Chapter 31 - America on the World Stage, 1899-1909

Monday, March 16, 2015

8:15 AM

3/16/15
America has so much territory; lots of stopping points for travels to the Far East.
Alaska will officially become a territory of the US in 1912.

Puerto Rico - Ford considered making it the 51st state, but the Puerto Ricans would benefit more
economically as a commonwealth.
Taft will call the Filipinos his "little brown brothers". This may be insulting, but Taft didn't actually have
any malicious intent.
Aguinaldo will lead an insurrection; we will use the reconcentration policy used by Spain, the same one
we criticized them of! US will finally give the Philippines independence on July 4th, 1946.
Insurrectos of Cuba will be taken over; 600,000 will die.
The US will gain these two locations for 50 years (1996) when offering the Philippines their
independence: Subic Bay Naval Base and Clark Airfield (Air Force Base). These 50 years passed, and the
US applied for an extension but the Philippines denied.
Platt Amendment gave us the right to be at Guantanamo Bay.
John Hay's Open Door Policy - profit for China is so vast; Russia won't stop America from coming in.
Boxer Rebellion - the Boxers (aka Righteous Society of the Harmonious Fists) didn't like foreigners; their
cry was "Kill Foreign Devils"; over 200 missionaries and other whites were killed. An international force
would take down this rebellion.
This would result in China owing a total of $333 million to all countries and $24.5 million to the US; US
give back $6.5 million, which was later used to educate Chinese students in the United States (they will
be westernized). Sun Yat-Sen came to the US before 1900, but was still significant in Chinese history.
Teddy Roosevelt will rise up spectacularly. He will become governor of New York in 1898. Political
machines find it hard to cooperate with him. The party bosses therefore wanted to "kick him upstairs" they therefore want to get him out of their way by elevating him to a higher position. Vice Presidency
was considered a "burying ground" - didn't really do anything unless the president died (vice president
presides over the senate but is ceremonial; he only has power if there's a tie.) The vice president is very
inconsequential; if the president dies in office and the vice president takes over, the former vice
president has no vice president!
Roosevelt knows that the position of vice president has no real power. Yet he's a vain man! If he can, he
will try to obtain this position; his ego will be massaged when people cry out, "We want Teddy!". Party
bosses will be happy, except that he was only a heartbeat away from the presidency.
Vice president sits in the cabinet and helps the government on certain occasions.
McKinley is renominated, and the Republicans pick Bryan once again. The free silver issue is dead, so he
takes on the platform of anti-imperialism. McKinley focuses on Bryan's overall character - his awful
position of free silver!
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position of free silver!

