How American Foreign Policy Fostered Change Politically and Diplomatically from 1900 to 1941

Open Door Note

1900

This was a set of diplomatic letters in which the Secretary of State, John Hay, urged the great powers to respect Chinese rights as well as free and open competition within their spheres of influence. The Open Door Note set the stage for the United States' "control" over calling the shots for the international world.

Roosevelt Corollary

1904

This was a brazen policy of "preventative intervention" advocated by Theodore Roosevelt in his annual message to Congress which stipulated that the US would retain the right to intervene in the domestic affairs of Latin America in order to restore military and financial order. This policy changed the views of the US much like the Spanish American war from abiding by Washington's Farewell Address to involvement.

New Freedom

1912

This was the political platform of reforms advocated by Woodrow Wilson in his first presidential campaign including stronger anti trust legislation, banking reform, and lower tariffs. This led to the switch from Big Stick Diplomacy to Moral Diplomacy which portrayed the US as more of a safe haven and "the world is love and happiness" kind of place.

Fourteen Points

1918

This was Woodrow Wilson's proposal to ensure peace after WWI, calling for an end to secret treaties, widespread arms reduction, national self determination, and a new league of nations. This plan followed within the lines of Moral Diplomacy and reassured that idea of peace that so many looked for in this time after fighting nations.

Emergency Quota Act

1921

This act placed a quota on the number of European immigrants who could come to American each year and was set at 3% of the people of their nationality who had been living in the US in 1910. This aspect of foreign policy was shocking to the rest of the world since it had become assumed that America was the land of refuge for all.

Nine Power Treaty

1922

This agreement came out of Washington's disarmament conference of 1921-1922 that pledged Britain, France, Italy, Japan, the US, China, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Belgium to abide by the Open Door Policy. This aspect of foreign policy, once again, put the US as the "mother goose" to all problems nationally which also stemmed into things such as the four power treaty and the five power naval treaty.

Five Power Naval Treaty

1922

This treaty limited the construction of certain types of large naval ships and it applied ratio limits to the number of ships a country could build. It also stated that the British and the US would refrain from fortifying their far eastern possession including the Philippines and Japan wasn't restricted. Because of this, Japan had a greater attack angel against the Allied power in WW2 as well as the events leading up to Pearl Harbor and without it maybe the US could have avoided certain attacks.

Dawes Plan

1924

This was an arrangement negotiated to reschedule German recreation payments which led to issues in giving back the US the money that Britain and France borrowed from them.

Immigration Act

1924

This act replaced the Quota Act and established a 2% quota for European immigration to the US. Like the Emergency Quota Act, this hit refugees hard because "living the American dream" had become quite far from their reach now which most definitely changed the face of the US. This act also reflected the actions of the Chinese Exclusion Act from 1882.

Kellogg Briand Pact

1928

As being considered a sentimental triumph of the 1920s peace movement, this pact linked 62 nations in the supposed "outlaw of war". This pact also spurred the idea of national peace and become the pillar for later acts and policies that attempted to avoid acts of war.

Hawley-Smoot Tariff

1930

This tariff was the highest protective tariff in the peacetime history of the US, passed as a result of good old fashioned horse trading. Though this was good for American workers, it stalled the final reparation payments to be made because they were too high for foreign traders.

London Economic Conference

1933

This was a 66 nation economic conference organized to stabilize international currency rates. This helped foreign policy by organizing financial interests worldwide following issues after the Great Depression.

Good Neighbor Policy

1933

This was a departure from the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, this policy stressed nonintervention in Latin America. This ended the Big Stick Diplomacy once and for all and led to the independence of some countries being held under stronger military and diplomatic control.

Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act

1934

This act revered traditional high protective tariff policies by allowing the president to negotiate lower tariffs with trade partners with senate approval. In reversing the higher tariffs, it also reversed the affects of bad reparation payments and even though America never got their full repayment, trade with foreign countries increased to a steadier level.

Neutrality Act

1939

This act stipulated that Europe could buy American munitions but only if they could pay in cash and transport them in their own ships which would allow the US to avoid loans, war debts, and the sinking of American ships. This preventative measure ensured assistance without triggering a domino effect of anger from Axis Powers.