Term
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Definition
Who: Authored by Secretary of State John Quincy Adams and issued by President James Monroe.
What: stated that any further colonization by European powers in Latin America would be viewed as an act of aggression by the US.
When: 1823
Where: In the United States
Significance: First diplomatic declaration to assert American hemispheric authority; it established a precedent that the US must “look out” for Latin America. This document became the essence of American policy regarding Latin America for almost two centuries. |
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Term
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Definition
Who: An American who led a group of 300 to settle in Texas, then part of Mexico. He becomes the leader of a revolution for Texan independence.
What: In a nutshell, Austin’s story encompassed military and political battles over slavery and taxation.
When: The 1830’s and 1840’s.
Where: Texas, a territory that was an object of dispute between the US and Mexico.
Significance: Austin and the story of Texas in the 1840’s embodies the tension between two growing nations, Mexico and the United States, as well as the greater political, economic, and cultural differences between Anglophonic and Hispanic America. |
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Term
| Antonio López de Santa Anna |
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Definition
Who: Mexican President and General.
What: Lead Mexican troops against Stephen Austin and Sam Houston during the Texas Revolution.
When: First elected to the presidency in 1833, and rose to military prominence in the mid-1830’s, as evidenced by the Battle of the Alamo in 1836.
Where: Texas, and Northern Mexico.
Significance: Santa Anna’s mercurial comportment and disjointed military and political careers represented Mexico’s vulnerability and disintegration during this era. |
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Term
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Definition
Who: Groups of American citizens
What: Sent volunteers and money to help the Texans win their independence from Mexico.
When: The 1840’s, during the Texan Revolution.
Where: All across the United States.
Significance: Demonstrated that the American public believed in manifest destiny, that common Americans hoped that the Texans might win their independence and so join the Union. |
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Term
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Definition
Who: A fort in Texas.
What: 200 Texans took refuge in this fort, and were massacred by 1500 Mexican troops led by no other than Santa Anna; Davy Crockett got killed.
When: 1836.
Where: Texas.
Significance: After the defeat, “remember the Alamo” became a rallying cry that both represented the Texan spirit of independence and the cruelty of the Mexicans. |
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Term
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Definition
Who: Fought between Sam Houston’s 800 Texans, and the rest of Santa Anna’s forces.
What: Houston’s forces catch Santa Anna’s mid-siesta, and kill with brutality meant to avenge the fallen at the Alamo.
When: 1836, after the Battle of the Alamo.
Where: Fought in Texas, near what is now Houston.
Significance: This battle crippled Santa Anna’s forces, and effectively won the Texans their independence. |
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Term
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Definition
Who: A Texan militia against Santa Anna’s military.
What: A failed military operation that was originally intended to punish the Mexican army for post-treaty raids into Texan territory.
When: 1842, after Texas was a sovereign polity.
Where: Northern Mexico.
Significance: Demonstrated both Mexico’s willingness to renege on treaties, and America’s eagerness use military force in this era of Latin American-US relations. |
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Term
| Parade of the Texas Devils |
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Definition
Who: The militiamen who were part of the Mier Expedition.
What: After the Mier Expedition fail, the group was forced to walk all the way south to Mexico City.
When: 1842, after the Mier Expedition.
Where: Northern Mexico to Mexico City.
Significance: Demonstrated Santa Anna’s mercurial temperament and his eagerness to punish Americans. |
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Term
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Definition
Who: The militiamen who were part of the Mier Expedition.
What: Santa Anna ordered that a bunch of beans be put in a pot. The militiamen were ordered to randomly pick one, and whoever picked the white beans was to be killed.
When: 1842, after the Parade of the Texas Devils.
Where: Mexico City
Significance: Further demonstrated Santa Anna’s mercurial temperament, which personified the tumultuous political spirit in Mexico. |
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Term
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Definition
Who: American president, and proponent of Manifest Destiny and expansionism
What: Under Polk, the Americans won the Mexican-American war, and as a result of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, they gain the “Mexican Cession,” much of what is now California, New Mexico, and Arizona.
When: 1840’s, during the Mexican American War.
Where: United States.
