Imperialism: The policy of extending a nation's authority by the establishment of economic and political leadership over other nations.
Before Being Imperialized Latin American landowners would drive their employees into debt by paying them low wages in vouchers for their supply stores which sold products at high prices. Latin American governments sold land previously owned by the Catholic Church and Natives for very high prices that only already wealthy landowners could afford. The unintelligent use of these lands caused economic failure in Latin America. Caudillos, military dictators, ruled much of Latin America. Most Latin Americans lacked voting rights and political power; The only people that had these were members of the upper class.
How Did It Happen? Due to not being industrialized, Latin America's economy depended on imports of machine made goods. Latin American countries would use the imports to build facilities to make products. The Latin Americans needed loans in order to build their factories and European and North American countries were very willing to lend. Because Latin American countries could not repay their loans, many foreign powers took control of the facilities or companies they lent money to; This was the beginning of economic imperialism in Latin America.¹
Monroe Doctrine President James Monroe published the Monroe Doctrine in 1823 which stated that European powers must respect the United States of America's sphere of influence. The Americans claimed that they supported Latin America's independence and freedom.⁶
Cuba & the Spanish American War Cuba declared independence from Spain in 1868; This brought about a ten year war between these two countries which was ended by Cuba giving up. A young revolutionary, José Martí, later inspired a second war for Cuban independence. The United States had significant financial investments in Cuba, which meant that they needed Cuba to win in order to keep their capital. The Spanish would treat the Cubans with brutality therefore the United States joined them in their battle for independence. The four month long affair was titled the Spanish American War. The United States launched a surprise attack on the Philippines which quickly caused Spain's army to fail. The United States won Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines. Cuba became an "independent" nation in 1901. The U.S. placed their military in Cuba in order to maintain control and order.⁵
Panama Canal President Theodore Roosevelt encouraged a revolution in Panama in order to gain the land to make a canal. The Panama Canal was finished in 1914, and widely used. The canal expanded American influence in Latin America. President Theodore Roosevelt added an extension to the Monroe Doctrine titled the Roosevelt Corollary which named the United States an international police power in the Americas.¹ Below is a video that shows how the Panama Canal works.²