Foreign Policy (1865-1919)

Compare and contrast the foreign policies of Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson.

Throughout the course of the United States there has been an ample amount of interaction with foreign nations but it all started in 1898 when they started. Between 1901 and 1920 the US increasingly intervened in the affairs of other nations which were the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. Both had the desire to move the United States forward into the mainstream of world power by getting involved in foreign affairs; however, they had different means to accomplish their goals. Roosevelt believed in imperialism and Wilson wanted to spread peace among the nations.

Theodore Roosevelt utilized tactics that were a bit drastic for helping the American nation progress for the reason that he wanted to empower the nation. Roosevelt wanted to aid other nations but his real intentions was to gain something for America. For instance, he helped the Panama citizens in their revolution but then he created the Panama Canal so that America could obtain a better way in transporting goods. Also Roosevelt created the Big Stick Policy which was to use military force against any nation that would get out of line which was a bit brutal. Roosevelt also was devious when he was in the Great White Fleet(1907) which was a group of 16 gleaming white ships on a cruise around the world to display the nation's naval power.Roosevelt also engendered the Roosevelt Corollary which was an addition to the Monroe Doctrine which was asserting that the United States might intervene in the affairs of an American republic threatened with seizure or intervention by a European country.

Woodrow Wilson believed in utilizing the American power to spread peace among the needed nations. He did not want to dominate a nation or use them such as Roosevelt he wanted to genuinely assist others in their time of need. Wilson wanted to join all the nations together in order to obtain peace and so that there is not another war. He created the fourteen points for this reason which were basically was that the United States needed to be obtain peace negotiations after World War I. Out of the Fourteen Points came the League of Nation or the League to Enforce Peace which was to unite all of the nations. Wilson felt strongly about the League of Nations he died for the cause, he hoped that it would pass congress yet it never did. Wilson also wanted to avert war of all coast which was when he had engendered the “peace without victory” which was a moving address that correctly declared only a "peace without victory" beating Germany without embarrassing them would be lasting.

However, both presidents Roosevelt and Wilson felt strongly about the progressive state of America. They wanted the nation to grow as a country due to the fact that they felt that America was brawny and should help the nations that could not fend for themselves. Both presidents developed United States power to free the people of other nations from what they saw as despotism and enslavement. They were involved in saving other nations like Panama or Cuba, they just wanted to make a significant change. The intention of Roosevelt might not have been for the good of the foreign nation but Americans benefit but he still helped the nation in need. Wilson did anything in his power to unite the nations as one so that there could not be any war among the world. Both men were just trying to progress America in the best way they considered to be the best.

Roosevelt and Wilson both felt that they needed to help other nations for the reason that they were so powerful. However, both men had different ways in accomplishing this objective. Roosevelt wanted to conquer while Wilson wanted to obtain peace.

Key Terms

• Fourteen Point

• No More secret treaties. 
• A League of Nations, an international organization that would keep the peace and settle world disputes.
• "Self-determination," or independence for oppressed minority groups who'd choose their government
• Adjustment of colonial claims in the interests of natives and colonizers.
• Reduction of armament burdens.
• A removal of economic barriers among nations.
• Freedom of the seas was to be maintained.
• Great White Fleet(1907)
• A group of 16 gleaming white ships on a cruise around the world to display the nation's naval power.
• Roosevelt Corollary
•  Roosevelt's 1904 extension of the Monroe Doctrine, stating that the United States has the right to protect its economic interests in South And Central America by using military force
• Big Stick Policy
• Roosevelt's philosophy - In international affairs, ask first but bring along a big army to help convince them. Threaten to use force, act as international policemen
• League of Nation 
• an international organization that would keep the peace and settle world disputes
• “peace without victory”
• part of Woodrow Wilson's final attempt to avert war, a moving address that correctly declared only a "peace without victory" (beating Germany without embarrassing them) would be lasting

The Eve of Revolution (1754-1775)

The French and Indian War (1754-1763) altered the relationship between Britain and its North American colonies. Assess this change with regard to Two of the following in the period between 1763-1775.

