 WITNESS TO HISTORY: U.S. INTERVENTION IN LATIN AMERICA Objectives • Gives students an overview of the history of U.S.—Latin America relations. • Stimulates discussion of American foreign policy. • Provides primary source material and encourages students to study this subject in greater depth. • Encourages students to examine the subject in greater detail. Summary of Content This program looks at the history of U.S.—Latin American affairs from the era of the Monroe Doctrine (1823) through the turn of the century to the 1960s. Archival footage documents many of the events that played a major part in the development of that relationship such as the Spanish-American War and the building of the Panama Canal. Also highlighted are some examples of U.S. military intervention in Latin America such as occupation of Nicaragua, the Bay of Pigs invasion of 1961 and the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. Discussion Questions 1. What was the significance of the Monroe Doctrine? When was it proclaimed? 2. What was the Roosevelt Corollary? When did President Theodore Roosevelt announce it? 3. What are the causes of the Spanish-American War? Could the war have been avoided? 4. Identify the following people: a. William Randolph Hearst b. Joseph Pulitzer c. Commodore George Dewey d. Pancho Villa e. General John Pershing f. Fidel Castro 5. What territory did the United States acquire as a result of the Spanish-American War? 6. What does “Remember the Maine” mean? 7. In the 1930s President Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt tried to change the direction of U.S.—Latin American relations. What was the importance of this change of policy? 8. Why did the French attempt at building a canal across the Isthmus of Panama fall? 9. Why did the United States send troops to the Dominican Republic in 1965? 10. Match the President (Column A) with the event that occurred during his administration (Column B). Column A Column B Theodore Roosevelt U.S. Panama Treaty (1978) Lyndon Johnson Revolution in Panama Jimmy Carter Cuban Missile Crisis John Kennedy Invasion of Nicaragua (1972) Calvin Coolidge Invasion of Mexico (1916) Woodrow Wilson Invasion of Dominican Republic (1965) Activities • Ask the students to contrast the Monroe Doctrine, Roosevelt Corollary, Good Neighbor Policy, Alliance for Progress, and Latin America policies of Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush. What was the result of each policy? • Ask the students to analyze U.S.—Latin American relations from the perspective of a Latin American citizen. |
|
|