Lesson 3:
New American Diplomacy
Vocabulary:
access
tension
sphere of influence
Open Door Policy
dollar diplomacy
guerrilla
Essential Question:
How are empires built?
Guiding Question:
Why did the United
States want to
eliminate spheres
of influence?
An Open Door in China
China’s huge population and its vast markets
became increasingly important to American
trade by the late 1800s
BUT…...
The Open Door Policy
• 1894 - Japan easily defeated China’s
massive military over Korea
• Showed Japan mastered western technology
AND China weaker than realizer
• Peace treaty: China recognized Korea’s
independence and gave Manchuria to Japan
• Russians unhappy, forced Manchuria return
to China. Later demanded it leased from
China.
• Soon Germany, France, Britain demanded
leaseholds in China
Spheres of Influence – section of a country
where a foreign nation enjoys special rights
and powers (areas of economic and political
control)
An Open Door in China
McKinley’s emphasis on
negotiations so U.S. gets
access to trade in China
called:
• Open Door Policy –A
policy that allowed each
foreign nation in China
to trade freely in the
other nations’ sphere of
influence
The Boxer Rebellion
• The Society of Righteous
and Harmonious Fists,
known to Westerners as
“Boxers”
• Fought foreign influence and
control
• 1900 group decided to
destroy both the “foreign
devils” and Chinese
Christian converts
The Boxer Rebellion
• Germany, AustriaHungary, Britain,
France, Italy, Russia
and the United
States intervened by
rescuing foreigners
and ended the
rebellion
The Boxer Rebellion
• Sec of State John Hay
worked with European
powers, who decided
not to partition China
• China paid for damages
• Unites States retained
access to China’s trade
(tea, spices, silk)
• Gained larger markets
for its goods
What are some events leading
up to the Open Door Policy?
Japan defeating China, Russia’s
intervention, European
countries’ spheres of influence
How did the Open Door policy
differ from spheres of influence?
Open door policy has an
economic focus (trade).
Spheres of influence is more
like imperialism/setting up a
colony.
Why did the U.S. want to
eliminate spheres of influence?
The U.S. wanted to have free
trade
Great White Fleet
• The "Great White Fleet" sent around the
world by President Theodore Roosevelt
from 16 December 1907 to 22 February
1909 consisted of sixteen new
battleships of the Atlantic Fleet.
• The battleships were painted white
except for gilded scrollwork on their
bows.
• The Atlantic Fleet battleships only later
came to be known as the "Great White
Fleet."
The Panama Canal
• Spanish American
War brought home
a need for a
shorter route
between the
Atlantic and Pacific
Oceans
Building the Canal
• The isthmus of
Panama was an ideal
location
– Was a province of
Columbia
• A French company
bought a 25 year
concession to build
the canal across
Panama
Building the Canal
• What happened?
• Yellow fever and
mismanagement
made the French give
up building the canal
• The US picked up
where the French left
off
Building the Canal
• The US picked up where
the French left off but had
a difficult time working out
a lease with Columbia
• How did US get the land?
• The US backed a revolt
by Panamanian people
gave US rights to build
the canal
Building the Canal
• Surgeon General William
Crawford Gorgas helped
maintain a canal zone in
which mosquitoes could
not live
• Minimized the disease
• Construction began in
1904 finished a year
ahead of schedule in
1914
Reaction to the Canal
• Roosevelt’s
opponents did not
appreciate the
methods he used to
secure the canal zone
• Most Americans
approved because
they were convinced
that the canal was
vital to US power in
the world
Roosevelt's Big Stick Diplomacy
• Roosevelt’s famous
quote “Speak softly
and carry a big stick;
and you will go far”
set the tone for US
policy
• The Big stick referred
to the US Navy
The Roosevelt Corollary
1904-05
• Roosevelt Corollary –
was to prevent
European powers
from using debt to
justify intervening in
Latin America
• Roosevelt denied that
the US wanted more
territory
The Roosevelt Corollary
1904-05
• Latin America owed
large debts to
European Banks
• 1902 Venezuela
defaults on its debts
Britain, Germany, and
Italy block
Venezuelan ports
The Roosevelt Corollary
1904-05
• The US wanted only
“to see neighboring
countries stable,
orderly, and
prosperous”
• What would happen if
the was not the case?
• The US would be
forced to act as the
“policeman of Latin
America”
Roosevelt Corollary
1904-05
• The first successful
test was with Santo
Domingo
• Economic crisis
forced the US to take
over the countries
finances
Roosevelt as Peacemaker
• Keeping an “Open Door”
in China was key
• What was threatened
trade with Asia?
– Russo-Japanese War
• Roosevelt negotiated a
peace between the
warring countries and he
won the Noble Peace
Prize
Foreign Policy After Roosevelt
• Roosevelt’s successors were thrown
into a complex mix of political
alliances and world events that would
require careful and creative
policymaking
Taft and Dollar Diplomacy
• William H. Taft
succeeded Roosevelt,
but was not
aggressive in foreign
policy aims as his
predecessor
• 1911 American
bankers began
making loans to
Nicaragua
Taft and Dollar Diplomacy
• Taft wanted to substitute
“dollars for bullets” which
later became know as
Dollar Diplomacy
• Dollar Diplomacy – a
policy of joining business
interests of a country with
its diplomatic interests
abroad
• US Marines enter
Nicaragua to help with
civil unrest
Woodrow Wilson’s Diplomacy in
Mexico
• Mexican Revolution
• Porifiro Diaz (dictator)
ruled Mexico for 30
years
• Most Mexicans were
poor and landless
• Francisco Madero led
a revolution
Woodrow Wilson’s Diplomacy in
Mexico
• 1913 General Victoriano
Huerta seized power and
murdered Madero
• Wilson refused to
recognize the
government
• Would have to establish a
government based on law
not force
• Wilson ordered navy to
intercept arm shipments
to Huerta
Wilson Sends Troops to Mexico
• April 1914 American
sailors arrested in
Mexican city
• Learned a German ship
was unloading weapons
• U.S. Marines seize Vera
Cruz
• Mexican forces
conducted raids into the
U.S.
Wilson Sends Troops to Mexico
• Pancho Villa burned
Columbus, New Mexico
killing 17 Americans
• General John J Pershing
tried but could not
capture Pancho Villa
• 1914 negotiated a naval
base in Nicaragua
Wilson Sends Troops to Mexico
• 1915 put down
Haitian rebellion
• Marines remained
until 1934
• 1916 sent troops to
the Dominican
Republic to set up a
government