The Roosevelt Corollary (1904)

• Merely an expansion of the Monroe Doctrine (1823)? or

• A completely new principle of Foreign Relations?

• Why does it matter and what are the implications?

You be the judge!

Let’s start with some terminology…

Doctrine: a principle of law established through past decisions; a statement of fundamental government policy especially in international relations

Corollary: an immediate consequence or easily drawn conclusion; a natural consequence or result.

Review: Leading up to the Monroe Doctrine… Latin AmericaNapoleon Bonaparte’s intervention in Spain

triggered the start of numerous independence movements in Spain’s American colonies

As these colonies began to achieve independence, European re-colonization was seen as a threat to national security and other U.S. interests in the Americas

U.S. wanted to maintain political and physical separation from Europe

Map of Dates of

Independence of American

Nations

The Monroe Doctrine (1823)Contained in President James Monroe’s

annual message to CongressSought to solidify split between the U.S. and

imperial European powersDesigned to prevent further European

intervention in the Western hemisphere: “European Containment”

Sent a strong message to European powers : Separate “spheres of influence” for the U.S. and

Europe Non-colonization Non-Intervention

Domestic Life: The Gilded Age1865 through the 1890s

Term coined by Mark Twain to reflect a time that seemed shiny on the outside yet corrupt on the inside

Shift from agrarian to industrial society

Formation of first U.S. labor organizations

Domestic Life: The Progressive MovementFrom the beginning of the 20th Century, Theodore Roosevelt

was a key figure in the Progressive Movement

Quoted from WhiteHouse.gov:

“As President, Roosevelt held the ideal that the Government should be the great arbiter of the conflicting economic forces in the Nation, especially between capital and labor, guaranteeing justice to each and dispensing favors to none….

Roosevelt steered the United States more actively into world politics. He liked to quote a favorite proverb, "Speak softly and carry a big stick.” Aware of the strategic need for a shortcut between the Atlantic and Pacific, Roosevelt ensured the construction of the Panama Canal. His corollary to the Monroe Doctrine prevented the establishment of foreign bases in the Caribbean and arrogated the sole right of intervention in Latin America to the United States.”

Leading up to Roosevelt’s Corollary…1895: In response to an ongoing boundary dispute over

the border of British Guiana and Venezuela (Great Britain/Germany and Venezuela)

Venezuela asks the U.S. to arbitrate Secretary of State Richard Olney invokes a broader

interpretation of the Monroe Doctrine declaring U.S. supremacy in the hemisphere.

“Today the United Stats is practically sovereign on this continent, and its fiat is law upon the subjects to which it confines its interposition.” (Olney, 1895)

1898: Spanish-American War “The Spanish-American War and the subsequent occupation of

Cuba can be traced to the rapid growth of the American public’s interest in economic, territorial, and cultural expansion during the 1890s. This interest was due in part to domestic economic distress. The Depression and the dominance of monopolies such as Standard Oil and Carnegie Steel forced struggling farmers and aspiring entrepreneurs to look abroad for better economic opportunities.” (Source: http://www.hsl.virginia.edu/historical/medical_history/yellow_fever/politics.cfm)

1901: The Platt Amendment An amendment drafted by U.S. politicians was reluctantly added

to the Cuban constitution This amendment gave the U.S. right to intervene in Cuban affairs

for “the preservation of Cuban independence, the maintenance of a government adequate for the protection of life, property, and individual liberty, and for discharging the obligations with respect to Cuba imposed by the Treaty of Paris on the United States, now to be assumed and undertaken by the Government of Cuba.”

• 1902/03: Venezuela Crisis

• Since its independence in 1811, Venezuela had endured multiple civil wars

• Yet, from 1870-1898, a period of stability had encouraged foreign investment in the nation’s infrastructure which were financed in large part by government bonds

• When the government refused or was unable to honor these bonds, European Powers (Great Britain, Germany, Italy) created a blockade on Venezuelan ports, seeking 30% of custom revenues

• The U.S. did not want European powers, (especially Germany) involved in the Caribbean

• Eventually, the dispute was arbitrated but served as a strict warning to Roosevelt…

• Maybe the Monroe Doctrine needed an update to address modern global imperialism…

1904: Roosevelt secures Panama Canal Zone

Dominican RepublicIn

Theodore Roosevelt’s Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine (1904)Stated that the U.S. government would intervene if Central

and Latin American countries were unable to repay their debts to foreign creditors (who were mostly U.S. citizens and Europeans)

Effectively declared the right of the U.S. to “exercise…an international police power"

Emblematic of Roosevelt’s “Big Stick” diplomacy

Roosevelt and future presidents used as justification for later interventions on Cuba, Nicaragua, Mexico and Haiti.

Historian Walter LaFeber on the Roosevelt Corollary: Play clip: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/presidents/26_t_roosevelt/filmmore/ra_lafecoro.html

Transcript: WALTER LAFEBER: When Roosevelt goes into Santo Domingo in 1904-1905, he has to provide some kind of public justification. I don't think it's just a justification. I think Roosevelt really sincerely believed that what he was doing was right and that it was in line with American historic precedent.But what he says in a message to Congress is that the United States has the right to exercise international police power, and that particular message becomes known as the "Roosevelt corollary to the Monroe Doctrine."The Monroe Doctrine of 1823 said, as President Monroe issued it in that year, that Europeans should stay out of Latin America, that the Americas were essentially an American preserve. People should stay out of Latin American affairs. What Roosevelt says in 1904 and 1905 is to say, the United States should get into Latin American affairs. He essentially turns the Monroe Doctrine on its head and says the Europeans should stay out, but the United States has the right, under the doctrine, to go in in order exercise police power to keep the Europeans out.It's a very neat twist on the Monroe Doctrine, and, of course, it becomes very, very important because over the next 15 to 20 years, the United States will move into Latin America about a dozen times with military force, to the point where the United States Marines become known in the area as "State Department troops" because they are always moving in to protect State Department interests and State Department policy in the Caribbean. So what Roosevelt does here, by redefining the Monroe Doctrine, turns out to be very historic, and it leads the United States into a period of confrontation with peoples in the Caribbean and Central America, that was a really important part of American imperialism.

Compare and Contrast:Primary Sources Please read the excerpts from the Monroe Doctrine (1823) and

Roosevelt’s Corollary (1904) and answer the following questions in small groups:

1. What is the tone of the document?

2. What does the author proclaim to be the role of the United States in Latin America? The role of Europe?

3. How does Roosevelt’s Corollary extend the Monroe Doctrine and/or differ from it?

4. What do you think is the goal of the stated policy?