
In 1900 congress passed the Foraker Act
› Authorized POTUS to appoint a governor and
part of the legislature of Puerto Rico
› The rest of the legislature would be
determined by a general election in PR
U.S. taxed Puerto Rican goods
 Puerto Ricans did not have the same
rights as U.S. citizens

Granted Puerto Ricans more citizenship
rights
 Gave them greater control of their
legislature
 Still didn’t have all the same rights as
Americans


Platt Amendment
› Restricted rights of the Cubans
› Brought Cuba within the US sphere
› Prevented Cuba from making agreements
with other nations without US approval
› Required Cuba to lease naval stations to the
US
› Gave US the “right to intervene” to preserve
order in Cuba
› Cubans didn’t like it!

TR’s policy for US action in Latin America
› Depended on a strong military to achieve
goals
“Speak softly and carry a big stick; you
will go far.”
 America had a duty to “civilize” weaker
nations
 America’s captains of industry should be
international leaders

U.S. bought a French company’s claim in
1903 for $40 million
 Before building a canal to connect the
Pacific to the Atlantic the US needed the
permission of the Colombian govt
 Colombia demanded more than the US
was willing to give
 TR sent warships to assist in the
Panamanian rebellion against Colombia

Colombia backed down after the
military presence of the US
 Panama declared its independence
and granted the US control over the
“canal zone”
 US agreed to pay Panama $10 million
and annual rent of $250,000
 US transferred control in 1999

More than 35,000 workers dug canal
 More than 5,000 died from disease or
accidents
 Opened in 1914

Europe was angry because Latin
Americans were not paying debts to
foreign investors
 Updated the Monroe Doctrine
 TR wanted to keep the Western
Hemisphere free from European
intervention
 US would act as police

› Latin Americans wanted to police
themselves!

“Less big stick, more dollars”
› “substitute dollars for bullets”
Wanted to increase American
investments in Central American
businesses and banks
 “Big Stick” sometimes had to be used to
protect “dollar diplomacy”

› Example: Nicaragua…troops sent twice to
protect the pro-American govt there
Taft’s diplomacy basically failed
Unlike his predecessors, Wilson was antiimperialism
 Vowed US would not conduct territorial
conquests, instead they would promote
“human rights, national integrity, and
opportunity.”
 Despite his rhetoric, he still used military
to “guide” Latin Americans

› Example: Haiti, Dominican Republic, and
Mexico
Wilson’s plan didn’t really work either :’(

Mexico arrested US sailors
› Wilson sent in Marines and collapsed
Mexican government

Things were good for a short time
› Rebels rose again led by Pancho Villa

Villa attacked and killed 18 Americans in
NM
› Troops sent to Mexico on a “punitive
expedition”

WWI distracted US from Villa
US gave up the hunt, but he was killed by an unknown assassin in 1923.
 At
the end of the Spanish-American
War, the U.S. had accomplished its
goal of becoming a world power, a
role we still retain today.
What problems have we faced as a
nation historically because of the role
we play in the rest of the world?