US-Latin America

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, the United States was the most dominant power in the Western Hemisphere. European nations conceded to the United States their right of any intervention in the Western Hemisphere and allowed the United States to do whatever they wanted. The United States took this newly bestowed power and abused it. The United States intervened in many Latin American countries and imposed their policies on to these countries against their will. A perfect example of this aggression is what occurred in the Dominican Republic in 1904. The United States intervened in this sovereign nation and took control of their economy and custom houses. A memorandum from Francis B. Loomis, the United States Assistant Secretary of State, to the Secretary of States illustrates the United States’ goals, interests, attitudes and assumptions in the Dominican Republic and how the United States policy makers felt towards Latin America during this time period.

The United States had a wide variety of goals and interests in the Dominican Republic and in Latin America. In the Dominican Republic, Americans were heavily invested in the Dominicans’ industries. Americans invested in an area of six million dollars just in the Sugar industry alone (Loomis 2). And “the total American investments in the Dominican Republic of an important and active sort are estimated to be worth about twenty million dollars (Loomis 2). Also, many American citizens owned and operated many vast and major plantations and railroads in the Dominican Republic. American citizens’ owned and operated 60 miles of important line of railway (Loomis 3). Also at Sosua, the American company, United Fruit Company owned some twenty thousand acres of land which...

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...l power in Latin American. The United States didn’t engage in classic direct imperialism which is colonialism, but engage in indirect imperialism which focused on controlling and intervening in the economic and social institutions of Latin America. The United States only cared for their economic well-being. They didn’t care the suffering the people of Latin America were going through. The United States only cared that their economic interests were thriving in Latin America. The policies the United States government undertook clearly show this. The policies of Roosevelt’s corollary and Taft’s dollar diplomacy only mention the United States’ interests. There is nothing about the Latin American’s interests and well-being. Many people suffered because of the United States’ policy that only supported and protected the rich and powerful corporations.