Chapter 17 Section 3
A New Foreign Policy
Concession
• A concession is a grant for
a piece of land in
exchange for a promise to
use the land for a specific
purpose.
– Americans needed a
shorter route between the
Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
A French company had
bought a 25-year
concession from Colombia
to build a canal across
Panama Defeated by
yellow fever and
mismanagement, the
company abandoned the
project and offered its
remaining rights to the
United States for $100
million.
How did the United States secure the
rights to build the Panama Canal?
• It secretly encouraged a
revolution in Panama
and sent military forces
to protect it
• In return, the new
nation of Panama gave
the U.S. a 10 mile wide
strip of land to build the
canal
Roosevelt Corollary
• The Roosevelt
Corollary to the
Monroe Doctrine —
The United States will
act as “an
international police
power” in the
Western Hemisphere
and intervene to
prevent intervention
by other powers.
Why did Roosevelt issue the Roosevelt
Corollary?
• It would allow U.S.
intervention if Latin
American countries
took actions harmful to
the U.S. or if their
governments collapsed,
inviting intervention
from stronger (possibly
European) nations
How did people in Latin America and the
U.S. react to the Roosevelt Corollary?
• Latin Americans were
angered
• The U.S. Congress was
displeased
– The Roosevelt Corollary
strengthened
Roosevelt’s powers, but
weakened those of
Congress
Dollar Diplomacy
• President Taft believed
in maintaining influence
through American
investments, not
military might.
• This policy was called
dollar diplomacy.
Why did Taft’s Dollar Diplomacy and
Wilson’s actions in Mexico anger many
Latin Americans?
• In Latin America,
increased American
investment in the
economy angered local
revolutionaries that
opposed American
influence
• Wilson’s moral stance
during his direct
intervention in Mexican
affairs dictated how the
civil war would go,
angering many
Mexicans.
Big Stick Diplomacy
• Used by Theodore
Roosevelt
• Using the military to
conduct an aggressive
foreign policy
• Used in:
Panama/Colombia, The
Dominican Republic
Dollar Diplomacy
• Used by President Taft
• Maintaining influence
through American
investments, not
military might.
• China, Manchuria,
Russia, Japan, The
Caribbean, Central
America
Moral/Missionary Diplomacy
• Used by President
Wilson
• The U.S. should spread
democracy and
capitalism to other
nations in the
hemisphere and protect
them from foreign
threats
• Mexico, Haiti,
Dominican Republic