Woodrow Wilson and Latin America

Woodrow Wilson and Latin America

Introduction

Credit: Image courtesy of American Memory at the Library of Congress.

Woodrow Wilson changed the course and tone of U.S. policy towards Latin America.

Soon after taking office, President Woodrow Wilson and his first Secretary of State, William Jennings Bryan, rejected the Dollar Diplomacy that had guided U.S. relations with Latin America during the administration of William Taft. In ways consistent with his domestic Progressive reform goals and his faith in the superiority of American democracy, Wilson resolved that the United States would only recognize Latin American governments founded upon law and order, "not upon arbitrary or irregular force." Furthermore, Wilson was willing to use military force to demonstrate to Latin Americans "how to elect good men" as leaders. In this lesson, students will analyze Wilson's attempts to carry out this "missionary diplomacy" in Haiti and Mexico as well as the responses of selected Haitians and Mexicans.

Background

At the time of Woodrow Wilson's inauguration, the United States had extensive economic and strategic interests throughout Latin America. The Panama Canal was under construction; the U.S. Navy had a base at Guantanamo, Cuba; and American investments in Mexico totaled almost $2 billion. Wilson's predecessor, Republican William Howard Taft, had practiced "Dollar Diplomacy" in Latin America and elsewhere, including China. Dollar Diplomacy was based on the premise that the U.S. government should promote stability in other countries in order to provide opportunities for American investors and companies. In turn, U.S.-backed development would help ensure long-term peace and prosperity for those nations.

As a committed Progressive, Wilson disdained Taft's approach. He worried that monopolies and special interest groups would take advantage of instability in other nations to enrich themselves without promoting democracy. In 1913, Wilson rebuked a group of American bankers who had asked for the administration's support for a loan to China, and he publicly renounced Dollar Diplomacy. Nevertheless, he wanted U.S. financial, commercial, and manufacturing interests to find opportunities in foreign nations. He also hoped American capitalism could aid the promotion of democracy, which he held to be a moral duty of the United States.

Wilson did not lack for opportunities to carry out his missionizing diplomacy in Latin America. In 1911, the dictatorial rule of Porfirio Diaz came to an end in Mexico at the hands of Constitutionalist Francisco Madero, who's intended political and economic reforms threatened foreign-owned land and businesses. (Americans alone possessed some 40 percent of Mexican properties.) A coup resulted in Madero's death and the ascension of Victoriano Huerta. Wilson refused to diplomatically recognize the new government and looked for a reason to intervene in what was now a civil war, as the Constitutionalist Venustiano Carranza led a successful rebellion against Huerta's regime. The arrest of U.S. sailors on April 9, 1914 in Tampico, Mexico, provided an opening. That incident led to intermittent U.S. military actions, including an invasion of northern Mexico, over the next three years.

In July 1915, Wilson dispatched a force of more than 2,000 Marines to Haiti after the assassination of its president, Vilbrun Guillaume, and a hostile reaction to an American proposal to oversee elections. As Wilson explained, the presence and oversight of Marines would demonstrate to Haitians "how to elect good men." Wilson's belief in white racial superiority was also a factor; the President, like many white Americans of the era, assumed that 'lesser races' needed a strong, controlling hand. A treaty soon gave the United States control over Haiti's finances, and U.S. martial governance of Haiti, which persisted for 19 years, frequently used harsh methods to quell resistance.

On the whole, Wilson's actions in Latin America protected U.S. commercial and strategic interests, but the goal of spreading democracy went mostly unfulfilled. The frequent use of military force also engendered widespread resentment in the region.

Activity #1:

Directions: Using the map at the following site, answer the questions below in blue ink: http://www.teachingamericanhistory.org/neh/interactives/caribbean/
1. How many times did the United States send troops to Central America and the Caribbean between the 1890s and the 1930s?
2. To what nations did the United States send troops?
3. In what nations did the United States supervise finances?
4. What other actions did the United States take in Central America and the Caribbean between the 1890s and the 1930s?
5. What do you think are the reasons the United States sent troops and supervised finances in Central America and the Caribbean?

Activity #2:

Directions: Using the photographic exhibit below, make a list that answers the following question:

“What sort of problems did the revolution appear to cause for the people of Mexico?”

Exhibition of Robert Runyon’s photographs of the Mexican Revolution (scroll down to find photographs): http://runyon.lib.utexas.edu/conflict.html

Your List:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Activity #3:

Directions: Answer the questions below, using the documents that follow.
Why did American capitalists support General Victoriano Huerta’s murder of Mexican President Francisco Madero?
What happened to nine American sailors in April 1914 in the Mexican city of Tampico?
Why was Wilson angry even after Huerta apologized for the “Tampico Incident”?
What does Wilson say about Mexico’s political troubles?
What does Wilson want Congress to allow him to do?

Document 1: Background information on the Tampico incident: http://www.pbs.org/kpbs/theborder/history/timeline/15.html

Document 2: Excerpt of Wilson’s April 1914 statement to Congress on the Tampico incident:

(Source: http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=678)