Big Stick Policy Dbq Essay

The foreign policies that President Roosevelt employed were ultra aggressive. The foreign policies were heavily enforced using his newly built naval force, the arm of offensive power, as a way to conquer the world, an idea brought to Roosevelt’s attention due to Alfred T. Mahan’s The Interest of America in Sea Power.

The end of World War I left much of America confused on the country’s role in world affairs. Many people believed that the United States should primarily worry about its own issues and problems, and let the world handle their own problems. But President Woodrow Wilson was not one of those people. He believed that the United States should be directly involved in the issues affecting all of the countries of the world. He also wanted the United States to be the country to make a push for a League of Nations. “The people of the United States could act upon no other principle; and to the vindication of this principle they are ready to devote their lives, their honor, and everything that they possess. The normal climax of this the culminating and final war for human liberty has come, and they are ready to put their own strength, their own highest purpose, their own integrity and devotion to the test.” Wilson believed that if the United States needed to be a part of a League of Nations in charge of keeping peace around the world, this would keep America

Theodore Roosevelt was renowned for his foreign policy that stated: speak softly and carry a big stick. This meant that Roosevelt handled foreign affairs with a tranquil state of mind, but also threatened with the military if things did not go as planned. Roosevelt utilized this ideology to navigate America in the right direction. The Great White Fleet abided by this policy, specifically. From 1907 to 1909, the fleet sailed the seas and made history. Not only did this publicity stunt grant America the respect Roosevelt had hoped for, but it also altered world affairs significantly.

Throughout the history of the United States of America, presidents have made many foreign policy decisions. These decisions have been opposed by many groups as well as individuals. The Mexican-American War and President Wilson’s Fourteen Points are two examples of this. Historical circumstances caused both President James K. Polk and President Woodrow Wilson to make their decisions. Both decisions were opposed by different groups of people, countries, and individuals. These foreign policies had a great impact on on the United States as well as other countries around the world.

The actions taken from the United States during the Mexican American War, Spanish American War, World War 1, World War 2, Cold War and the Global War on Terror, made many countries either fear the United States or were not bold enough to go against the United States. Only a few countries have the courageous to attack the United States and most of the attackers were not able to live long so they can brag about it. During Roosevelt’s political life was occurring, he thought that the United States should be prepared for any attacks or other type conflicts so the United States would have a better chance of preventing a war. In Roosevelt’s beliefs, he thought that if the United States was able to show some type of “force” for the rest of the world

The United States tried desperately to avoid foreign affairs. It was America’s goal to have as little political involvement with other countries as possible, similar to George Washington’s farewell address at the end of his second term as president, in which he asked that America should avoid entangling alliances. Even as World War I approached the current president Woodrow Wilson, along with the majority of Americans, still tried to avoid involvement with the war. America also had little to no involvement with foreign affairs in Asia at the time, although the aftermath of the war would influence an increase in involvement. Although America tried maintaining it’s position of isolation, it would soon become a nation eager to be involved in foreign

Washington in his speech said, “The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible” (Washington’s). Washington saw commercial relations as acceptable, but viewed foreign involvement dangerous when political. The US involvement in WWI completely went against Washington’s view. Woodrow Wilson not only politically involved the US in Europe, but decided to enter a major European war above all. Although Wilson justified the US involvement to Congress by stating, “The present German submarine warfare against commerce is warfare against mankind… The world must be made safe for democracy” (Wilson’s), this involvement in a war rejected Washington’s approach. The progressive period was a time period about democratic principles and a sense of morality, and Wilson emphasized that US involvement would be on the basis of morality and democracy. His “Fourteen Points” were a perfect example of this, with the idea of self-determination and equality of trade (President) and his desire for the League of Nations, to protect and preserve democracy and equality in the world. The progressive ideals stemmed off of the decision to go to war and changed the complexion of US foreign policy. The commerce of the United States was

The principles that Theodore Roosevelt established guided his life. Whether as president or an everyday man, he followed his ideals. As a prideful, hardworking man, Mr. Roosevelt believed in “life of strenuous endeavors”. Hard work was a necessity for him. He believed that a man should not shrink away from his duty and that only through hardship and determination will a man succeed in “ultimate triumph”( Roosevelt, Strenuous Life). Likewise, a sense of obligation towards his nation guided him to the conclusion that the nation should be

Near the turn of the twentieth century, the Unites States was solidifying its position as a world power, gaining recognition after defeating the Spanish in the Spanish-American War. With the US gaining territories and its span of control in the Americas and Pacific Asia, American Imperialism was in full force. Theodore Roosevelt, the Rough Riders commander returning victorious from Cuba, was elected governor of New York. Although his speech: “The Strenuous Life”, was given before his presidency, Roosevelt’s time as president can be summarized by his big stick diplomacy. With America’s imperialism growing, policing the world and demonstrating American Exceptionalism became the prevailing policy.

During presidents Roosevelt’s terms as a president he made several extravagant gestures for the Big Stick Diplomacy, one that is notable the most was in Latin America. There were many revolutions that occurred in the last half of the 1800s because there were many disorganized governments that were provided throughout Central America.

Moral Diplomacy allowed America to support only countries that had moral beliefs that were similar to that of the nation. It enlarges the increase of the nation’s plans and hurts nations with different plans. It was used by Woodrow to support countries that mainly had a democratic government and to hurt the economic state of non-democratic countries. He wanted to create a larger demographic for democratic governments, he mainly tried to influence Latin America.

Prior to entering the office in 1913, Woodrow Wilson had no experience in the realm of international relations. He was formerly a college professor and a left extremist, but he surprised many with his military actions. Before entering WWI, Wilson had a lot of ideas about convictions and ideas about global issues, despite not possessing a lot of knowledge about international relations. The first policy passed was made by Wilson, and the Secretary of State, William Jennings Bryan. It was a diplomatic policy based off of idealism, referred to as the “cooling off” treaties. Between 1913 and 1914, the nations that participated pledged not to go to war over the period of twelve months over disagreements. There was little meaning that came out of it that is shown in the after math of World War I. In the very beginning Woodrow Wilson did stick to his words and his idealism ideology, but it did not last for too long.

For this topic, the foreign policies of Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin Roosevelt will be examined and the three major periods distributed among these two presidents. Overall, the United States foreign policy saw major changes from involvement to no involvement at all.

“Speak softly and carry a big stick,” this was the slogan that president Theodore Roosevelt Used to describe the Big Stick policy. This sentence led to the foreign policy that Roosevelt deployed during his presidency hence the name “Big Stick” Policy. This policy meant that the U.S. should be fair in its dealings with other countries but must always be ready to protect its own interests or in other word negotiating peacefully while simultaneously threatening with the “big stick”, or the military.

Theodore Roosevelt’s was a President who believed that the United States should be a strong country by military strength. He believed that that we had to a power in the world and a force in the world. Roosevelt wanted a two ocean navy. He wanted a navy that could come and go to the Pacific or the Atlantic Ocean. With the idea of wanting power in the both oceans he began plans for the construction of the Panama Canal. This is where the essence of the Gunboat Diplomacy comes in. Gunboat Diplomacy involves intimidation by threat or use of military force. He ended up taking Panama and then leaving the Congress to debate the situation out and while debating was building the canal.