Latin American Policies, the Roosevelt Corollary, and the Panama Canal

Chapter 22: Section 4Pages 656-659

Latin

America

Question #1:

In what year was the

Roosevelt Corollary issued?

Answer:

1904

Question #2:

Why did the United States

want to build the Panama Canal?

Answer:In order to

connect the Atlantic to the Pacific coasts,

thus cutting the sea voyage

around South America in half.

Question #3:

Define- Isthmus

Answer:

A narrow strip of land connecting two larger bodies of

land.

Question #4:

Why did President Roosevelt believe that building and

controlling the Panama Canal was

important?

Answer:He believed

the canal would make

the U.S. Stronger both militarily and economically.

Question #5:

Columbia controlled Panama and did not

want to lease the isthmus of Panama to

the United States. So, how did Roosevelt get the right to build

and control the Panama Canal?

Answer:Roosevelt encouraged the Panamanians to

revolt and fight for their independence. He sent a warship to the port of Colon as if to show that the U.S. would help the rebels and stopped the Columbian ships from getting to Panama to

stop the revolt.

Question #6:

When did the United States

recognize Panama’s independence from

Columbia?

Answer:

November 6, 1903

Question #7:

Two weeks after Panama gained

its independence

from Columbia, what did the United States

receive?

Answer:

A ten mile strip of land between the isthmus of Panama for the price of $10 million upfront and

an annual rent of $250,000 a year.*NOTE: The U.S.

controlled the canal until 1999.

Question #8:

When was the Panama Canal

finally completed?

Answer:

August 15, 1914

Question #9:

Answer:

The canal reduced shipping costs by cutting more than

7,000 miles off the voyage from New York City to

San Francisco.

Question #10:

Answer:

The canal also helped extend naval power by

allowing the United States fleet to move

freely between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Question #11:

Answer:

In the long run, the canal guaranteed a

strong American presence in Latin America, where

the U.S. now had valuable property

it intended to protect (the

Panama Canal).

Question #12:

Answer:

Roosevelt often said, a country

should “speak softly and carry a big

stick.” By this he meant that the United States

should respond to foreign crises not by

threats but with military action.

Question #13:

Why did Roosevelt believe the United

States had the right to use “international

police power” to help Venezuela and the

Dominican Republic when threatened by

Europe?

Answer:

According to the Roosevelt Corollary,

the U.S. has the “right to interfere in any

economic matter in Latin America.”

He believed a threat to the western

hemisphere was a potential threat to the

U.S.