Chapter Review 607penetration of underdeveloped areas without the
trouble of owning and controlling them. American
statesmen regarded American expansion as beneficial
to all concerned. They genuinely believed that they
were exporting democracy along with capitalism and
industrialization. But U.S. economic penetration has
had many unfortunate results for the nonindustrial
nations. Americans were particularly, though not
uniquely, unimpressed by the different social and cul-
tural patterns of people in far-off lands and insensitive
to their wish to develop in their own way.
Both the U.S. government and American busi-
nessmen showed little interest in finding out what
the people of Cuba wanted from life. They assumed
that the Cubans wanted what everybody (read
“Americans”) wanted and, if by some strange
chance this was not the case, that it was best to give
it to them anyway. Dollar diplomacy had two main
objectives, the avoidance of violence and the eco-
nomic development of Latin America; it paid small
heed to how peace was maintained and how the
fruits of development were distributed. The policy
was self-defeating, for in the long run stability
depended on the support of local people, and this
was seldom forthcoming.
By the eve of World War I the United States had
become a world power and had assumed what it saw
as a duty to guide the development of many countries
with traditions far different from its own. The
American people, however, did not understand what
world power involved. While they stood ready to
extend their influence into distant lands, they did so
with little awareness of the implications of their behav-
ior for themselves or for other peoples. The national
psychology, if such a term has any meaning, remained
fundamentally isolationist. Americans understood
that their wealth and numbers made their nation
strong and that geography made it virtually invulnera-
ble. Thus they proceeded to do what they wanted to
do in foreign affairs, limited more by their humanly
flexible consciences than by any rational analysis of
the probable consequences. This policy seemed safe
enough—in 1914.World Colonial Empires, 1900at
http://www.myhistorylab.comSeetheMap1850 Britain and United States sign Clayton-Bulwer
Treaty concerning interoceanic canal
1858 Commercial treaty with Japan opens several ports
to American trade
1867 United States buys Alaska from Russia
1871 Treaty of Washington settlesAlabamaclaims
1875 Reciprocity treaty increases U.S. influence in
Hawaii
1885 Josiah Strong justifies expansionism in Our
Country
1890 A. T. Mahan fuels American imperialism in The
Influence of Sea Power
1893 United States helps sugar planters depose Queen
Liliuokalani of Hawaii
1895 United States supports Venezuela in European
border dispute over British Guiana
1898 Maineexplodes in Havana harbor
Spanish-American war breaks out
Dewey defeats Spanish fleet at Manila Bay
Theodore Roosevelt leads Rough Riders at Battle
of San Juan Hill
United States annexes Hawaii
1899 Hay’s Open Door policy safeguards United States’
access to China trade
1899 United States annexes Philippines and becomes
an empire
1900 Platt Amendment gives United States naval
stations and right to intervene in Cuba
1901 Hay-Pauncefote Treaty gives United States rights
to build interoceanic canal
Supreme Court’s insular cases give Congress free
reign over colonies
1902 Europeans accept Monroe Doctrine during
Venezuela bond dispute
1904 Roosevelt Corollary to Monroe Doctrine gives
United States “international police power”
1907 “Gentlemen’s Agreement” curtails Japanese
immigration
1914 Panama Canal opensMilestones
Chapter Review