page_title: Foreign interventions by the United States
section_title: Post-colonial
hierarchical_section_title: Foreign interventions by the United States / Post-colonial
caption_attribution_description: Americas – Middle America: CIA, original political map from Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection; University of Texas Library Online
context_page_description: The United States has been involved in a number of foreign interventions throughout its history. There have been two dominant schools of thought in the United States about foreign policy, namely interventionism and isolationism which either encourage or discourage foreign intervention respectively.
context_section_description: The 19th century saw the United States transition from an isolationist, post-colonial regional power to a Trans-Atlantic and Trans-Pacific power.
  The first and second Barbary Wars of the early 19th century were the first nominal foreign wars waged by the United States post-Independence. Directed against the Barbary States of North Africa, the Barbary Wars were fought to end piracy against American-flagged ships in the Mediterranean Sea, similar to the Quasi-War with post-monarchical France. 
  The founding of Liberia was privately sponsored by American groups, primarily the American Colonization Society, but the country enjoyed the support and unofficial cooperation of the United States government.
  The 19th century formed the roots of United States interventionism, which was largely driven by economic opportunities in the Pacific and Spanish-held Latin America along with the Monroe Doctrine, which saw the U.S. seek a policy to resist continued European colonialism in the Western hemisphere.
  Notable 19th century interventions included: 
  Repeated U.S. interventions in Chile, starting in 1811, the year after its independence from Spain.
  1846 to 1848: Mexico and the United States warred over Texas, California and what today is the American Southwest but was then part of Mexico (see Mexican–American War). During this war, U.S. troops invaded and occupied parts of Mexico, including Veracruz and Mexico City.
  1854: Matthew Perry negotiated a treaty opening Japan to the West with the Convention of Kanagawa. The U.S. advanced the Open Door Policy that guaranteed equal economic access to China and support of Chinese territorial and administrative integrity.
  1898: The short but decisive Spanish–American War saw overwhelming American victories at sea and on land against the Spanish Kingdom. The U.S. Army, relying significantly on volunteers and state militia units, invaded and occupied Spanish-controlled Cuba, subsequently granting it independence. The peace treaty saw Spain cede control over its colonies of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines to the United States. The U.S. Navy set up coaling stations there and in Hawaii.
  The early decades of the 20th century saw a number of interventions in Latin America by the U.S. government often justified under the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine. President William Howard Taft viewed "Dollar Diplomacy" as a way for American corporations to benefit while assisting in the national security goal of preventing European powers from filling any possible financial or power vacuum.
  1898 to 1935: The United States launched minor interventions into Latin America. These included military presence in Cuba, Panama with the Panama Canal Zone, Haiti (1915–35), Dominican Republic (1916–24) and Nicaragua (1912–1925) & (1926–33). The U.S. Marine Corps began to specialize in long-term military occupation of these countries, primarily to safeguard customs revenues which were the cause of local civil wars.
  1899 to 1901: The Boxer Rebellion saw an eight-nation alliance put down a rebellion by the Boxer secret society and toppled the Qing dynasty's Imperial Army.
  1899 to 1902: The Philippine–American War saw Filipino revolutionaries revolt against American rule following the Spanish-American War. The U.S. Army deployed 100,000 (mostly National Guard) troops under General Elwell Otis to the Philippines, leading the poorly armed and poorly trained rebels to break off into armed bands. The insurgency collapsed in March 1901 when the leader Emilio Aguinaldo was captured by General Frederick Funston and his Macabebe allies.
  1899 to 1913: The Moro Rebellion saw the annexation of the Philippines by the United States.
  1901: The Platt Amendment amended a treaty between the U.S. and Cuba after the Spanish–American War, virtually making Cuba a U.S. protectorate. The amendment outlined conditions for the U.S. to intervene in Cuban affairs and permitted the United States to lease or buy lands for the purpose of the establishing naval bases, including Guantánamo Bay.
  1903: U.S.-backed independence of Panama from Colomb
caption: A map of Middle America, showing the places affected by Theodore Roosevelt’s Big Stick policy
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