Chapter 14 Section 3
ROOSEVELT’S DIPLOMACY
Roosevelt’s Diplomacy
 Election of 1900: McKinley v. William
Jennings Bryan (an anti-imperialist)
 Theodore Roosevelt = McKinley’s running mate
 McKinley assassinated by Leon Czolgosz, an
anarchist.
 Roosevelt now pres and he favored increasing
Am. Power on the world stage
 U.S. had a duty to shape the “less civilized”
corners of the earth
Balancing Power in East Asia
 Supported Open Door
 Negotiated an end to war between Japan and
Russia that started in 1905 (for trade reasons)
 Roosevelt won the Nobel Peace for this in 1906
 U.S. and Japan not getting along. Both
wanted influence in Asia and only got along
through a series of agreements
The Panama Canal
 Theodore Roosevelt’s peace plan: have an
awesome military that has a presence around
the world
 “Speak softly and carry a big stick.”
 In the Caribbean Roosevelt acquired and
constructed the Panama Canal
 Hay-Pauncefote Treaty—Great Britain gave
the US the exclusive right to build a canal in
Central America
The Panama Canal
 Bought the canal that the French were
digging through Panama. (The French had
started to build in 1881, but stopped because
of $ and disease)
 John Hay (Sec of State) offered Colombia $10
million plus $250,000 a year, but the
Colombian gov’t refused
Panama Revolts
 Panamanians wanted the canal and didn’t
like Colombian rule
 The French were afraid the U.S. would give up
on Panama and build in Nicaragua instead
 So, they stage a revolt. The U.S. ordered
warships to the area to prevent Colombian
interference (1903)
 Panama independent within a couple days.
The Roosevelt Corollary
 Latin American countries in debt to Euro
banks in the early 1900s
 1902—Venezuela defaulted on its debts and
G. Brit, Germany, and Italy blockaded
Venezuelan ports. Crisis resolved after U.S.
intervened.
 Roosevelt Corollary—(part of Monroe
Doctrine) U.S. would intervene in L. Am
affairs when necessary to for economic and
political stability
Dollar Diplomacy
 Roosevelt’s successor = William Howard Taft
 Continued policies, but less emphasis on military
force
 Dollar Diplomacy—if Am. Business leaders
supported L. Am development, everyone
would benefit (“substituting dollars for
bullets”)
 Replace Euro loans with Am loans = Europe
has fewer reasons to intervene in L. Am.
Dollar Diplomacy
 Though Taft said his brand of diplomacy was
non-violent, in Nicaragua Taft sent the
marines in to help put down civil unrest.
 The troops stayed from 1911 until 1925.