its
discriminatory laws.
• Root-Takahira Agreement (1908): US and Japan agree to respect
each other’s Pacific possessions and the Open Door in China.
• In 1906, he negotiated peace between France and Germany over
control over Morocco.
• In 1907, TR sent representatives to the 2nd International Peace
Conference at the Hague to discussion the limitation of warfare.
Taft’s “Dollar Diplomacy”
• Private American investment
in China and Latin America
would lead to greater stability
and better relationships.
• Only partially successful: US
was excluded from a railroad
agreement in Manchuria
• Taft had to send troops into
Nicaragua in 1912 after U.S.
bankers had lent $15 million to
a new leader, Adolfo Diaz.
Wilson’s Moral Diplomacy
• “The U.S. would never again seek one additional foot of
territory by conquest.”
• Jones Act: gave the Philippines full territorial status, a bill of
rights, and universal male suffrage, with a promise for
independence
• Puerto Rico: granted citizenship and limited self
government
• Panama Canal: U.S. ships had to now pay tolls
• However…
• Intervention in the Caribbean and Latin America continued
• Marines sent to occupy Nicaragua, Haiti, Dominican
Republic
Mexico
•
•
•
Democratic reformer Francisco Madero
ended the 30 year rule of Porfirio Diaz
in 1911; then he was overthrown and
murdered by General Huerta.
Wilson refuses to recognize Huerta’s
government and sends arms to rival
General Carranza, blockades the port of
Vera Cruz, sends 7,000 troops.
Carranza takes power.
Local rebels and bandits challenged
Carranza’s authority:
–
Pancho Villa stages raids across the border
into the US; Wilson sends 12,000 soldiers
into Mexico to find him and 150,000
National Guard to the border! Wilson
withdrew them in 1917 and never got him.
He was assassinated in 1923 by a political
rival in Mexico.