Welcome to the Reading pages. International relations for the United States began by focusing their attention on Latin America. You just finished reading about the Monroe Doctrine. Variations of it were used throughout the history of the United States from that time on. The Monroe Doctrine took on new meaning in the 1840's when Presidents John Tyler and James Polk used it to justify US expansion to western North America. During the 1870's and 1880's the Monroe Doctrine took on new meaning. The United States began to interpret it both as prohibiting the transfer of American territory from one European power to another, and as granting the United States exclusive control over any canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through Central America.

This was first tested in 1904 when President Teddy Roosevelt issued the Roosevelt Corollary. This stated that "chronic" wrongdoing on the part of Latin American nations entitled the United States to intervene in any nation guilty of internal or external misconduct. His idea was to "speak softly and carry a big stick." A big stick often meant the threat of war.

William Taft substituted bullets for dollars. His plan wa called "Dollar Diplomacy". Taft encouraged bankers and industrialists to invest in Latin America and used diplomatic pressure to force US capital (money) into regions where "it would not go of its own accord." He often would us US Marines whenever persuasion failed to accomplish his objectives.

Your assignment to be placed in your notebook:
1. Read pages 652 - 657 in your textbook. Take Cornell notes of this section and place them in your notebook.