Sunday, May 6, 2018

The Roosevelt Corollary

The Roosevelt Corollary, issued by President Teddy Roosevelt, was an addition to the Monroe Doctrine. It stated that the US would take an active role in the Western Hemisphere and followed Roosevelt’s Big Stick policy.

The Monroe Doctrine was set in place in 1823 and stated that the Western Hemisphere was off limits to the European powers. The US would be opposed to any further attempts at colonization or at exerting a large influence in Latin America by a European country. However, as a new nation with little power, America was in no place to enforce this policy.

By the time Roosevelt entered the presidency in the early 20th century, America was on the rise and was in a better position to back up the Monroe Doctrine. The Roosevelt Corollary was a response to possible European intervention in the Americas; certain Latin American nations were under pressure from European creditor nations. The US declared its right to intervene if any Latin American country were to take part in a “chronic wrongdoing,” such as a large debt. A case of this policy being put to use was when the US took control of the Dominican Republic and made it a protectorate of the US. 55% of the nation’s revenue was used to pay off outside debts and the rest was left to the Dominican government.

However, the Roosevelt Corollary soon became much more than a mechanism to prevent European influence in the Western Hemisphere. It was used as a justification for future US intervention across Latin America for a variety of other reasons. During the start of the 20th century, the US sent troops into Cuba, Mexico, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Colombia, and Chile. This caused widespread resentment from Latin Americans at the imperialistic tendencies which were demonstrated by the US during this time period. Eventually, starting during the middle of the 20th century, US military involvement died down. Less aggressive approaches, such as FDR’s good neighbor policy, ended the expansionism which the Roosevelt Corollary had brought on.

http://www.ushistory.org/us/44e.asp
https://historyplex.com/the-significance-summary-of-roosevelt-corollary
https://history.state.gov/milestones/1899-1913/roosevelt-and-monroe-doctrine
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Dominican_Republic

2 comments:

  1. I really like how you describe the Roosevelt Corollary not to mention that the Monroe Doctrine was part of the reason why it was established in the first place. I would also like to emphasis on how the US took on such a large responsibility of taking care of other country's affairs, even though it might be a last resort. Since the Washington's Farewell Address, the US has become hesitant on being part of world affairs, but I would say that the Roosevelt Corollary is one of the many beginnings of the US's national power over other countries.

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  2. Great post! I wanted to learn more about the influence of Roosevelt's Big stick policy today and found that its can be seen throughout the fight against communism in Latin America, in Korea and Vietnam, and in the War on Terror in Iraq and Afghanistan. The message has remained the same, Americans will stand for the ideals of freedom and democracy for oppressed people around the world. Roosevelt still has a large influence on American foreign policy.

    Source: https://taskandpurpose.com/how-big-stick-policy-still-influences-us-foreign-relations-today/

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