America in the Caribbean Puerto rico Cuba Panama Canal

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico is a small island in the Caribbean It became an American possession after the Spanish American War In 1900 The U.S. government established a civil government picked by the President for Puerto Rico

Cuba Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean Congress agreed not to annex Cuba prior to the Spanish American War Cuba is a protectorate under the U.S. Platt Amendment allowed U.S. to intervene in Cuban affairs at anytime until 1930’s

Panama Canal During the Spanish American War , warships had to travel 16,000 miles around the tip of South America to reach the Caribbean. This highlighted a need for a canal between Central and South America

Panama Canal Panama at that point was part of Columbia To gain access and build a canal, Theodore Roosevelt supported the Panama rebels to gain access to this region The U.S. will recognize Panama as an independent country and as a result Panama will give the U.S. complete control of a 10 mile strip of rainforest known as the Panama Canal Zone

Caribbean as an American Lake In 1904 Roosevelt issued the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine that states the U.S. will intervene in Latin American and European Affairs and that the U.S. will be the police of the western hemisphere

Taft and Dollar Diplomacy President Taft encouraged bankers to invest in Caribbean economic factors His use of American investment to promote American foreign policy goals became know as dollar diplomacy If Latin American countries could not pay their loans on time, U.S. troops were sent in to make sure the loans were paid. Ex: U.S. marines

Wilson’s Latin American Policy Woodrow Wilson tried to be the calm president and not a bully like Taft and Roosevelt, but this attempt will fail Wilson will send in troops into Nicaragua, Haiti, and Dominican Republic to protect U.S. economic interests

Wilson and Pancho Villa When Wilson becomes President, Mexico went through a revolution Wilson refused to recognize this revolution because it seized power through violence When rebel leader Pancho Villa murdered Americans in New Mexico, Wilson reacted Wilson sent troops under the leadership of John J. Pershing to apprehend Villa Villa escaped and Wilson withdrew his troops in 1917 when America entered into WWI