Transcript Imperialism in Latin America

Imperialism in Latin
America:
Artwork and Political
Cartoons
Heartleigh Little
Period 2
AP Euro
1850-56: U.S. soldiers defend American-built transisthmian railroad in Panama
1852-53: U.S. Marines land in Argentina to protect American interests during a
revolution
1855: U.S. forces sent to Uruguay to protect American lives and property
1856: William Walker, with a mercenary army, conquers Nicaragua.
1857: Cornelius Vanderbilt funds the war against Walker, and hires American mercenary
Sylvanus M. Spencer to lead Costa Rican forces
1885: Washington sends--in one of the first acts of "gunboat diplomacy"--the USS
Wachusett to Guatemala to defend American lives and property
1898: America defeats Spain and annexes or assumes control of Cuba, the Philippines,
Puerto Rico (and also annexes Hawaii)
1903: The Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty makes the U.S. the "sovereign" power in the Panama
Canal Zone
1904: Roosevelt announces his corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, and takes customs
control of the Dominican Republic
1905: U.S. Marines land in Honduras
1906-09: U.S. forces occupy Cuba
1910: U.S. forces land in Nicaragua and control--for the next thirty-eight years--the
country's finances
Monroe Doctrine
•
The American Revolution and the French Revolution inspired a
generation of young Creoles in Latin America. Most countries
achieved independence from Spain and Portugal in the early
1820s in a series of revolutions. In 1823 the United States
asserted a bold foreign policy, the Monroe Doctrine, declaring a
special interest in the western hemisphere.
•
"The American continents, by the free and independent condition
which they have assured and maintain, are henceforth not to be
considered as subjects for future colonization by any European
powers. We should consider any attempt on their part to extend
their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to
our peace and safety."
• The special interest in Latin America
that the Monroe Doctrine proclaimed
brought major changes to the United
States in 1898. The United States
declared war against Spain resulting
in the surrender of its remaining
possessions in the Western hemisphere
to the United States. The young nation
joined the European powers as an
imperialist nation. It acquired Cuba,
Puerto Rico, the Philippine Islands, and
the Carolina, Marshall, and Mariana Islands
(including Guam) in Micronesia.
•
The war was over, and Spain's
possessions in the western hemisphere
fell into America's lap. The question then
for McKinley and the United States
government was what to do with these
territories.
•
Many Americans felt that Cuba couldn't
govern itself if it became independent,
while others insisted that Cuba must be
granted its independence. After much
debate, the United States decided to
grant Cuba limited independence, but
wrote into its constitution, the Platt
Amendment, which gave the United
States broad powers to intervene in
Cuban internal affairs. It did so several
times to protect American investments
and keep friendly rulers.
Phillipines
• Filipinos had been fighting the Spanish when the
Americans defeated them in Cuba and Puerto Rico. On
December 21, 1898, President William Mckinley
announced his decision to keep the Philippines as an
American colonial possession in the Benevolent
Assimilation Proclimation.
• The Filipinos did not recognize any American right of
possession. They expected to receive their independence
just as other former Spanish colonies like Cuba had done.
• They were outraged that the United States had
"purchased" the Philippines from Spain. War between the
Filipinos and the Americans was the result.
• Many felt it was important to keep the Philippines so that
America might "civilize" them.
White Man’s Burden
• An English author and poet, Rudyard Kipling urged
America to play the imperialism game. His famous The
White Man’s Burden," often called the "Anthem of
Imperialism," appeared in McClure's Magazine in 1899,
and was written to appeal to America keep the
Philippines. The imperialists prevailed in the end and the
treaty was ratified.
Mark Twain:
Satire on Imperialism
• One of the most famous anti-imperialists was
Mark Twain. He adamantly opposed the
Philippine War and became President of the
Anti-Imperialist League until his death in 1910.
He commented frequently on his opposition to
the annexation of the Philippines. Some of his
writings on imperialism are not very well
known, because his executors suppressed some
of his more controversial social and political
writings after his death. His most famous essay
satirizing the war in the Philippines was To The
Person Sitting in Darkness
“out of the frying pan and into the fire”
This painting interprets the involvement of America in Cuban affairs
following the Spanish-American War.
It displays the American view of Latin America; an underdeveloped
country, and in lack of a real government or political structure.
Big Stick Diplomacy is a political cartoon. ”The new diplomacy" is
on Roosevelt's nightstick. He is depicted as a police officer
exercising international police power, satirizing the form of political
enforcement on American territories in Latin America.
Panama Canal
•
•
•
The idea of a canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific had been around
since the Spanish discovered the Americas. The French heavily invested
in a canal project after their success with the Suez Canal in Egypt. The
engineering challenge was enormous, the terrain very difficult, and the
climate poisonous. However, a canal was important to the United States
interests and Theodore Roosevelt was determined to complete the
project.
After debating on the most appropriate place for the canal, the United
States Congress authorized Theodore Roosevelt to purchase the French
assets and take over the Panama project. Panama, where the isthmus
was located, was part of Colombia. Negotiators from both countries
agreed upon terms, but Colombia rejected the treaty, holding out for
more money. Angered, Roosevelt stopped negotiations and found
another way to get the isthmus. He supported the Panamanian rebels in
their fight for independence from Colombia.
Panama achieved its independence. The United States acquired the
lease to build the Panama Canal on very favorable terms with the newly
independent country. The new country could not survive without
American support.
•Many lives were
lost
to
disease,
particularly yellow
fever,
when
the
canal was built. It
took seven years to
complete.
•Roosevelt
would
later boast that "...I
took the isthmus,
started the canal
and
then
left
Congress not to
debate the canal,
but to debate me."
Hub Date: 1900
• Political Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905), Revolution in
Russia (1905), Balkan Wars (1912-1913)
• Social Women’s suffrage movement in England (19001914), Social-welfare legistation: England (1906-1914),
France (1904-1910)
• Religion and Philosophy Separation of Church and
State, France (1901-1905), Jean-paul Sartre (1905-1980)
• Science and Technology Plank develops quantam theory
(1900), First airplane flight (1903), Einstein develops
relativity theory (1905-1910)
• Arts “modernism” (1900-1929)