Caribbeanedu.com | Caribbean Odyssey

caribbeanedu.com	:: Home \| About \| Products & Services \| Search \| Contact
Home \| CORAL \| Caribbean Odyssey \| KEWL \| Students \| Teachers \| Parents
Factbook \| Explorer \| TimeLiner \| Resource Zone \| Databank Viewer

Caribbean TimeLiner

:: Home » Caribbean Odyssey » Caribbean TimeLiner

THE UNITED STATES IN THE CARIBBEAN

In the twentieth century, U.S. foreign policy toward the Caribbean Basin can be divided into four periods: (1) the protectorate era, 1898-1933; (2) the Good Neighbor Policy, 1933-1953; (3) the Cold War, 1953-1990, when security concerns about communism shaped U.S. policy; and (4) the post-Cold War era, when the importance of the Caribbean to U.S. strategic interests has diminished, and U.S. policy is driven by a new set of concerns.

DATE	EVENT
1823	The Monroe Doctrine declares Latin America to be in the United States "sphere of influence."
1846	The U.S. provokes war with Mexico and acquires half of its territory, including Texas and California.
1855	U.S. adventurer William Walker invades Nicaragua with a private army, declares himself president, and rules for 2 years.
1898	The U.S. declares war on Spain and as a result annexes Guam, Puerto Rico, the Philippines and Hawaii.
1901	With the Platt Amendment, the U.S. declares its unilateral right to intervene in Cuban affairs.
1903	The U.S. encourages Panama's independence from Colombia in order to acquire the Panama Canal rights.
1905	The Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine declares the U.S. to be the policeman of the Caribbean; the Dominican Republic is placed under a customs receivership.
1912	U.S. Marines invade Nicaragua and occupy the country almost continuously until 1933.
1914	Mexican refusal to salute the U.S. flag provokes the shelling of Veracruz by a U.S. battleship and the seizure of parts of the city by U.S. Marines.
1933	U.S. Marines finally leave Nicaragua, but are replaced by a well-trained and well-armed National Guard under the control of Anastasio Somoza.
1954	The CIA engineers the overthrow of the democratically-elected government of Guatemala; 30 years of military dictatorship, repression, and violence follow.
1961	The U.S. attempts to overthrow the revolutionary Cuban government at the Bay of Pigs.
1962	U.S. begins a trade embargo: It becomes illegal for U.S. citizens to conduct business with Cuba or travel there. One of the most serious incidents of the Cold War, the Cuban missile crisis, occurs in October when the U.S. learns that the Soviet Union has secretly installed missiles in Cuba. The Soviet Union agrees to U.S. demands that it remove its missiles and dismantle the remaining missile bases.
1965	US President Johnson sends 22,000 troops to the Dominican Republic to combat the constitutional forces trying to regain power.
1973	The CIA helps overthrow the democratic government of Allende in Chile in favor of a bloody dictatorship.
1981	The Reagan Administration begins the contra war against Nicaraguan civilians.
1983	The U.S. invades Grenada to overthrow a popular government.
1989	The U.S. invades Panama to arrest accused drug dealer Manual Noriega.
1990	The U.S. intervenes in the Nicaraguan election process through covert and overt means.

Articles

Thematic Links
	US Intervention A history of US intervention in Latin America and the Caribbean. 1823: The Monroe Doctrine declares ... www.ukans.edu/cwis/organizations/las/interven.html
	The Caribbean Basin Scholars of inter-American relations have devoted considerable efforts to try to locate the motive for U.S. involvement in the internal affairs of its neighbors . . . http://www.rand.org/publications/CF/CF129/CF-129.chapter8.html

Syllabus Conections to this Theme
	Secondary Attainment Targets Level 2
Lesson Plans on this Theme