-Land acquisitions

-Politics

-Economic

The French and Indian War (1754-1763), a war that would soon after change the course of Great Britain and their colonies. The French had withdrew from the North American continent which meant that Great Britain and Spain acquired large amounts of land. British and colonies were ruled with a light had because of this. They did not have heavy taxes yet that would all change in response to politics and economics after the war which would result in breaking the relationship between the motherland and colonies.

After the end of the French revolution there was a great crisis that was left on Great Britain's shoulders yet the Americans believed that the golden age was upon them, they were horribly wrong. The war did bring new land; however, the war also brought distress to the motherland of Great Britain. The the Grenville Programs was engendered to settle problems in North America including the Proclamation of 1763 and all of the new Tax Acts. The Proclamation act was to stop all kind of colonial expansion to try to conserve the resources. The program was like a tax for defense, it would help Great Britain in their time of need. The war left the nation and also the colonies in need for money because of the war. Once the colonies were taxed heave due to the devastation of the war they were not fond of this new strict rule. They felt the need to not pay attention to it until they had to cough up the money once the soldiers started to be satiated at the colonies in 1770 to collect the money for Great Britain.

The economic situation was in no terms acceptable to Great Britain and they needed to find a quick easy solution. The colonies were already on the mercantilism system which was that the colonies made all the money for the motherland in this case it was Great Britain; thus, any profits that were made in currency they would give to Great Britain. However, that was not enough the motherland was still having economic issues so Great Britain though the only solution was to engender more and more taxes. The French and Indian war thought that the colonist needed to pay for the dept with taxes because they had protected them from the French and the allies. The Navigation Act as like the Sugar and Molasses Act were created post war but were not really enforce but after the war they must be strictly followed because there was no money. Great Britain also created the Stamp Act in 1765, Townshend Act in 1767, and the Tea Act in 1773 in order to supply the money flow.

Through and through after the French and Indian War the relationship between Great Britain and its North American colonies would forever be shattered. The colonies would despised the motherland and hope to be out of hands reach one day, it was one of the underlying causes of the revolution for independence.

Key Terms

• -Mercantilism
• the economic theory that trade generates wealth and is stimulated by the accumulation of profitable balances, which a government should encourage by means of protectionism
• -Navigation Act
• acts of Parliament between 1651 and 1847 designed primarily to expand British trade and limit trade by British colonies with countries that were rivals of Great Britain.
• -Sugar Act (1764)
• a law passed by the British Parliament in 1764 raising duties on foreign refined sugar imported by the colonies so as to give British sugar growers in the West Indies a monopoly on the colonial market.
• Molasses Act (1733)
• March 1733 was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain which imposed a tax of six pence per gallon on imports of molasses from non-British colonies.
• -Stamp Act (1765)
• an act of the British Parliament in 1756 that exacted revenue from the American colonies by imposing a stamp duty on newspapers and legal and commercial documents.
• -Townshend Act (1767)
•   series of acts passed, beginning in 1767, by the Parliament of Great Britain relating to the British colonies in North America.
• -Tea Act (1773)
• principal over objective was to reduce the massive surplus of tea held by the financially troubled British East India Company in its London warehouses and to help the struggling company survive.
• Grenville's Program
• a comprehensive plan designed by George Grenville to settle problems in North America. included the Proclamation of 1763 and all of the new Tax Acts.

Event: Free Fire Zones

The Free Fire Zones was an title during the Vietnam War when the villagers the innocent people were in the crosses of fire meaning right in the middle of the warfare. During the Vietnam War there was not an actual front well it was really never declared where the War was going to be fought it was just all over Vietnam. There a problem for the Americans that were trying to help which was the North Vietnam individuals because they were communists and wanted to make Vietnam entirely communities. At the time the North Vietnam individuals were considered the National Liberation Front but the French pejorative more commonly knew them as the Vietcong. America would not have this so they would try to do anything in there power in stopping the spread.

