United States’ Foreign Policies:

Big Stick; Dollar Diplomacy; Moral Diplomacy;

applications and impact on region

Big Stick Defined

Big Stick• President Theodore Roosevelt • “Speak softly, but carry a big stick.”• Civilized country had duty to interfere in

uncivilized country to preserve order– Civilized-industrial goods– Uncivilized-raw materials

Big Stick Applied Applications & Effects • Increased size and power of U.S. Navy

– 2nd in world by 1906– Great White Fleet world tour

• Military might • Intended to influence Japan

– premier navy and was excluding American trade in many Asian territories it controlled

– 1902 British, Italian, and German naval blockade of Venezuelan in response to its European debt• German ships shelled ports• Roosevelt threatened U.S. naval power• German navy withdrew

Big Stick Applied Applications & Effects • Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine

(1904)– U.S. had right not only to oppose European

intervention in the W. Hemisphere but also to intervene itself in the domestic affairs of its neighbors if those neighbors proved unable to maintain order• 1906: Because of Platt Amendment guarantee:

– U.S. forces return to Cuba to stomp out an uprising» U.S. presence continued for 3 years

• Dominican Republic bankrupt, unable to pay European debts

– Roosevelt established American receivership, controlling Dominican customs, distributing 45 percent of the revenues to the Dominicans and the rest to foreign creditors

– Continued for 3 decades

Big Stick Applied Applications & Effects • Panama Canal

– Agreement signed giving America rights to six mile canal zone in Columbia in exchange for 10 million and annual rental of 250,000.

– Outrage in Columbian senate, refused ratification, demanded 20 million and some payment to French

• French had previous rights to zone and had begin construction – Roosevelt and French Chief Engineer (Philippe Bunau-Varilla

organized a revolution in Panama (controlled by Columbia)

– Roosevelt landed troops in Panama, forces prevented Columbia from intervening, Roosevelt recognized Panama as independent nation

– Panamanian government quickly agreed to terms that Columbian senate rejected

– Canal opened in 1914

Dollar Diplomacy Defined

• President William Howard Taft• Extend American investments into less

developed regions• Critics nicknamed policy “dollar diplomacy”

Dollar Diplomacy:Applications & Effects

• Nicaraguan Revolution-1909• Taft administration sided with insurgents

– Sent American troops to seize customs houses

– Once peace was restored, Secretary of State Knox encouraged American banks to offer loans to new government

– 2 years later attempted revolution was crushed by return of American troops

Moral Diplomacy: Defined

• President Woodrow Wilson • Using moral values as standard for

intervention in foreign affairs

Wilson follows Big Stick and Dollar Diplomacy:

• Intervened in Latin America for similar reasons to Roosevelt and Taft

• Haiti – Marines sent in 1915 to stop revolution– Military remained in country until 1934– American officers drafted Haitian constitution

• Virgin Islands– Fearing they would be colonized by Germany, Wilson

purchased from Denmark and renamed them Virgin Islands• Nicaragua

– Treaty securing America’s right to interfere with country’s internal affairs to protect U.S. interest

Application and Effects ofMoral Diplomacy:

Mexican Revolution:• Background

– American businessmen had established enormous economic presence in Mexico under Diaz

– (1910): Madero took over and seemed hostile to American business in Mexico

– U.S. government (under Taft) encouraged and supported Victoriano Huerta to dispose of Madero in 1913

– Taft administration had plans to formally recognize Huerta as Mexican leader, but Wilson won presidency

Application and Effects ofMoral Diplomacy:

Mexican Revolution:• Wilson’s moral diplomacy applied

–Wilson announced he would never recognize “Huerta’s government of butchers”• Huerta government murdered Madero

–Culminating in U.S. Mexican conflict at Port of Veracruz

Application and Effects ofMoral Diplomacy:

Mexican Revolution:– Carranza seized power with support of Wilson– Wilson pulled back support when Carranza refused to

follow American guidelines in writing Constitution of 1917• Wilson backed Villa for short time, then supported

Carranza again Villa took 16 American miners from a train in N. Mexico and executed them, 2 months later attacked Columbus, NM by killing 17 Americans (1916)

– With permission from Carranza issued Pershing Expedition, leading to skirmishes with Carranza’s troops

– Wilson eventually withdrew from Mexico, avoiding a major war and formally recognized Carranza (WW1)