An American History

740 ★ CHAPTER 19 Safe for Democracy: The United States and WWI

and investments went hand in hand with the spread of democratic ideals. To

Wilson, expanding American economic influence served a higher purpose than

mere profit. Americans, he told a group of businessmen in 1916, were “meant

to carry liberty and justice” throughout the world. “Go out and sell goods,” he

urged them, “that will make the world more comfortable and happy, and con-

vert them to the principles of America.”

Wilson’s moral imperialism produced more military interventions in

Latin America than the foreign policy of any president before or since. In 1915,

he sent marines to occupy Haiti after the government refused to allow Amer-

ican banks to oversee its financial dealings. In 1916, he established a military

government in the Dominican Republic, with the United States controlling the

country’s customs collections and paying its debts. American soldiers remained

in the Dominican Republic until 1924 and in Haiti until 1934. They built roads

and schools, but did little or nothing to promote democracy. Wilson’s foreign

policy underscored a paradox of modern American history: the presidents who

spoke the most about freedom were likely to intervene most frequently in the

affairs of other countries.

Miami

Havana

Guantanamo

Tampico

Veracruz

Mexico City

Parral

Columbus

Santa YsabelHouston New Orleans

Caracas

Bogotá

U.S. possession after 1898

U.S. takU.S. troops, 1916–1924es control of customs house, 1905

Financial supervision, 1905–1941

1898–1902, 1906–1909,1912, 1917–1922U.S. troops, U.S. troops, 1915–1934Financial supervision, 1916–1941

Platt Amendment, 1903–1934

U.S. naval base, 1903

U.S. seizure, 1914

U.S. Expeditionary F1916–1917 orce,

U.S. troops, 1907,1924–1925

U.S. troops, 1909–1910, 1912–1925, 1926–1933,Financial supervision, 1911–1924

U.S. leases C 1914 orn Island,

U.S. acquires CCanal canal Zompleted, 1914one, 1904 debt crisis,1903–1904Venezuela

UNITED STATES

MEXICO

GUATEMALA

BRITISH

HONDURAS

HONDURAS

EL SALVADOR

NICARAGUA

COSTA RICA

PANAMA

CUBA

HAITI

DOMINICAN

REPUBLIC

COLOMBIA

ECUADOR

VENEZUELA

BRAZIL

DUTCH

GUIANA

BRITISH

GUIANA

FRENCH

GUIANA

PERU

P uertoRico

Trinidad (Br.)

Barbados (Br.)

Martinique (Fr.)

Guadeloupe (Fr.)

Vir( purchased from Denmark, 1917)gin Islands

Jamaic(Br.)a

Bahamas(Br.)

Atlantic

Ocean

Pacific

Ocean

0

0

250

250

500 miles

500 kilometers

THE UNITED STATES IN THE CARIBBEAN, 1898–1941

Between 1898 and 1941, the United States intervened militarily numerous times in Caribbean
countries, generally to protect the economic interests of American banks and investors.