The Wreck of the USS Memphis in the Dominican Republic

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Paul Roorda
Keyword(s):  
Dominican Republic ◽  
Marine Corps ◽  
Capital City ◽  
Santo Domingo ◽  
National Sovereignty ◽  
Good Neighbor Policy ◽  
Death Toll ◽  
Us Imperialism ◽  
The Us ◽  
Good Neighbor

On August 29, 1916, the USS Memphis wrecked on the coast of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. A series of enormous waves drove the heavy armored cruiser ashore, killing forty-five sailors. The fact that the death toll was not much higher is owed to the heroic efforts of Dominicans to rescue the survivors of the shipwreck. This was despite the fact that the US Marine Corps had invaded their country three months before, initiating an occupation with unwonted violence. The US Marine occupation of the Dominican Republic would last for eight years, compiling a record of brutality inflicted on the civilian population that Senate hearings documented in excruciating detail. In the aftermath of the traumatic occupation, the shipwreck of the USS Memphis itself, rusting away in plain sight along the seaside boulevard in the Dominican capital city, became symbolic of US imperialism. The dictator Rafael Trujillo, a Marine protégé who seized power in 1930, pointed to the wreck as a relic of the days before US domination, contrasting it with the happy days after national sovereignty had been attained under his own strong rule. In order to implement the Good Neighbor Policy, an effort to expunge the negative legacy of the era of intervention and occupation known as “Gunboat Diplomacy,” President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered the removal of the wreck of the Memphis after taking office in 1933. The wreck’s removal finally took place in 1937.

scholarly journals Buena Vecindad y Populismo: El Caribe en las Relaciones Interamericanas de 1933 a 1946

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 16
Author(s):  
Antonio Gaztambide-Géigel
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Foreign Relations ◽  
Comparative Perspective ◽  
Good Neighbor Policy ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
America Latina ◽  
Good Neighbor ◽  
The Impact

ResumenLa historiografía sobre la Política del Buen Vecino nos ha permitido distinguir dos períodos en las relaciones estadounidenses con América Latina entre 1933 y 1945. Se ha discutido poco, sin embargo, acerca del efecto de ese cambio sobre las políticas y en las relaciones. Tampoco se ha dicho mucho sobre las diferencias entre el contenido e impacto del Buen Vecino en el Caribe y en el resto del hemisferio. Aquí se abordan ambas dimensiones de las relaciones entre Estados Unidos y el Caribe vinculándolas a los desarrollos políticos internos en diversas sociedades de la región. Entre otras cosas, se manifiesta una tendencia a interpretar los cambios en el Caribe utilizando conceptos y teorías de los países centrales (como fascismo, comunismo, etcétera) y del contexto latinoamericano (como nacionalismo, populismo, Buen Vecino, antimperialismo, etcétera). Este trabajo intenta revisar la aplicación de las teorías y conceptos, adoptar una perspectiva más comparativa y abordar cada experiencia en sus propios términos.Palabras chaves: Caribe, EUA, Relaciones Interamericanas, populismo, Política de buena vencidad.Boa Vizinhança e Populismo: o Caribe nas relações interamericanas de 1933 a 1946.ResumoA historiografia da Política de Boa Vizinhança permitiu-nos distinguir dois períodos nas relações dos EUA com a América Latina entre 1933 e 1945. Tem sido discutido pouco, no entanto, o efeito dessa mudança sobre a política e as relações. Também não disse muito sobre as diferenças entre o conteúdo e o impacto da Boa Vizinhança no Caribe e em outras partes do hemisfério. Aqui ambas as dimensões das relações entre os EUA e o Caribe serão abordadas, relacionando-as aos desenvolvimentos políticos internos em várias sociedades da região. Entre outras coisas, há uma tendência para interpretar mudanças no Caribe, utilizando conceitos e teorias dos países centrais (como o fascismo, comunismo, etc.) e o contexto da América Latina (como o nacionalismo, o populismo, bom vizinho, anti-imperialismo, etc.). Este trabalho pretende revisar a aplicação de teorias e conceitos, adotando uma perspectiva comparativa, e abordar cada experiência em seus próprios termos.Palavras chaves: Caribe, EUA, relações interamericanas, populismo, Política da Boa Vizinhança.Good Neighbor Policy and Populism: Caribbean on Inter-American Relations between 1933 and 1946.AbstractThe historiography of the Good Neighbor Policy has enabled us to distinguish two periods in the US foreign relations with Latin America between 1933 and 1945. However, the effect of this change on the policy and relations has been under discussed. In addition, there is no much saying about the differences between the content and the impact of the Good Neighbor in the Caribbean and elsewhere in the hemisphere. In this article, both dimensions of relations between the US and the Caribbean are addressed, relating to the internal developments policies in various societies in the region. Among other things, there is a tendency to interpret changes in the Caribbean, using concepts and theories of the central countries (such as fascism, communism, etc.) and also the Latin American context (such as nationalism, populism, good neighbor, anti-imperialism, etc.). This paper aims to review the application of theories and concepts, adopting a comparative perspective, and approach each experience on their own terms.Keywords:  Caribbean, USA, Inter-American Relations, Populism, Good Neighbor policy