Significance: His agenda of westward expansion represented the American belief in Manifest Destiny during his presidency. |
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Term
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Definition
Who: American General and later President.
What: He was not a planner, not a strategic thinker, but a very calm general; he was also a Democrat, and so he was selected to lead the Americans in the Mexican American War.
When: 1840’s, during the Mexican American War.
Where: United States, Mexico.
Significance: Polk’s choosing of him as general and his later ascent to the presidency reflected an America as much preoccupied with internal political disputes as with external military ventures. |
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Term
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Definition
Who: American General.
What: Was the pre-eminent American general of the epoch, but did not lead the Mexican American war because of his “cautiousness” and because of President Polk’s political agenda.
When: 1840’s, during the Mexican American War.
Where: United States, Mexico.
Significance: Polk’s reticence to choose the better general reflects the US’ polemic political disposition at the time. |
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Term
| The Nicaragua Transit Route |
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Definition
Who: Owned by Cornelius Vanderbilt,
What: A central-American transit route that connected via steamship and railroad across Nicaragua. William Walker gained control of it when he invaded Nicaragua.
When: The 1850’s
Where: Nicaragua.
Significance: A precursor to and eventual competitor of the Panama Canal that signified at an early stage the American interest in an isthmian connection between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. |
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Term
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Definition
Who: Made up of American adventurers who formed private militias in order to invade and conquer foreign territory.
What: For example, William Walker’s invasion and coup in Nicaragua.
When: 1850’s
Where: Latin America, including Colombia and Nicaragua.
Significance: Showed American propensity for expansionism and disregard for the sovereignty of Latin American states. |
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Term
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Definition
Who: Tennessean filibuster or adventurer.
What: Went to Nicaragua, at the request Nicaraguan liberals, in order to foment a coup against the Conservative Nicaraguan government. His militia becomes embroiled in the civil war. Eventually, he declares himself president, reinstitutes slavery and starts printing his own money.
When: mid-1850’s.
Where: Nicaragua.
Significance: On one hand, he represents American disrespect for Latin American sovereignty and the American propensity for expansionism. On the other, he, via his reinstitution of slavery, represents the polemic nature of antebellum US politics. |
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Term
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Definition
Who: A Cuban poet and activist residing in NYC.
What: He was a major proponent for the Cuban War of Independence against the Spanish Crown; however, he called for a gentleman’s war--one that respected private property; he was killed during the war effort.
When: 1890’s--1895.
Where: Cuba.
Significance: His document, “The Character of the United States” conflated American imperialist tendencies with those of Spain; he recognized that although the United States’ rhetoric called for a uniquely independent hemisphere, their actions echoed much of Europe. |
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Term
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Definition
Who: A black Cuban who has been remembered as one of Cuba’s Founding Fathers; he was Marti’s original partner in the revolution.
What: After Marti’s death, Maceo partnered with Maximo Gomez and turned the polite insurrection into total war.
When: 1890’s.
Where: Cuba.
Significance: His partnership with Gomez changed the course of the Cuban War of Independence into something radical: they brought the Cuban peasants into the fold and outlawed the cultivation of sugar on the island. |
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Term
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Definition
Who: An American ship docked at Havana Harbor in Cuba at the request of President McKinley
What: One night, it burst into flames, for no apparent reason--perhaps it was a boiler explosion, perhaps it was self-sabotage, perhaps it was the Spanish.
When: 1898
Where: Havana Harbor, Cuba
Significance: This incident completely altered the course of actions between the US and Spain; it set the two at suspicious odds, and provided a rationale for war. |
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Term
| Fifty-Million-Dollar-Bill |
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Definition
Who: William McKinley asked Congress for this.
What: He asked Congress for 50 million dollars for “national defense” purposes, essentially, a blank check. Congress unanimously passes it.
When: 1898
Where: US, for Cuban purposes.
Significance: That congress could pass a “blank check” for “national defense” demonstrates the fervor that the American public felt for expansionism and retaliation against Spain for the USS Maine. |
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Term
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Definition
Who: 1200 volunteer cavalry, a motley crew of cowboys and miners led by future President Theodore Roosevelt.
