2. Theodore Roosevelt’s Foreign Policy
Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine
1904 inaugural address first stated
United States might “exercise international police power in ‘flagrant cases of such wrongdoing or Impotence/incompetence,” in the Western Hemisphere
Actions Roosevelt took became known as “Big Stick Diplomacy”
Be diplomatic (try negotiate), but
showcase your power
Great White Fleet, 1907
In the early 1900s Roosevelt grew concerned that a crisis between Venezuela and its creditors could spark an invasion of that nation by European powers. The Roosevelt Corollary of December 1904 stated that the United States would intervene as a last resort to ensure that other nations in the Western Hemisphere fulfilled their obligations to international creditors, and did not violate the rights of the United States or invite “foreign aggression to the detriment of the entire body of American nations.” As the corollary worked out in practice, the United States increasingly used military force to restore internal stability to nations in the region. Roosevelt declared that the United States might “exercise international police power in ‘flagrant cases of such wrongdoing or impotence.’” Over the long term the corollary had little to do with relations between the Western Hemisphere and Europe, but it did serve as justification for U.S. intervention in Cuba,
In 1907, in order to show the power and capability of their navy, USA sent 16 battleships of the Atlantic Fleet, divided into two squadrons with 2 divisions of 4 vessels both, in a journey around the world. The 1st squadron was led by the Connecticut, followed by Kansas, Louisiana and Vermont (1st division) aswell as Georgia, Virginia, New Jersey and Rhode Island (2nd division). Flagship of the 2nd squadron was the Minnesota, followed by Ohio, Maine and Missouri (3rd division) and Alabama, Illinois, Kentucky and Kearsarge (4th division Nicaragua, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic.

3. Why build a canal through Panama?
Today have dealings in all countries – Africa, Central, South America, Europe (Russia) -Panama one areas

4. The Panama Canal Panama (Spain to Colombia in 1821)
French tried to build a canal in 1880s
Sell rights to US for $40 million
1902 US wanted to try – Colombian resistance
"You could no more make an agreement with them than you could nail currant jelly to a wall," Roosevelt
Panamanian Revolution – 1903 independent (US warships)
Roosevelt, “Panama rebelled as one man”
Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty of 1903
10 mile wide strip, $10 million, $250,000 annual, guaranteed Panamanian independence
1914 canal opens
25,000 died in total - $375 million
In 1523, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V commissioned a survey of the Isthmus of Panama and several plans for a canal were produced, but none ever implemented.
U.S. interest in building a canal was sparked with the expansion of the American West and the California gold rush in 1848.
Ferdinand de Lesseps—the builder of the Suez Canal in Egypt—the French began excavating in Malaria, yellow fever, and other tropical diseases conspired against the de Lesseps campaign and after 9 years and a loss of approximately 20,000 lives, the French attempt went bankrupt.
Torrential rains averaging 200 inches a year washed away much of the work. Yellow fever, typhoid, snake bites, accidents
America's 1898 war with Spain made a canal seem essential. During the Spanish American War, the only way for U.S. battleships to sail from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean was to make an 8,000 mile journey around Cape Horn at the tip of South America.
On June 19, 1902, the U.S. Senate voted in favor of building the canal through Panama. Within 6 months, Secretary of State John Hay signed a treaty with Colombian Foreign Minister Tomás Herrán to build the new canal. The financial terms were unacceptable to Colombia’s congress, and it rejected the offer.
Philippe Bunau-Varilla meets with Pres. Roosevelt in Washington and tells him that a group in Panama are planning a rebellion. He asks that the US prevent any Colombian troops from landing to break the rebellion, but receives no certain assurances.
The Colombian Senate's rejection of the treaty confronted these French investors with the prospect of losing everything. At this point, the French company's chief lobbyist (and a major stockholder), Philippe Bunau-Varilla went into action. Justly confident that the Roosevelt administration would support his initiative, from a suite in the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York,[3] Bunau-Varilla arranged for the Panama City fire department to stage a revolution against Colombia. The United States Navy gunboat USS Nashville was dispatched to local waters around the city of Colón, where a force of 474 Colombian soldiers had landed and was preparing to cross the isthmus and crush the rebellion – 57 years policed Bogota’s interests (colombia) then stopped!!
A French adventurer, Philippe Bunau-Varilla, and an American lawyer, Nelson Cromwell, conceived of the idea of creating the Republic of Panama. They persuaded Roosevelt to support a Panama. Bunau-Varilla engineered a revolution and U.S. warships prevented Colombia from stopping Panama's attempt to break away (In 1921, the U.S. paid an indemnity to Colombia in recognition of the U.S. role in the Panamanian revolution). Bunau-Varilla repaid the United States for its assistance by signing a treaty on behalf of the Panamanians, which gave the United States a zone stretching five miles from each bank of the canal in perpetuity. Within the zone, U.S. laws, police, and courts ruled.
Years later, President Roosevelt said that the people of Panama rebelled against Colombia "literally as one man." A senator quipped, "Yes, and the one man was Roosevelt."
During construction drained swamps to stop yellow fever, malaria, et cetera - William Gorgas, an army physician
The French had attempted to build a canal at sea level, but grossly underestimated the difficulty of achieving this goal. To allow ships to travel between the oceans, American engineers designed a system of locks capable of raising and lowering ships 64 feet by using the force of gravity and 40-horsepower motors to move the gates. One set of locks used enough concrete to build a wall 8-feet thick and 12-feet high, stretching between Cleveland and Pittsburgh.
Between 1904 and 1915, some 5,600 lives were lost to disease and accidents. Most of those who died were from Barbados. The quinine used to treat malaria left many workers deaf. In December 1908, a massive 22 tons of dynamite exploded prematurely, killing 23 workers.
Over 56,000 people worked on the canal between 1904 and Panama declaires its independence from Colombia. After a one-day coup, in which an American warship offshore prevented Colombia from quelling the revolt, Panama declares independence. A jubilant President Theodore Roosevelt recognizes the new republic three days later.
The new Panamanian government authorized French businessman Philippe Bunau-Varilla, to negotiate a treaty with the United States.