The Monroe Doctrine and its evolution

Monroe Doctrine (1823): President James Monroe declared that the Americas were closed to further European colonization and that the U.S. would oppose European intervention.

Roosevelt Corollary (1904): President Theodore Roosevelt extended the Monroe Doctrine, claiming that the U.S. had the right to intervene in Latin American countries that failed to maintain order or pay foreign debts. Under this doctrine, the U.S. occupied Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Nicaragua at various points.

Panama Canal (1914): The U.S. supported Panamanian independence from Colombia in 1903 in order to build a canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific. The canal gave the U.S. strategic dominance over inter-American shipping.

Banana republics: Term originally referring to Central American countries dominated by American fruit companies like the United Fruit Company, which often controlled local governments to protect their economic interests.