Chapter 7,

Section 3The United

States &

Latin America

Building the Panama Canal• A canal across the narrow

neck of Central America would link the Atlantic & Pacific oceans & cut 8,000 miles off the voyage by ship from the West to the East Coasts.

• It would also allow the U.S. Navy to link its Atlantic & Pacific naval fleets quickly.

Revolution in Panama• President Roosevelt knew

the best place for a canal was the isthmus of Panama.

• Panama was part of the nation of Colombia.

• He had been unable to convince Colombia to lease a strip of land to the U.S.

Revolution in Panama• He had to find another way!

• Roosevelt learned that Panamanian rebels were planning a revolt against Colombia.

• He sent a U.S. warship to Panama & the revolt began the next day.

Revolution in Panama• Blocked by the U.S.

warship, Colombia could not reach Panama to stop the rebellion.

• Panama declared itself an independent country & the U.S. recognized the new nation.

Revolution in Panama• The new government

of Panama supported the idea of a canal across its land.

• The U.S agreed to pay Panama $10 million plus $250,000 a year for a 99 year lease on a 10-mile strip of land.

Building the Canal• Canal construction began in

1904.

• The first obstacle to overcome was tropical disease.

• The canal route ran through 51 miles of forests & swamps filled with mosquitoes.

• The mosquitoes carried malaria & yellow fever.

Building the Canal• Dr. William Gorgas

organized an effort to rid the canal route of disease carrying mosquitoes.

• If he had not been successful, the canal would have taken much longer.

Building the Canal• Even with the reduced

risk of disease, the work was very dangerous.

• Most of the canal had to be blasted out of solid rock with explosives.

• Workers had to cut through the mountains of central Panama.

Building the Canal• 6,000 lives were lost

during the American construction of the Panama Canal.

• It was opened to ships on August 15, 1914.

• It took 10 years to complete & cost $375 million.

U.S. Policy Toward Latin America

• Theodore Roosevelt believed America should play an active role in the Western Hemisphere.

• He said he had always been fond of the West African proverb, “Speak softly and carry a big stick.”

• But before Roosevelt became president…………..

U.S. Policy Toward Latin America

• In the early 1800s, President Monroe issued the Monroe Doctrine.

• This warned European nations not to interfere with countries in the Western Hemisphere.

U.S. Policy Toward Latin America

• Things were changing where the U.S. was concerned.

• We were growing stronger, expanding our influence and becoming a world power.

• How should the U.S. use its power in Latin America???

U.S. Policy Toward Latin America

• European nations had made loans to a lot of Latin American countries.

• The Latin American countries refused to pay their debts.

• The European nations wanted to use military force to collect the debts.

U.S. Policy Toward Latin America

• Roosevelt urged the Latin American countries to repay their debts.

• He did not want the European nations to intervene in Latin American.

• The presence of European forces there would violate the Monroe Doctrine & threaten U.S. power in the region.

U.S. Policy Toward Latin America

• Roosevelt knew he would have to force Latin American countries to repay their debts to keep European nations from interfering.

• In 1904 he announced the Roosevelt Corollary.

U.S. Policy Toward Latin America• The Roosevelt Corollary warned that in

cases of “wrongdoing” by Latin American countries, the U.S. might exercise international police power.

• The Corollary asserted a new role for the U.S.

• Roosevelt actively enforced this policy the rest of his presidency.

U.S. Interests in Latin America

• William Howard Taft became president after Roosevelt.

• He believed in protecting U.S. interests in Latin America.

• His policy was called dollar diplomacy.

U.S. Interests in Latin America

• Dollar Diplomacy was influencing governments through economic, not military intervention.

• Taft described dollar diplomacy as “substituting dollars for bullets.”

U.S. Interests in Latin America

• An example of dollar diplomacy:–Nicaragua failed to repay a loan to Great

Britain–America lent Nicaragua $1.5 billion to repay– In return, America got control of the

National Bank of Nicaragua & the government owned railway

–Nicaraguans were angry over this & rebelled

–U.S. Marines were sent to protect American interests

U.S. Interests in Latin America

• The next president, Woodrow Wilson, was willing to use military force to protect American interests.

• 1910 – Mexicans revolted against the harsh rule of their ruler, Porfiro Diaz.

U.S. Interests in Latin America

• This led to the Mexican Revolution.

• The war affected U.S. interests because Americans had invested billions in Mexican land, mining, oil & railways.

• American business leaders feared they would lose their investments.

U.S. Interests in Latin America

• In 1914, Wilson learned that a German ship carrying weapons was headed to Mexico.

• We did not want the weapons to reach the rebels, therefore, Wilson ordered the U.S. navy to seize the port the Germans were headed to.

U.S. Interests in Latin America

• 1916 – Wilson ordered John J. Pershing & 15,000 soldiers to Mexico to catch the rebel leader Francisco “Pancho” Villa.

• Pershing failed & was ordered back to the U.S.

U.S. Interests in Latin America

• 1917 – a new constitution began to bring order in Mexico.

• The violence caused 120,000 Mexicans to flee to the U.S. between 1905 & 1915.