17.4 United States Economic
Imperialism
Main Idea: Empire Building—The United States
put increasing economic and political pressure on
Latin America during the 19th century.
Latin America After Independence
 Colonial Legacy
 Most Latin Americans worked for large land owners.
 Wages low, prices high
 Workers debt accumulated
 Rich got richer, poor poorer
 Governments took over Native or Church land and sold it to
the rich.
 Economic development lagged because of these conditions.
Latin America After Independence
 Political Instability
 A widespread problem in 19th century Latin America
 Leaders gain fame and power during the struggle for
independence.
 After independence many became caudillos—military
dictators or “strong men.”
 By mid-1800s nearly all Latin American nations were ruled by
caudillos.
 Juan Vicente Gomez was a ruthless caudillo who ruled
Venezuela for nearly 20 years
 “All Venezuela is my cattle ranch.”
Latin America After Independence
 Juan Vicente Gomez
was a ruthless caudillo
who ruled Venezuela for
nearly 20 years
 “All Venezuela is my
cattle ranch.”
 Notice that some
caudillos like to where
military uniforms with
extensive decorations.
Latin America After Independence
 Reform-minded president
of Argentina, Domingo
Sarmiento was the
exception.
 Improved education
 Number of students
doubled
 Unfortunately, reformers
did not stay in office long,
and caudillos often seized
control of governments.
Caudillos vs. Democracy
 The caudillos faced little opposition.
 The wealthy landowners usually supported them.
 Latin Americans lacked a democratic tradition.
 Voting rights were restricted to the upper and
middle classes
Economies Grow Under Foreign Influence
 Britain and the United States became Latin America’s main trading
partners after their independence from Spain and Portugal.
 Old Products and New Markets
 The development of the steamship and the building of railroads greatly
increased Latin American trade.
 Invention of refrigeration increased Latin America's exports.
 The sale of perishable goods soared.
 But foreign nations benefited far more from the increased trade than Latin
America did.
 Latin Americans imported European and North American manufactured goods.
 They had little reason to develop their own manufacturing industries.
 Without industry Latin America could not play a leading role on the world
economic stage.
Outside Investment and Interference
 Latin American countries did not re-invest in infrastructure or
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industry to become self-sufficient.
They often borrowed money at high interest rates to develop
facilities for their export industries.
Owed Britain, France, the United States, and Germany.
Often unable to pay back their loans
Foreign lenders
 threatened to collect the debt by force.
 threatened to take over the facilities they had funded.
 gained control of many Latin American industries.
 This began a new era of economic imperialism.
A Latin American Empire
 The Monroe Doctrine
 1823, President James
Monroe issues the
Monroe Doctrine
which states
“the American continents
. . . are henceforth not
to be considered as
subjects for future
colonization by any
European powers.”
Cuba Declares Independence
 1868—Cuba declares
independence and fights a ten
year war against Spain.
 1878—Cuba gives up this
war.
 1895—Jose Marti returns
to Cuba to launch another
war against Spain.
 By mid-1890’s, U.S. had
substantial business holdings
in Cuba.
Jose Marti
Spanish-American War
 1898—U.S. joins the Cuban war for independence by
fighting the Spanish-American War.
 U.S. attacks the Philippine Islands first to take it from Spain.
 An attack is launched on Cuba.
 The Spanish defense collapses.
 1901—Cuba is declared an independent nation, but the
United States installs a military government. Cubans
come to resent U.S. interference.
Roosevelt’s “Rough Riders”
Theodore Roosevelt in his “Rough
Rider” uniform (above), and with
his regiment on top of San Juan
Hill (left).
The Philippine-American War
 The Philippine–American War, also known as the
Philippine War of Independence or the Philippine
Insurrection (1899–1902), was an armed conflict between
a group of Filipino revolutionaries and the United States
which arose from the struggle of the First Philippine
Republic to gain independence following annexation by the
United States.
 In 1916, the United States granted the Philippines autonomy
and promised eventual self-government, which came in
1934.
 In 1946, following World War II, the Philippines was granted
independence.
The Battle of Manila
Emilio Aguinaldo
 He led the fight for the
independence of the
Philippines.
 1899 political cartoon by
Winsor McCay. Uncle
Sam (representing the
United States), gets
entangled with rope
around a tree labeled
"Imperialism" while
trying to subdue a
bucking colt or mule
labeled "Philippines"
while a figure
representing Spain walks
off over the horizon
carrying a bag labeled
"$20,000,000".
Filipino soldiers outside Manila in 1899
Opposition to the Philippine War
 Mark Twain famously opposed the war by
using his influence in the press. He said
the war betrayed the ideals of American
democracy by not allowing the Filipino
people to choose their own destiny.
 In a diary passage removed by Twain's first
biographical editor Thomas Bigelow
Paine, Twain refers to American troops as
“our uniformed assassins” and describes
their killing of “six hundred helpless and
weaponless savages” in the Philippines as
“a long and happy picnic with nothing to
do but sit in comfort and fire the Golden
Rule into those people down there and
imagine letters to write home to the
admiring families, and pile glory upon
glory.”
The Panama Canal
 It was a 13,000 mile trip by sea around the continent of
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South America to reach the Pacific.
France had tried to build a canal across Panama, but failed.
The U.S. offered Columbia $10 million for the right to build
a canal, but Columbia wanted more money.
The United States encouraged a rebellion in Panama. When
Panama became independent from Columbia in 1903, the
U.S. was able to begin work on the canal.
Canal opens in 1914.
Panama Canal
Scientific Advance and the Panama Canal
 Tropical diseases like malaria and yellow
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fever were the biggest hindrances to
building the canal.
At times work stoppages occurred because
there were so many workers sick from
these diseases.
When it was conclusively discovered that
mosquitoes carry these diseases a massive
campaign occurred to reduce the mosquito
population to prevent the spread of these
diseases.
Swamps were drained and oil spread on
standing water to kill mosquito larvae.
As a result the yellow fever epidemic was
almost completely wiped out to that work
could continue on the canal.
William Crawford Gorgas, Chief
Sanitary Officer to the Isthmian
Commission
The Roosevelt Corollary
 The Roosevelt Corollary gave the United States the right
to be “an international police power” in the Western
Hemisphere.
 The United States used the Roosevelt Corollary many times
in the following years to justify U.S. intervention in Latin
America. U.S. troops occupied some countries for decades.