What: They were trained in the American southwest, and were thought to be able to withstand the Caribbean temperatures. They were instrumental in the effort to win the Spanish-American War in Cuba.
When: 1890’s.
Where: Cuba.
Significance: They were representative of a change in military strategy; because of the Civil War, the Americans were very low on manpower, so commanders stopped sending large columns of men into the line of fire, and instead relied more on highly trained units with tactical advantage. |
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Term
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Definition
Who: American military, Rough Riders, Spanish military.
What: Regular American military are fighting against the Spanish, and the Rough Riders are caught in the middle. Roosevelt leads a charge into the heart of the Spanish forces, choosing a column of Black enlisted men to function as a human shield. Rough Riders defeat Spanish forces.
When: 1898
Where: Cuba, San Juan Heights.
Significance: Roosevelt’s actions develop into a war legend back in the States; this battle perhaps gives him the clout needed to win the following election. To the modern reader, this demonstrates that Roosevelt was either a total racist or completely insane, or both. |
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Term
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Definition
Who: Signed between the United States and Spain, without ANY Cuban representation.
What: Ended the Spanish-American war. America wins Guam, Philippines, Puerto Rico. Allows for the establishment of a Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay. Also allows for a temporary American occupation of Cuba.
When: 1898, ends the Spanish American war.
Where: Paris.
Significance: The treaty of Paris signified the beginning of the “American Century,” in which the United States would dominate on a global geopolitical scale. That no representative of the Cuban government signed the Treaty also signified that this was still an era of imperial powers. |
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Term
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Definition
Who: US adds this amendment to an agreement with the Cuban government.
What: US reserves and retains the right of intervention for Cuba’s own sake. No government of Cuba would have any sovereign power in international diplomacy. Stipulated that the US could assume titles of land in Cuba. Effectively, this amendment makes Cuba an American protectorate.
When: 1902, after the Spanish American war.
Where: Washington D.C.
Significance: Represents an era dominated by an American Paternalism based in economic concerns and racism; the amendment guaranteed American involvement and control in Cuban affairs. Evidence of a “they can’t govern themselves, yet” attitude. As per the Monroe Doctrine, the US still needed to “look out” for Latin America. |
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Term
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Definition
Who: President Theodore Roosevelt’s autobiography.
What: It detailed how a group of Europeans banded together to form the great American race. He celebrated the defeat of the American Indians, and he made the case that America was capable of taking the lead civilizing the inferior races of the world.
When: 1894, prior to his presidency.
Where: The US.
Significance: Provides more evidence that Roosevelt was a racist, through and through, which is perhaps why he was so willing to spread the “gospel of democracy” through any means necessary. |
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Term
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Definition
Who: Roosevelt produced this.
What: 1904, Roosevelt stated that the US would serve as a sort of police force in Latin America in order to ensure that they did not default on their debts to Europe. It was an economically-motivated extension of the Monroe Doctrine.
Where: US.
Significance: This marked a turning point in American foreign policy—they could now intervene whenever a Latin American country’s economy was unstable in the name of hemispheric solidarity. |
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Term
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Definition
Who: Promulgated primarily by the rotund President Taft.
What: A policy that “substituted dollars for bullets.” It attempted to shift Latin American credit to reliable NYC banks. However, often times, it was “dollars paired with bullets.” In Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti, for example, efforts of economic diplomacy quickly turned into ones of military invasion.
When: 1910’s.
Where: Much of Latin America: Honduras, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Haiti.
Significance: It seemed to mark another turning point in foreign policy, one rhetorically away from Roosevelt’s open aggression; rather, it instead cloaked more of the same. Indeed, Dollar Diplomacy marked the beginning of a US shift to covert operations in Latin America. |
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Term
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Definition
Who: A Frenchman residing in Panama who ran the New Company. This company owned much of the land that would become the Panama Canal.
What: He successfully lobbied the American government to build a canal in Panama instead of in Nicaragua. He also was instrumental in the setting in motion of the Panamanian Revolution.
When: 1900’s
Where: Panama.
