US Imperialism: Early 20th Century Policies

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US Imperialism Early 20th Century Policies

• Open Door Policy
• Panama Canal
• Big Stick Diplomacy
• Dollar Diplomacy

11.4.1 List the purpose and the effects of the
Open Door policy. 11.4.3 Discuss Americas role
in the Panama Revolution and the building of the
Panama Canal. 11.4.4Explain Theodore Roosevelts
Big Stick diplomacy and William Tafts Dollar
Diplomacy.
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Open Door Policy

• 1899 US will enforce the right of ALL nations
  to trade equally with China
• No single country will control China.
• China will not be divided

3
Panama Canal

• 1903 - Panama is controlled by Columbia
• Columbia wants the US to pay 40 million for
  rights to build canal

4
Panama Canal

• Instead, President Roosevelt supports a Panama
  revolution
• An independent Panama allows the canal to be built

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Big Stick Diplomacy (Theodore Roosevelt)

• Having a strong military is a deterrent
• Other countries will listen to the US without
  having to use force.
• Strong Navy

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Corollary to Monroe Doctrine

• Back in 1823, President James Monroe stated that
  the Western Hemisphere was to no longer be
  colonized by Europeans
• The US would use military force if needed to
  defend our neighbor nations
• In 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt extended
  the Monroe Doctrine with his corollary
• The US can intervene in Caribbean and Central
  American countries to stabilize their economy

Presidents cited the Roosevelt Corollary as
justification for U.S. intervention in Cuba
(1906), Nicaragua (1909, 1912 and 1926), Haiti
(1915), and the Dominican Republic (1916).
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Great White Fleet
1907 - To show the naval power of the US,
Roosevelt sent the great white fleet around the
world
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Dollar diplomacy

• substituting dollars for bullets.
• US can influence the world through economics
  rather than through its military
• Supporting US companies in other countries will
  make the US stronger.

President William Howard Taft
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Taft Speech on Dollar Diplomacy

• In Central America the aim has been to help
  such countries as Nicaragua and Honduras to help
  themselves. They are the immediate beneficiaries.
  The national benefit to the United States is
  twofold. First, it is obvious that the Monroe
  Doctrine is more vital in the neighborhood of the
  Panama Canal and the zone of the Caribbean than
  anywhere elseHence, the United States has been
  glad to encourage and support American bankers
  who were willing to lend a helping hand to the
  financial rehabilitation of such countries
  because this financial rehabilitation and the
  protection of their customhouses from being the
  prey of would-be dictators would remove at one
  stroke the menace of foreign creditors and the
  menace of revolutionary disorder.
• The second advantage to the United States is one
  affecting chiefly all the Southern and Gulf ports
  and the business and industry of the South. The
  republics of Central America and the Caribbean
  possess great natural wealth. They need only a
  measure of stability and the means of financial
  regeneration to enter upon an era of peace and
  prosperity, bringing profit and happiness to
  themselves and at the same time creating
  conditions sure to lead to a flourishing
  interchange of trade with this country

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Summary