The South Vietnam individuals were not alone they were getting help from the Americans. The South Vietnamese were not yet communist they were fighting against the North Side of Vietnam; however, there was some individuals in South Vietnam were trading over to the North. The Vietcong from the North were utilizing guerrilla tactics on the South Vietnamese Army and the United States Army. The combat would consist of sniper shootings, landmines, tiger pits, tunnels, and small guerrilla style sneak attacks which would affect the South drastically. The Vietcong were supported by the local villagers for the reason that they were not killing them if they joined their side.

Most of the South Vietnam was part of the idea of fighting against the North Vietnam to npt ture communist but in reality some if not most individuals were just being pulled to one end to the other, they just wanted to stay alive. The Americans understood and knew that North Vietnam was getting the local villagers; thus, the United States needed to get smart and engender a way for no more individuals to switch or join the North side of Vietnam.

That is when American military forced had created a system of relocation, which was basically to move most of the citizen in Vietnam that were living near the board next to the North side of Vietnam. The American military had to move entire villages that had been in the same area for thousands of years and whose ancestors were buried in cemeteries outside their villages. America went further into debt with the system that if any villagers who either returned to theses villages or refused to leave were considered either be Vietcong or Vietcong sympathizers and could therefore be killed. They opposed a threat to the South Vietnam and must be eliminated according to the Americans.

Testimony to the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, April 23, 1971

Who: John Kerry American politician and 68th Secretary of State

What: It is regarding the war in Vietnam, describing the cruelty that has occurred and the news that has been received in America.

When:1971
Where: In the white house in Washington DC

Free Fire Zones 1979 (video)

Character: Brown Berets de Aztlan

The Brown Berets de Aztlan is an organization that was first founded on December 3, 1967 in East Los Angeles. The organization was for the Latino community that was in  Los Angeles, they were sick and tired of the treatment they were getting from the nation just because of their skin color. They would be socially segregated in work or in school, the organization wanted to make a difference so it could be better for future generations. However, the organization did not want to stop there they wanted the entire nation to get involved because that is when there will be a social change among the individuals that inhabit America “the land of the free”. One of the first events that the Brown Berets de Aztlan had engendered was the first demonstrations against police brutality in East Los Angeles on January 1968.

There are five components that the Brown Berets de Aztlan want to change which are educational, social, spiritual, economic, and social. They want to alter education by changing the educational system that does not lead Lation children into failure, but teaches our Latinos honor, self-respect, respectable vocations, Chicano studies, and challenges our children to reach their full educational potential. The change social would be to have equality for the “Raza” and acceptance of the Latino culture. The spiritual change would be to obtain the freedom to worship God in spirit and in truth. the economic change would be to acquire the economic freedom and prosperity of our people; and lasty they political change would be to obtain a political system free from corruption. It would improve not only the Latino community/race but all other ethnicities that are under the shadow of the white Americans.

During the Vietnam War there was copious amounts of individuals dying yet the only ones that seemed to be getting honored was the white American soldiers. Thus on, December 14, 1969 the Brown Berets organized the Chicano Moratorium Committee and the first rally in East Los Angeles to protest against racial discrimination and the disproportionate number of Chicanos getting killed in the Vietnam War. They would protest about the issues of the war because they felt that that is the most effective way in getting anything accomplished. They did not agree with the war that was being fought and wanted it to end like all the others throughout the nation, their boys were risking their lives for fighting the war. Some problems with this group would be that they did not not involve all other ethnicity only focused on the Latino community.