McKinley is assassinated, and Roosevelt becomes president (the youngest president at 42, but the
youngest elected president is John F. Kennedy at 43.)
Roosevelt was born into a distinguished family in Sagamore Hills, New York. He had asthma, and will
overcome this (not his nearsightedness tho). He will build up his body by spending years on the West (on
horseback). He will graduate from Harvard, Phi Beta Kappa (a national honor society, not every single
college has a chapter. You must be nominated and voted on by the faculty); he's a very intelligent dude!
He published books from the age of 24, sometimes about his ranch in the Dakotas.
"At a wedding he eclipsed the bride; at a funeral, the corpse." He's the center of attention, pretty much
everywhere!
3/17/15
Teddy Roosevelt - Progressive Republican; is a very good politician. Significant.
We want the Panama Canal - benefits us tremendously! Two possible routes - Nicaragua route and
Panama route. Nicaragua route was 50 miles - more difficult to build but its easier to get support.
Panama route was only 10 miles, sponsored by a French company led by Philippe Bunau-Varilla.
Congress will debate over this, and Mount Pelee's explosion will cause the Americans to choose the
Panama route.
Clayton-Bulwer treaty with Britain - US couldn't get exclusive control over the route, but Britain yielded
in the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty.
Colombia rejected a US proposal of $10 million and an annual payment of $250,000; the canal area was
worth so much more! Colombia felt cheated. If the US paid $25 million, Colombia would have accepted.
Except Roosevelt got angry and declared that the Colombians were blackmailers. He wants to prove that
he's a decent president, so he wants the canal built.
Revolution in Panama! (not really) There are 500 mercenaries and members of the Panama Fire
Department; not a true revolution!
Panama will now be an independent nation; the canal zone will be widened from 6 to 10 miles in the
Hay-Bunau-Varilla treaty for $40 million (to France). Bunau-Varilla Is now the Panamanian minister!
TR himself will say, "While Congress debated, I took the canal!" Is this morally right?
"Big Stick" - opposing force of America (especially Roosevelt's America) placed upon many countries,
especially those of Central America.
Roosevelt Corollary - used to justify actions by the US in Latin America; aka TR's perversion of the
Monroe Doctrine. "Preventive intervention." Monroe Doctrine will try to keep the European countries
out of the Americas;
Carter gives the Panama Canal back to Panama.
Venezuela and DR were delinquent in their payments; Germany wants their money so they sank two
Venezuelan gunboats and bombarded a town in 1903.
International relations with Latin America was weakened. "Ugly American" - resentment against the US
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International relations with Latin America was weakened. "Ugly American" - resentment against the US
(and its policies)
We were going to war against Iraq because Hussein had connections to Al-Qaeda and we thought
Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. UN Security Council deemed the evidence inconclusive
(France led the discussion). The United States still went in and took down Hussein (we didn't find any
WMDs and no link to Al-Qaeda was found). Americans first believed in their president, but now the
invasion is viewed with disapproval now.
"Axis of Evil" - named in the Patriot Act; Iraq and North Korea. Many people of both parties supported
the Patriot Act. Dick Cheney would still want to invade Iraq / stop the Axis of Evil again.
Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009. What has he done? He said one thing - we need to be more
in the spirit of cooperation. It's not that Obama did anything, it's that the Nobel Peace Prize Committee
was strongly against the policies of Bush!
AP covers 9 eras of history (9th is 1980 to present)
American economic investment in Cuba and Hawaii. United Fruit Company has such power in many
parts of Latin America; governments are allowed to exist if they support these companies.
Workers work for the UFC and are paid at subsistence level. Price of labor there is cheaper!
"One-crop economy" - economy where entire financial system is based off of the import / export of one
major crop.
"Banana Republics" - One crop economies where leaders are allowed to stay in power if they are
cooperative with the United States. Most of these countries have a republican government, supported
by American companies' interests. The US may take down an uncooperative government!
"Bad Neighbor" Policy - Caribbean becomes "Yankee Lake"
Panama was a "Banana Republic"; Honduras, Panama, and Ecuador produce a lot of bananas.
Bananas are sold here in America; tremendous amounts of money!
Manuel Noriega was the leader of Panama's "Banana Republic"; US will call him a stable force.
Realistically, Noriega was a dictator, and he fell out of favor after going into business with the Colombian
drug lords. Noriega ended up helping Colombian drug cartels to smuggle cocaine into the US (He could
take Panamanian planes into the US and they don't have to go through customs!). George H.W. Bush
will send in the Marines to take out Noriega's government; Noriega took refuge in the Vatican embassy.
We persuade the Vatican to let him out. Noriega will be flown to the US to await trial; sentenced to life
imprisonment at an unknown prison.
Chile - mining of copper was important here. Anaconda Copper was an American company that
controlled most of the copper mining in Chile. Except Chile wants more. It will have an election and
Salvador Allende was selected as president. He was a socialist. One of the first things Allende would do
is to nationalize the copper industry (government ownership for government-defined needs). Early
1970s. American government will intervene; the CIA will back a military coup in Chile in 1973; Allende
will be murdered and a military junta supported by the US will bring Augusto Pinochet to the
presidency. He will grant the copper industry back into the US, and will rule in an absolutist manner and
with full control of the government. Pinochet will eventually flee the country to avoid trial (he's passed
away). 1990s - Chile wanted Pinochet extradited, but he got away.
Iran-Contra affair - Nicaragua and El Salvador; Marxists want to take down the dictators favored by the
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Iran-Contra affair - Nicaragua and El Salvador; Marxists want to take down the dictators favored by the
United States.
All of these issues will extremely weaken US-Latin American ties.
Gerald Ford - will issue an executive order to stop the assassination of foreign leaders
(acknowledgement that we were actually doing this in the past!)
2004 presidential election - Kerry v. Bush; town hall format debate. People wrote questions; one of the
questions asked (from an African-American woman) to Bush was, "What can our country do to repair
our national image overseas?" Bush - "We have to be strong; make sure world is safe and etc." Kerry "We have to cooperative more internationally." (same side as Obama)
1904~1905: Russo-Japanese War; Japan, to the shock of Europe, will crush Russia. The peace agreement
will be hosted by Roosevelt, the acting intermediary, at the Portsmouth Conference. 1906: Roosevelt
helped at the Algeciras Conference in Spain. Roosevelt won the Nobel Peace Prize for his diplomatic
work in both conferences. Well, both Japan and Russia weren't satisfied with the treaty; Japan felt like
they were missing out and Russia thought they lost too much.
In California (1906), the San Francisco Earthquake will be devastating and its consequential fire will
destroy parts of the city. About 70,000 Japanese lived in SF; California was afraid of a "yellow peril". Are
there enough school buildings to keep the kids in school? The San Francisco Board of Education will
declare that Japanese students must attend special schools. Japan was taken aback by this; diplomatic
crisis! Roosevelt tries to bring both parties together and invites the SF Board of Education for a talk. The
Californians were commanded to repeal this offensive order in exchange for the Gentlemen's
Agreement - Japan was secretly told (and later agreed) to reduce the number of Japanese immigrants
into the US by withholding passports.
Roosevelt, in a show of force to impress Japan, will send his naval battleships on a worldwide tour. They
will stop by Latin America, Australia, and eventually Japan. Critics say he is shaking the "big stick", daring
any other countries to stop him! Japan will be extremely welcoming; this will lead to the Root-Takahira
Agreement; the US and Japan will respect their own territorial possessions and will follow the Open
Door policy.
The "dirt will begin to fly" in Panama. Yellow fever will be a problem; Colonel Goethals will lead
construction, and Colonel Gorgas will try to exterminate yellow fever in Cuba.
Walter Reed - will cure yellow fever; makes building the canal possible.
Roosevelt was a very clever politician; first US president to leave US soil to visit a foreign country.
Woodrow Wilson will be the first US president to visit Europe (for the Versailles Peace Conference).
1914 - the Canal will be complete. Now, the boats are too big for the Panama Canal. The cost of the
whole Canal would be about $400 million.

History Notes Page 4