James S. Gilbert
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Beyond the Chagres River
Are paths that lead to death -
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To the fever’s deadly breezes,
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To malaria’s poisonous breath!
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Beyond the tropic foliage,
Where the alligator waits,
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Are the mansions of the
Devil -
His original estates!
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Beyond the Chagres River
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Are paths fore’er unknown,
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With a spider ‘neath each
 pebble,
A scorpion ‘neath each stone.
‘Tis here the boaconstrictor
His fatal banquet holds,
And to his slimy bosom
His hapless guest enfolds!
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Beyond the Chagres River
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Lurks the cougar in his lair,
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And ten hundred thousand dangers
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Hide in the noxious air.
Behind the trembling leaflets,
Beneath the fallen reeds,
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Are ever-present perils
Of a million different breeds!
Beyond the Chagres River
‘Tis said - the story’s old -
Are paths that lead to mountains
Of purest virgin gold;
But ‘tis my firm conviction,
Whatever tales they tell,
That beyond the Chagres
River
All paths lead straight to hell!

CH 7, sect. 3

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Election of 1900
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Roosevelt became Vice
President for McKinley who ran on imperialism
 Vice-presidency was a way to keep Roosevelt in the background because the title held little responsibility
Anarchist stepped out from a crowd of people at an appearance in Buffalo, NY and shot the president twice
McKinley died a few days later
Roosevelt became youngest
president ever to hold office and was determined to make the US a world power

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Open Door Policy
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Russia, China, Japan, Germany, France, and Britain were all arguing over control of land and spheres of influence in Asia
U.S. wants “Open Door Policy”
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All countries should be allowed to trade with China (which is what they all really wanted)
China had no say
Countries agreed in theory, but refused to completely agree unless everyone else did because they wanted to break China up into colonies
Boxer Rebellion
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A secret society, which Americans called the Boxers, formed to get rid of
“foreign devils” and their Christian converts who they believed were corrupting Chinese society
In the Boxer Rebellion “Boxers” seized foreign embassies in Beijing,
killing more than 200 foreigners and taking others prisoner until the US and other countries stepped in

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Roosevelt supported Open Door policy to prevent any single nation from controlling trade in
China
Roosevelt helped negotiate a treaty between Japan and
Russia, which earned him the
Nobel Peace Prize
U.S. and Japan were competing for power in East Asia
Roosevelt sent out 16 battleships
(The Great White Fleet) of the
U.S. Navy to demonstrate the nation’s military power
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This didn’t help relations with
Japan

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Roosevelt realized need for canal to reduce time and money required for commercial and military shipping
U.S. had signed a treaty with Great Britain stating that we wouldn’t build a canal without them, but we signed another treaty later that said the opposite
French tried to build a canal and failed, but offered to sell their rights to us
U.S. Secretary of State offered Colombia (who controlled Panama) $10
million and a yearly rent of $250,000 for the right to build the canal and to control a narrow strip of land on either side
Colombia wouldn’t agree to the price, so Panama had to declare
independence to get the canal built and they knew they would have support from the U.S.
Roosevelt sent battleships to step in on the side of Panama and we signed a treaty with newly independent Panama for control of the canal zone

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Roosevelt believed that the U.S. should “speak softly and carry a big
stick”
U.S. would step into Latin American
affairs if necessary to maintain
economic and political stability in the Western Hemisphere
Made U.S. unpopular with Latin
American countries, but Taft (who followed Roosevelt as president) continued to use this policy and believed that if American business leaders supported Latin American and Asian development, everyone would benefit
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This came to be known as “dollar
diplomacy”

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Mexican dictator Porfirio
Diaz brought order to
Mexico, but did so by
oppressing the people
Wealth was in the hands of a few elite and most Mexicans were terribly poor
Emiliano Zapata led an army of peasants in southern
Mexico to try to overthrow
Diaz
Pancho Villa led an army in the north and helped drive
Diaz out of power

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American troops had been arrested without cause
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They were quickly released and Mexican officials apologized
U.S. Admiral Henry Mayo demanded that the Mexicans give the American
flag a 21-gun salute within 24 hours
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They refused
President asked Congress to authorize use of force against Mexico
Before they could approve, Wilson heard about a German ship loaded with weapons for Mexico heading for the city of Veracruz and ordered the Navy to seize the city
17 Americans and 300 Mexicans died in the Battle of Veracruz
U.S. troops occupied the city for 6 months
Huerta, the new leader of Mexico, was pressured to step down from power and resigned

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With Huerta gone, Venustiano Carranza
declared himself leader, but was opposed by Zapata and Villa
When President Woodrow Wilson
supported Carranza as the president of
Mexico, Villa was outraged and killed
Americans in Mexico and New Mexico
For 11 months, American forces looked for Pancho Villa but were unable to find him
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The farther we went into Mexican territory, the more they resented us
Carranza created a new constitution for Mexico protecting liberties and rights of citizens and using ideas of all the revolutionary groups
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Fighting in Mexico continued, the economy suffered, and many Mexicans moved to
America in search of a more stable life