How does the American position in the Pacific create power and trade opportunities for the United States?

America in Asia and Latin America

©2012, TESCCC US History Unit 04 Lesson 01

ASIA

Geography

Spheres of influenceU.S. Secretary of State John Hay – “Open Door”

policy for trading rightsBoxer Rebellion – a year of natural disasters

contributed to a rebellion of farmers and works against foreign influences

China

Isolationist Japan opened to commerceCommodore Matthew Perry1894 – defeated ChinaRusso-Japanese war – defeated RussiaTheodore Roosevelt – mediates peace between

Russia and Japan with the Treaty of Portsmouth, he wins the Nobel Peace Prize as a result

Japan

The Caribbean

U.S. Caribbean Interests

U.S. needed to keep foreign powers out of the Caribbean to keep

it secure.

A canal in Central America was

necessary to create easier access

between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

Caribbean region was a valuable market for American goods and

investment, especially agricultural goods.

American possession

Puerto Rico

Congress passed a resolution before the Spanish-American war NOT to annex Cuba.

“protectorate”Platt Amendment

An amendment that forbade annexation of Cuba.

It dictated the conditions for the withdrawal of United States troops remaining in Cuba at the end of the Spanish-American War and defined the terms of Cuban-U.S. relations, until it was abrogated by the 1934 Treaty of Relations.

Cuba

Panama Canal

Isthmus of PanamaPresident Roosevelt tried to negotiate with Colombia

to let the U.S. build the canal in an area that was a part of Colombia.

President Roosevelt eventually worked with Panamanian leaders to gain control of a 10-mile strip of land – the Panama Canal Zone.

Panama Canal Zone

Building the Panama Canal

10 years to completeGeography – different elevations

Series of locks were designed by engineers to address this issue

Dr. Walter Reed discovered that mosquitoes spread yellow fever.

Dr. William Gorgas (U.S. Army) discovered how to reduce the spread of yellow fever – drained swamps, cut down vegetation, treated standing water with oil to prevent mosquito breeding

Building the Panama Canal - Challenges

Human FactorsPanamanian Revolution

supported by the U.S.The U.S. divided

Panama with the Canal Zone which causes tension in the region through the 20th century.

Jimmy Carter returns the Canal Zone to Panama in 1999.

Canal Zone is a 48 mile international waterway that allows ships to pass between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

The canal saves about 8,000 miles as the alternate route in a journey around Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America.

Panama Canal – Geographic Impact

Physical Factors

Presidential policy in the Caribbean

Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine“Speak softly and carry a big stick.”

President Roosevelt

“Dollar Diplomacy” - encouraged American investment in the Caribbean

Sent in the U.S. Marines to collect debts in Latin America if a country struggled to repay its American loans

President Taft

Policy was “watchful waiting”Sent troops to Haiti, Nicaragua, and the Dominican

Republic to protect American interestsPurchased the Virgin Islands – expanding colonial

empireSent General John J. Pershing to lead an American

Expeditionary Force to Mexico to put down rebel troops led by Pancho Villa

President Wilson