Significance: He is an example of extra-governmental intervention in international affaires. He offered military and financial support to the Americans, which precipitated the Panamanian Revolution. His actions represented the US’ willingness to undermine the sovereignty of the Colombian government. |
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Term
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Definition
Who: One of the leaders of the Panamanian revolution and the republic’s first president.
What: With the assistance of the United States, he successfully wrests control of Panama from the Colombian Government.
When: Panamanian Republic comes into being in 1904.
Where: Panama.
Significance: Represents the US’ willingness to intervene in international politics for economic gain. |
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Term
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Definition
Who: Tall, white-haired, 77 year old American working for the Panamanian railroad.
What: He sends the Colombian generals fighting against the revolution to Panama City in a luxury train. There, the generals are arrested and killed.
When: 1900’s
Where: Panama.
Significance: His actions precipitated the assassination of General Tovar, which was the turning point in the revolution. One might say that it is only because of Shaler that the Panamanians won their independence. |
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Term
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Definition
Who: Published by James Stanley Gilbert.
What: A poem written about Yellow Fever.
When: During the construction of the Panama Canal--1900’s
Where: Panama
Significance: The poem contributed to the fear--paranoia--that Panama was an unsanitary and terrifying place, and was one of many things that prompted Roosevelt’s trip to Panama. |
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Term
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Definition
Who: Purchased by John Markly and Isaiah Miller, worked on by many anonymous Mexicans.
What: An enormous town/ranch that employed many Mexicans in a forced labor situation, and reaped massive profits for its owners. The workers were trapped in a system of debt peonage--their salaries were merely a form of “credit” that they could never hope to turn into physical currency.
When: 1900’s
Where: Campeche, Mexico.
Significance: An example of pre-revolutionary American exploitation of Mexico that benefited Americans; however, Mexicans began to notice that they were not reaping any of the benefits of these types of investments, and so they revolted. |
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Term
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Definition
Who: Written by Venustiano Carranza in response to the overthrow of Francisco Madero.
What: The Plan de Guadeloupe refused to recognize Victoriano Huerta as president of Mexico, who had come to claim the office by assassinating Francisco Madero. Ambassador Henry Lane Wilson was, in part, a supporter of Huerta and his Actions
When: 1913
Where: Mexico.
Significance: The Plan de Guadeloupe was supported both by Carranza and the United States, who hoped for the installation of an “orderly” government in Mexico. This was representative of a larger trend (“The Gospel of Democracy”) in American politics that hoped for the installation of American-style democracy in Latin America. |
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Term
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Definition
Who: President Woodrow Wilson authorized a naval occupation of the port of Veracruz.
What: The US declared an arms embargo on Mexico, and Wilson sent the navy to port of Veracruz to enforce it.
When: 1914
Where: Veracruz, Mexico.
Significance: Evidenced the interventionist tendencies of the Wilson administration, especially when it came to installing democratic regimes that protected social justice. |
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Term
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Definition
Who: A German freighter that arrived in the port of Veracruz.
What: The freighter was delivering arms to Mexico, and so the Americans used this as a pretext to invade Mexico; immediately, the Americans began shelling and moving in on the city.
When: 1914
Where: Veracruz, Mexico.
Significance: The US occupation of Veracruz prompted a new wave of anti-American sentiment to spread throughout the country. |
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Term
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Definition
Who: Mexican revolutionary.
What: Motivated by anti-American and anti-Carranza sentiment, Villa took control of the US border in northern Mexico. In 1916, Villa attacked the town of Columbus, New Mexico, and killed 18 Americans.
When: 1914- 1917
Where: Northern Mexico
Significance: Villa acted upon anti-American sentiment; his military actions retaliated against American interventionism. In a sense, Villa and his campaign embodied the anti-Imperialist spirit of many Latin American revolutions. |
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Term
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Definition
Who: Commissioned by President Woodrow Wilson, Led by General John Pershing.
What: Angered by Pancho Villa’s bloodthirsty attack on Columbus, Woodrow Wilson sent General John Pershing into Mexico in order to capture and punish Villa. As Pershing never found Villa, the expedition was a failure.
