Created by taraj on Mar 3, 2010
Last updated: 03/05/10 at 08:33 PM
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In 1903 Panama won independence. The United States Navy had assisted them, and in gratitude, the Panamanians gave the United States a ten miles worth of space to built a waterway or canal. The Panama Canal is huge. It's a man-made waterway that was constructed over a period of ten years. Diseases such as yellow fever and malaria spread through much of Panama. But finally in 1914, the Panama Canal opened with much acclaim. Countries from around the world used it with trade.
It was tough after the Mexico gained independence. There was a struggle for power and along with that struggle came violence and poverty. Most Mexicans were dirt poor and couldn't care for their families. A wealthy man named Francisco Madero believed in democracy and justice. He ran for President of Mexico but was arressted by a dictator running Mexico named Profirio Diaz. When Madero was exiled he declared a revolution. The Mexican Revolution was beginning. Many leaders then rose such as Emiliano Zapata who raised an army. Zapata was poor and felt for the common man. His famous battle cry was "Tierra y Libertad" or Land and Liberty. And by 1911, Dictator Diaz stepped down.
The Cubans had tried to declare independence a few times before the Spanish American War broke out. As one of the last colonies under Spain, Cuba was precious. Spain fought long and hard during Cuba's fight for independence, and Cuba had to back out after thousands were killed and so much was destroyed. The United States had two major reasons to fight beside Cuba. First, it had established trading and business in the country, and second, the Americans objected to such brutality of the Spanish. The Americans then fought alongside the Cubans. They launched their attack first on the Philippine Islands another precious Spanish colony. The Spanish were defeated. In 1901 Cuba became independent from Spain.
Very similar to the Chinese, the Japanese were indeed isolated. They disliked receiving foreigners and traders. British, French, Russian, and American businessmen tried conversing with the Japanese. But the Japanese always refused them. So in 1853, and American official by the name of Commodore Matthew Perry led four ships to Tokyo Harbor. He brought a letter from the U.S. President at the time, Millard Filmore. The letter asked for free trade to be conducted between the United States and Japan. But Perry added that if the Japanese did not agree, there would be consequences. The Japanese agreed in 1854 and established the Treaty of Kanagawa that stated that the U.S. could receive supplies from two different ports.
China was quite isolated when the European countries gained interest in the vast country. They wanted to trade and do much business with the Chinese, but the Chinese really had no need for trade. Its only trading port was the southern port of Guangzhou. So the British and a few other European countries discovered opium, an addictive drug that Chinese doctors had been using in medicine to relieve pain. The British smuggled great loads of opium into the country and by 1835 about 12 million Chinese people were addicted to opium. The Qing emperor of China was furious. He wrote an angry letter to Queen Victoria saying that the British had absolutely no right to smuggle opium into China and get its people addicted. Opium was even illegal to smoke in Britain. Queen Victoria never replied. China then waged war on the British in 1839. Unfortunately, the British were terribly well equipt with steam-powered gunboats while the Chinese only had obsolete ships. The British won easily and continued trading opium.
By the early 1800's Latin American countries were gaining independence. But, naturally, the fear of a second colonization by European nations was spread throughout the Americas. The United States were also fearful, and were in need of protection. So began the Monroe Doctorine. In 1823 America's fifth president, James Monroe wrote what was called the "Monroe Doctorine." It stated that, "American continents are not to be considered subjects for future colonization." This document was one of the major reasons European colonization of the Americas was terminated.
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