  |
 |
|
      |
||
 |
||
    |
||
    |
||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
“To Elect Good Men”: Woodrow Wilson and Latin AmericaLesson Plan Two of the Curriculum Unit: The Foreign Policy of Woodrow WilsonIntroductionSoon after taking office, President Woodrow Wilson and his first Secretary of State, William Jennings Bryan, rejected the Dollar Diplomacy that had guided U.S. relations with Latin America during the administration of William Taft. In ways consistent with his domestic Progressive reform goals and his faith in the superiority of American democracy, Wilson resolved that the United States would only recognize Latin American governments founded upon law and order, "not upon arbitrary or irregular force." Furthermore, Wilson was willing to use military force to demonstrate to Latin Americans "how to elect good men" as leaders. In this lesson, students will analyze Wilson's attempts to carry out this "missionary diplomacy" in Haiti and Mexico as well as the responses of selected Haitians and Mexicans.How did the Wilson administration respond to revolution and civil unrest in Latin America? Learning ObjectivesAfter completing this lesson, students will be able to:
Background Information for the TeacherAt the time of Woodrow Wilson's inauguration, the United States had extensive economic and strategic interests throughout Latin America. The Panama Canal was under construction; the U.S. Navy had a base at Guantanamo, Cuba; and American investments in Mexico totaled almost $2 billion. Wilson's predecessor, Republican William Howard Taft, had practiced "Dollar Diplomacy" in Latin America and elsewhere, including China. Dollar Diplomacy was based on the premise that the U.S. government should promote stability in other countries in order to provide opportunities for American investors and companies. In turn, U.S.-backed development would help ensure long-term peace and prosperity for those nations.As a committed Progressive, Wilson disdained Taft's approach. He worried that monopolies and special interest groups would take advantage of instability in other nations to enrich themselves without promoting democracy. In 1913, Wilson rebuked a group of American bankers who had asked for the administration's support for a loan to China, and he publicly renounced Dollar Diplomacy. Nevertheless, he wanted U.S. financial, commercial, and manufacturing interests to find opportunities in foreign nations. He also hoped American capitalism could aid the promotion of democracy, which he held to be a moral duty of the United States. Wilson did not lack for opportunities to carry out his missionizing diplomacy in Latin America. In 1911, the dictatorial rule of Porfirio Di?az came to an end in Mexico at the hands of Constitutionalist Francisco Madero, who's intended political and economic reforms threatened foreign-owned land and businesses. (Americans alone possessed some 40 percent of Mexican properties.) A coup resulted in Madero's death and the ascension of Victoriano Huerta. Wilson refused to diplomatically recognize the new government and looked for a reason to intervene in what was now a civil war, as the Constitutionalist Venustiano Carranza led a successful rebellion against Huerta's regime. The arrest of U.S. sailors on April 9, 1914 in Tampico, Mexico, provided an opening. That incident led to intermittent U.S. military actions, including an invasion of northern Mexico, over the next three years. In July 1915, Wilson dispatched a force of more than 2,000 Marines to Haiti after the assassination of its president, Vilbrun Guillaume, and a hostile reaction to an American proposal to oversee elections. As Wilson explained, the presence and oversight of Marines would demonstrate to Haitians "how to elect good men." Wilson's belief in white racial superiority was also a factor; the President, like many white Americans of the era, assumed that 'lesser races' needed a strong, controlling hand. A treaty soon gave the United States control over Haiti's finances, and U.S. martial governance of Haiti, which persisted for 19 years, frequently used harsh methods to quell resistance. On the whole, Wilson's actions in Latin America protected U.S. commercial and strategic interests, but the goal of spreading democracy went mostly unfulfilled. The frequent use of military force also engendered widespread resentment in the region. Preparing to Teach this Lesson
Analyzing primary sourcesTo provide your students with the skills needed to examine primary sources, you may find it helpful to visit this site from the Library of Congress. In particular, students may find the "Mindwalk activity" useful in preparing to work with primary sources. Another Library of Congress exercise on primary sources can be found at The Learning Page. At the National Archives website, the Digital Classroom provides worksheets to practice analysis of various primary sources, including photographs. Another exercise involving interpretation of historic photographs can be found at History Matters.Suggested ActivitiesActivity 1: U.S. Interests in Latin AmericaActivity 2: U.S. Intervention in the Mexican RevolutionActivity 3: U.S. Intervention in HaitiActivity 1: U.S. Interests in Latin AmericaIn the first exercise, students will use an interactive map to learn about U.S. actions in Central America and the Caribbean, from the late 1890s through the 1930s. By clicking on Cuba, for example, students will learn that the United States sent troops to the island nation on three separate occasions. Using the worksheet on page 1 of the Text Document, students will then answer a set of questions that will allow them to discover the extent of U.S. involvement. Activity 2: U.S. Intervention in the Mexican Revolution The second activity will focus on American intervention in the Mexican Revolution. Students will use one secondary source and several primary sources, including photographs, to do the following exercises (see Text Document for further guidance): Students will first examine photographs in the online exhibition of Robert Runyon's photographs of the Mexican Revolution, accessible via the EDSITEment-reviewed American Memory Project, to make a list answering this question: "What sort of problems did the revolution appear to cause for the people of Mexico?" A worksheet for this purpose is available on page 2 of the Text Document. After making this list, students will learn about the 1914 Tampico incident, which led to U.S. military intervention in Mexico. After visiting the following two sites, students will answer a series of questions, which can be found on page 3 of the Text Document. Pages 4-5 of the Text Document contain an excerpt of Wilson's statement.
In the third exercise, students will adopt the role of an American news correspondent in Haiti in 1920. Their task is to write a brief article answering one of these two questions:
AssessmentAfter completing this lesson, students should be able to answer, orally or in writing, these questions:
Extending the LessonSome of the lesson's activities could be adapted and extended. Students could research an event relating to U.S. intervention in Mexico's revolution, the topic of Activity 2. For example, they could examine Francisco Villa's 1916 raid on Columbus, New Mexico, to learn how it contributed to Wilson's order to invade Mexico.Rather than adopting the role of a news correspondent for Activity #3, students could write an essay answering the question, "Did Woodrow Wilson's Latin American policies spread democracy?" (This essay would also reinforce learning objectives from Lesson 1.) The following EDSITEment-reviewed websites can be used to introduce the students to the rich culture and history of Latin America:
Previous Lesson PlanNext Lesson PlanReturn to the Curriculum Unit Overview: The Foreign Policy of Woodrow WilsonRelated EDSITEment Lesson PlansSelected EDSITEment Websites
Standards Alignment View your state’s standards |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | ||
 | ||
   |
| |
| EDSITEment contains a variety of links to other websites and references to resources available through government, nonprofit, and commercial entities. These links and references are provided solely for informational purposes and the convenience of the user. Their inclusion does not constitute an endorsement. For more information, please click the Disclaimer icon. | ||
 | ||
| Disclaimer | Conditions of Use | Privacy Policy Search
| Site
Map | Contact
Us | ||
