US ECONOMICIMPERIALISM
28.3 Notes
Independence meant little…
•Most citizens stuck in poverty cycle
•Worked for landowners, paid in vouchers=debt peonage
•Unequal distribution of land
Political Instability
•Army leaders during independence became militarydictators=caudillos
•People had no experience with democracy
•Ex: Juan Vicente Gomez, ruled Venezuela for 30 years
Economies Grow Under Foreign Influence
•LA economies depended on exports
•New technology helped
•Railroads
•Refrigeration
•Steamships
•Imported manufactured goods
•No reason to industrialize
Outside Investment and Interference
•LA countries borrowed money at high interest rates
•Couldn’t always pay back money
•New Age of “Economic Colonialism”
US Involvement
•US believed its securitydepended on LA
•Worried Europe may try toreconquer
•1823 James Monroeissued Monroe Doctrine
•America for Americans;Europe stay out!
Cuba Declares Independence
•Cuba was one of Spain’s lastcolonies in Americas
•1868 it declared independence,fought 10 yr war, lost
•1895: Jose Marti, a writer who wasexiled from Cuba, returned to launchsecond war for independence
•By mid 1890s US interested in Cubabecause
•economic interests
•Spain had set up concentration camps
Spanish-American War
•1898 US joined fight, called the Spanish-American War
•lasted only 4 months
•US struck first at Philippines
•Spain unprepared and quickly collapsed
•1901 Cuba became “independent”
•US installed military gov’t
•exerted control in affairs
•Spain lost rest of colonies to US after war: Guam, Puerto Rico,and Philippines
Connecting the Oceans
•US wanted to build canal across narrow part of CentralAmerica in Panama, a province of Colombia
•President Teddy Roosevelt offered Colombia $10 millionplus yearly payment, they refused wanted more money
•US responded by encouraging revolution in Panama
•with help from US Navy Panama won independence in 1903
•Panama then gave US the 10 mile wide zone for canal
•1914: Panama Canal opened
The Roosevelt Corollary
•Panama Canal, presence in Cuba, and large investmentsin LA strengthened US’s foothold there
•To protect economic interests, Teddy issued theRoosevelt Corollary: gave US right to be an internationalpolice power in Western Hemisphere
•US used the Corollary as justification several times whenintervening in LA
