Chapter 7, Section 3
New American Diplomacy
Roosevelt’s Diplomacy
 Big Ideas:
Presidents Roosevelt and Taft used a
mixture of military and financial tools to
expand American hegemony in Asia and
Latin America.
Roosevelt’s Diplomacy
• The election of 1900 saw William
Jennings Bryan once again make a
bid for the White House.
• McKinley chose Roosevelt as his
running mate, because, thanks to
the Rough Riders, he was a famous
war hero.
• At just 42 years of age, Roosevelt
became president after McKinley
was murdered by an anarchist
named Leon Czolgosz.
Roosevelt’s Diplomacy
Balancing Power in East Asia
• Roosevelt supported the Open
Door Policy in China.
• In 1905 he negotiated the peace
that ended the war between Japan
and Russia.
• This earned him a Nobel Prize.
• Japan bristled at European
influence in Asia and was
embarrassed by what was
happening in China.
Balancing Power in East Asia
• President Roosevelt strongly
believed that America needed to
display her strength in order to
preserve peace.
• He famously expressed this with
the phrase, “Speak softly and
carry a big stick.”
• In domestic affairs he used his
“big stick” policy to settle a
dispute between mine workers
and their employers.
The Panama Canal
• The Panama Canal was not
Roosevelt’s idea. It was common
sense that a path across Central
America would save time and
money compared to having to
travel around the South
American Continent.
• The French had tried to build the
canal and given up due to
economic troubles and problems
with diseases killing off the
workers.
The Panama Canal
• The US and Great Britain agreed to
the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty that
gave the US exclusive rights to
build a canal in Central America.
• The US wanted to dig the canal
through Columbia’s state of
Panama (the French agreed to sell
them their rights to the land).
• Columbia did not want to give the
US a foothold in their country –not
even for $10 million upfront and
$250k a year afterwards.
• They wanted $25 million.
The Panama Canal
• The citizens of Panama were
opposed to Columbian rule
and the potential loss of the
canal brought their
displeasure to the boiling
point.
• The US made arrangements
for an uprising to occur in
Panama, and T.R. stationed
warships off the coast of
Columbia as a warning.
• The US recognized the new
government of Panama and
gave them the same deal as
was offered to Columbia.
The Roosevelt Corollary
• Roosevelt expanded US
involvement in Latin America
through what came to be known as
the Roosevelt Corollary to the
Monroe Doctrine.
• The corollary declared that the US would
intervene to maintain economic and
political stability in the Western
Hemisphere.
• Roosevelt was worried that Europeans
would use Latin American debt as an
excuse to intervene in the region.
Dollar Diplomacy
• President Taft continued
Roosevelt’s policies in Latin
America, but focused more on
improving Latin American
development.
• Taft believed that if Latin American
countries could be raised out of
poverty, all in the region would benefit.
This became known as dollar
diplomacy.
• During this period American banks
took over debts that Honduras owed to
Britain and took control of Haiti’s
national bank.
Woodrow Wilson’s Diplomacy in Mexico
• After General Victoriano Huerta
killed Mexico’s ruler Porfirio
Diaz in a military coup,
President Wilson refused to
recognize Huerta as the new
leader of Mexico.
• Wilson had the Navy intercept
shipments of weapons being
sent to Mexico to arm Huerta’s
soldiers.
• He also allowed Americans to send
weapons and supplies to Huerta’s
enemies in Mexico.
Woodrow Wilson’s Diplomacy in Mexico
• European weapons were still
making their way to Huerta, so
Wilson had the US Navy fire on
the Mexican port of Veracruz
and then landed marines to
seize the city.
• Wilson expected the Mexican
citizens to be thankful, but
instead they held anti-American
riots.
• Eventually Huerta was overthrown
and, Venustiano Carranza, an ally
of the US, became President of
Mexico.
Woodrow Wilson’s Diplomacy in Mexico
• Mexicans didn’t like Venustiano
Carranza any more than they
liked Madero or Huerta, so they
began making raids across the
US-Mexico border hoping to
force President Wilson to
intervene.
• In 1916, after Pacho Villa and his
men attacked a N.M. town and
killed 16 Americans, Wilson sent
General Pershing along with 6000
troops to capture Villa. He was
unsuccessful.
Woodrow Wilson’s Diplomacy in Mexico
• The outside world viewed
Wilson’s policy in Mexico as
militaristic and overly
aggressive.
• Wilson also used the military to
exert American influence in
Nicaragua, Haiti, and the
Dominican Republic.