When: 1917
Where: Northern Mexico
Significance: The expedition backfired: it angered the Mexican public, and led them to rally around Pancho Villa and against “Yankee Imperialism.” |
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Term
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Definition
Who: German foreign Secretary Arthur Zimmerman sends a telegram to the Mexican ambassador.
What: Zimmerman promised Mexico that if Mexico joined in the fight against the United States, then the Germans would help them regain all the territory that they lost in the Mexican Cession and the Gasden Purchase.
When: 1917.
Where: Germany and Mexico.
Significance: Twofold: one, the telegram proved that Latin America was becoming a major battleground for aggregating global geopolitical influence; two, it was one of the events that sent the United States headfirst into WWI. |
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Term
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Definition
Who: One of the leading American corporations in the 1920’s.
What: They bought up acres of land throughout Latin America, on which they produced primarily bananas.
When: 1920’s
Where: Throughout Latin America, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Cuba, etc.
Significance: One, they were representative of an investing frenzy in Latin America during this era; two, they created a series of “Banana Republics”: countries whose economies depended on US-dominated agriculture. |
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Term
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Definition
Who: United Fruit Company workers, The United States, Colombian government troops
What: In 1928, United Fruit Company workers in the town of Cienaga went on a strike, demanding living wages. The strike posed a threat to both the United States and Colombia. The US put pressure on the Colombians to stop the strike, so the government sent troops to the town; they fired indiscriminately on the crowd.
When: 1928
Where: Near the town of Cienaga, Colombia.
Significance: One, it marked the pinnacle of US aggression in Latin America. Two, it became a rallying cry for economic nationalism within Colombia. |
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Term
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Definition
Who: Founded as a joint venture between the Guggenheims and the Chilean government.
What: Consolidated the nitrate mining operation in Chile into the hands of one company. Consequently, this closed almost all other refineries in Chile, dealing a devastating blow to Chilean workers.
When: Formed in 1930
Where: Chile
Significance: The company forced a large sector of the Chilean economy to become dependent on exports to the US; when the Great Depression came, and the US stopped buying, the Chilean economy consequently crashed. |
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Term
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Definition
Who: The son of a wealthy Nicaraguan landowner who became a revolutionary.
What: When the US came into keep Adolfo Diaz in power, he led a guerilla militia comprised of peasants and workers against any sign of US influence in Nicaragua. In 1933, in part due to his efforts, the US withdrew its troops.
When: Late 1920’s and early 1930’s
Where: Nicaragua.
Significance: Sandino’s actions embodied the spirit of revolutionary Latin American anti-Americanism that was quickly growing throughout the era. His success, partially marred by his assassination, proved that resistance could lead to meaningful ends. |
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Term
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Definition
Who: Promoted by FDR’s administration.
What: Promoted mutual partnerships between Latin American countries and the United States; it was a new and less aggressive stance between US and Latin America built on the principle of non-intervention.
When: Introduced in 1933.
Where: United States and Latin America
Significance: This was another rhetorical turning point in US-Latin American relations. On one hand, it did significantly reduce military intervention in Latin America; but on the other, sometimes the United States was a “good neighbor” to oppressive regimes. |
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Term
| Office of Inter-American Affairs |
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Definition
Who: Created by the FDR administration, and headed by Nelson Rockefeller.
What: This office became the focal point of government efforts to expand communications and propaganda between the US and Latin America. The OIAA had a film division whose sole mission was to make sure that American films painted Latin America in a positive light.
When: 1940’s
Where: US (Hollywood)
Significance: It represented the ideal of inter-American solidarity, and the measures that the US would have to take in order to erase its past misdeeds and achieve this. |
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Term
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Definition
Who: A graduate of the Guatemalan military academy who was elected to the Guatemalan presidency in 1951.
What: During his presidency, he works hard to establish agrarian reform in Guatemala that took land away from the United Fruit Company and redistributed it amongst the Guatemalan people. Due to a combination of US fears of communism and the urging of the United Fruit Company, he was removed from power in 1954 by the CIA.
When: Elected to the presidency in 1951.