Political Cartoon

            This political cartoon was made in the 1906's when President John F. Kennedy was in office. It is explaining the time when Canada could not decide weather to use nuclear weapons. It was created by a Canadian for the reason of this on going debate among America and Canada. President John F. Kennedy and his administration were trying to persuade Canada for only excepting weapons from the United States. Thus, explaining the man who is Prime Minister Lester Pearson sitting down had a shot gun on top of his head. Prime Minister Lester Pearson did not seem to agree to President John F. Kennedy's plan but them later agreed to it. 

              In this political cartoon it was in the time when President John F. Kennedy was dealing with the problems in Cuba. There was going to be a nuclear war with Cuba due to Eisenhower plan that President John F. Kennedy could not stop. However, he did save the american people after all because he talked to Soviets even if they were are enemy. The U.S.S.R placed missiles in Cuba and that is when the United States felt threatened  so they put missiles in Turkey with the permission of President Kennedy. Then there was a negotiation between the U.S.S.R. and the United States which was achieved by diplomacy. this negotiation prevented a nuclear war which is the picture above. 

                 This political cartoon was created during President John F. Kennedy's presidency and it was about mid way of his presidency. The man responsible for the cartoon was Herbert Block. Throughout President Kennedy's presidency he had an ample amount of foreign affairs which her foreign policy concerns which most revolved around the Cold War. During Presidents John F. Kennedy's term the American-Soviet relations were not considered well there was great tension. The tension could then break in the form of the Cuban Missile Crisis. In the cartoon there are two men Kennedy and Nikita Kruschec who is a leader form the Soviet Union. Both are trying to keep the beast or animal that is a symbol for a nuclear war in a cage or to keep it contained. 

President John Fitzgerald Kennedy

          John F Kennedy was the most effective president throughout the entire Cold War. John F. Kennedy was not only a president he was also a war hero for the reason that the was a  involved in World War II. This gave him insight and understanding of what actually war was like. He got injured during his time in the war: however, this did not stop him form his aspersions. Once he had come back form the injury he went to school for law; however, he then realized that he wanted to become the president of the United States. He would then stop at nothing to become president due to the fact he felt that he would help progress and save America. He prevented a nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis and forced the Soviet Union to withdraw its nuclear missiles from Cuba. President John F. Kennedy was effective for the reason that he had stopped a nuclear war that was engendering in Cuba because of the missiles that the U.S.S.R. had placed in Cuba. This war was going to turn into World War III; however, President John F. Kennedy had resolved the problem. This is the reason why President John F. Kennedy was most effective. 


           Even if President John F. Kennedy was influential he did not agree with some presidents before him such as President Eisenhower. He did not agree with President Eisenhower's plan which was to free Cuba from Castro and by freeing Cuba of Castro, freeing the entire Western Hemisphere of communism that the CIA had engendered. He felt that it would start a war yet he did not stop the processes of the plan due to the fact that it was too late. President John F. Kennedy also did not agree with President Nixon when he was befriending the Soviet Union. His plan was to end communism with the help of the Soviet Union's friendship. However, President John F. Kennedy did not agree with this because it would make the United States weak. Also he did not agree for the reason that it was not good for the nation neither was Presidents Eisenhower plan. 

Dorothea Lange Gallery

       Dorothea Lange was well known for her photography during the time of the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. Most of the nation of America was devastated by the tragedy like this little girl in the photograph. In the description Lange states "Resettled farm child, New Mexico, 1935" which indicates the the child and her family needed to move form their original setting to a new one. Her family was most likely affected by the Dust Bowl and forced to leave and move in to a home that was falling apart. The little girl looks as if she is depressed and disliked the move to New Mexico, she wants to be back to her old home but understands that their was no benefit in staying where they were. 

        The government did not help the people that were losing their farms like the family of this child, they were trying to make the nation stay afloat; thus, the poor families had to fend for themselves. The government needed to provide services to the ones in dire need yet families and other individuals were not receiving any help. The government needs to provide the people with medical care due to the Dust Bowls that would cause illness that could kill an individual. The only type of solution for the little girl and her family is to hope for the best and try to farm on this new land in order to make some money.