[13.e.3] The Great White Fleet

Roosevelt ordered the Great White Fleet on a world-wide cruise in 1907.  He did this for three reasons:

1. To test ship design and engineering (freeboard, engines, signaling, etc).

2. To test the principle of fleet concentration: Can the ships keep formation far away from home bases.

3. To test the range and readiness of U.S. warships. He wanted Japan in particular to know with the reach of the US sea power.

After returning to port the ships were repainted gray.

[13.f.1] Dependency Relationship

Dependency theory is a way to view "dollar diplomacy" in Central America. A

dependency relationship was one in which a US corporation(s) subordinated a host economy in order to make the host economy serve the corporation's interests. For example, a company might cultivate one or two "cash" crops, such as sugar, coffee, or bananas, or control another economic sector such as mining, transportation, or banking.  

The foreign government/corporation does not gain penetration of the host economy on its own.  Wealthy "compradore" elites are rewarded by the foreign firm/government for their collusion.  They are made comfortable in their living arrangements and secure in their political authority.

Once the foreign company has co-opted the host countries natural leaders it is free to operate directly on host economy.  Cash crop exports are dependent on international prices. They must be sold on the global market because their is no demand for massive amounts of sugar, coffee, and bananas on a domestic market. 

In 1916, the US occupied Dominican Republic in order to stabilize the island.  By the time the occupation ended in 1924, the United Fruit Company owned 81% of DR's arable land.  The people, divested of land, become wage earners. Islanders who had previously farmed small plots for subsistence (meaning they grew their own food) now found themselves employed as cane cutters or workers in the sugar refineries of United Fruit.

In the process Dominican Republic became a dependency.  Its main product--sugar--was exported internationally, rendering the people dependent on the price of sugar abroad for their means of living.  The export profits went to United Fruit Company in the United States.