Where: Guatemala
Significance: His political platform represented the sort of ideology that the United States feared at the time. That the US government helped remove him from power out of fears of communism further justifies the conclusion that Latin America was a geopolitical battleground in the bilateral Cold War. |
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Term
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Definition
Who: Jacobo Arbenz’ “cultured” wife.
What: A very cultured woman, Vilanova introduced her husband, Arbenz, to a variety of “subversive” literary texts: Marx’s Communist Manifesto, etc.
When: late 1930’s and 1940’s
Where: The two met in Guatemala City
Significance: She was responsible for developing a poorly educated Arbenz’s political ideology; i.e., without Vilanova’s influence, he may not have ever read the texts that inspired him to enact his massive agrarian reform. |
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Term
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Definition
Who: A military man who would work against Arbenz throughout his career, eventually becoming President of Nicaragua in 1954.
What: First, Castillo Armas attempted a coup while Arbenz was Defense Minister in the Arevelo government to prevent Arbenz from wining the presidency; this failed, and Castillo Armas was put in jail. Later, he teamed up with the American-backed Nicaraguan dictator Somoza and the CIA in order to oust Arbenz from power. He succeeds, and intalls himself as president.
When: The early 1950’s
Where: Guatemala
Significance: Castillo Armas represented the kind of man that the United States was willing to work with (Somoza, Trujillo) in order to install regimes that they thought agreed with capitalist and democratic ideologies. |
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Term
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Definition
Who: Decreed by the Arbenz administration.
What: This was the first agrarian reform in Latin American history. Primarily targeted at United Fruit, the decree redistributed land to 100,000 Guatemalan families. Arbenz hoped that this reform would improve the fortunes of the lowest classes, and in the long run, establish Guatemala as a player in the global market.
When: 1952
Where: Guatemala
Significance: One, this policy very much angered the United Fruit Company, whose economic model was based upon being able to gain control of cheap tropical land without any opposition. Because UFC was in bed with the Federal Government, many believe that the US acted to protect UFC interests. Two, this policy reeked of Marxist/Leninist underpinnings, which the US saw as a serious ideological threat during the Cold War. In any case, Decree 900 was something that the United States felt compelled to take action against. |
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Term
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Definition
Who: Director of the CIA under Eisenhower, and a major stakeholder in United Fruit. His brother, John Foster Dulles, was the Secretary of State.
What: Under Dulles, the CIA conducted a series of covert “regime change” operations, for example: Operation PBSUCCESS in Guatemala, and the overthrow of Mossadegh in Iran in 1953, Operation Ajax.
When: Early 1950’s
Where: Guatemala, Iran, etc.
Significance: The CIA and the State Department and United Fruit were all in bed with each other. The installation of Dulles brothers insured that inter-agency conflicts would not prevent anti-Arbenz actions. The CIA under Dulles was the vehicle with which the US carried out their anti-communism agenda. |
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Term
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Definition
Who: The brainchild of the Dulles brothers and Eisenhower
What: The CIA ran a smear campaign via leaflets against Arbenz, and trained Castillo Armas’ rebels in neighboring Honduras. After the battle of Zapaca, Arbenz resigns and Castillo Armas becomes president.
When: 1953-1954
Where: Guatemala
Significance: The United States helped to overthrow a democratically-elected regime in fear that Communism had invaded the country, or perhaps at the behest of the United Fruit Company… shows that ideology and economics went hand in hand in this era. |
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Term
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Definition
Who: A Swedish ship.
What: It had landed in one of the ports of Guatemala, Puerto Barrios; it distributed Czechoslovak arms with the stamp of the Soviet Union on them to Arbenz’s troops.
When: 1954
Where: Guatemala
Significance: Since the weapons had come from the Soviet Bloc, the Alfhem gave US officials the rhetorical weaponry they needed to begin Operation PBSUCCESS under the guise of anti-communism. |
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Term
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Definition
Who: A battle between Arbenz’ forces and those of Castillo Armas, which had been trained by the CIA.
What: Arbenz’s soldiers refuse to fight and declare that Arbenz must resign.
When: 1954
Where: Zacapa, Guatemala
Significance: This battle effectively ends the struggle between Castillo Armas and Arbenz, and after it, Castillo Armas rises to the presidency in Guatemala. |
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