Today we will examine Imperialism, the growth of America, but also the protection against foreign imperialistic attempts.
1. Define these four things:
Isolationism
Imperialism
Diplomacy
Big Stick Diplomacy
2. As a table, or as a group, read the Monroe Doctrine word file. Focus your attention on the bolded words, and the italics at the bottom of the page.
-Proclamation in 1823 by President James Monroe. Basically, it warned European nations not to get involved in political matters in Central and South America. The Doctrine was intended to show that the United States was the only country that could influence such political matters. Further, several countries in South American had recently undergone revolutions against their European colonial owners and ended up with republican governments. The United States agreed with their political philosophy and did not want to see those newly free nations become European colonies again.
3. Watch the video below.
4. Class discussion on what we think of the Monroe Doctrine.
-Is it right or wrong to tell Europe to stay away from the Americas?
-What was the point of the Monroe Doctrine?
5. Read the Corollary document as a group. You may choose either document. Your goal is to try is to try to figure out what the United States' goal is with this statement to the world.
-Although the Monroe Doctrine of 1823 was essentially passive (it asked that Europeans not increase their influence or recolonize any part of the Western Hemisphere), by the 20th century a more confident United States was willing to take on the role of regional policeman. In the early 1900s Roosevelt grew concerned that a crisis between Venezuela and its creditors could spark an invasion of that nation by European powers. The Roosevelt Corollary of December 1904 stated that the United States would intervene as a last resort to ensure that other nations in the Western Hemisphere fulfilled their obligations to international creditors, and did not violate the rights of the United States or invite “foreign aggression to the detriment of the entire body of American nations.” As the corollary worked out in practice, the United States increasingly used military force to restore internal stability to nations in the region. Roosevelt declared that the United States might “exercise international police power in ‘flagrant cases of such wrongdoing or impotence.’” Over the long term the corollary had little to do with relations between the Western Hemisphere and Europe, but it did serve as justification for U.S. intervention in Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic.
6. Watch
7. Class discussion
-What was Teddy R. trying to accomplish with Big Stick diplomacy?
-How will this help the U.S.?
-How might it hurt the U.S.?
-What is the role of the U.S. in regards to other countries business?
-How does acquiring land give the U.S. power?