scholarly journals Popular National Sovereignty and the U.S. Empire

2005 ◽  
pp. 317-353
Author(s):  
Gordon Laxer
Keyword(s):  
The Political ◽  
National Sovereignty ◽  
Us Imperialism ◽  
Us Military ◽  
Informal Empire ◽  
The Us ◽  
Political Left ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Political Right ◽  
New Literature

In the 1960s, the left branded US imperialism the major enemy of social justice in the world. Such talk faded after the war against Vietnam and almost disappeared after communism fell in Eastern Europe. It’s not that the American brand of informal empire disappeared. It continued through US influences on other states’ policies, the sway of US corporations abroad on host governments, US military power, and the power of the Washington-based financial institutions. But, the discourse changed and raged around the softer term globalization. In the past few years, imperialism talk has roared back, led this time by the political right, who gave it a positive sheen. Some on the left have joined in too, in an exciting new literature, revising Marxist and Leninist critiques of imperialism. But, much of the political left and centre are still mired in aspirations for cosmopolitanism, which inadvertently obscure struggles for popular and national sovereignty. This paper examines the limits of cosmopolitanism for democracy, critiques the nature of US power, and discusses how a reasserted US empire has sparked the revival of nationalisms by looking at the cases of nationalism in the six top oil-exporting countries to the US. The paper concludes with inquiries into people-to-people internationalism and whether citizen-based democracy is possible without sovereignty.

Debated Whiteness amid World Events: Mexican and Mexican American Subjectivity and the U.S.' Relationship with the Americas, 1924–1936

2011 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 325-359 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Calderón-Zaks
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Mexican American ◽  
The United States ◽  
Good Neighbor Policy ◽  
The Us ◽  
Domestic Practices ◽  
Japanese Immigration ◽  
Good Neighbor ◽  
The U.S

By the 1920s, anti-Mexican campaigns in the United States had become a major liability for US interests in the Americas, as rival imperial powers attempted to exploit growing anti-American sentiments in Mexico and Latin America against American imperialism. The U.S. State Department sought to curtail animosity in Latin America by contesting discriminatory domestic practices that angered elite Mexicans and Mexican-American leaders who identified as white. After blocking eastern and southern European and Japanese immigration in the 1924 National Origins Act, the eugenics movement turned its attention to excluding Mexicans from entering the US. When legislative attempts at restriction failed because they conflicted with national and international commercial interests, non-legislative avenues were sought, including the Census and the courts. The 1930 Census was the only census that categorized Mexicans as a separate “race.” In the context of a changing racial formation in the United States, this unique category was reversed in 1936 due to Mexican-American leaders leveraging the fragility of the “Good Neighbor Policy” to force the Federal government into action.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document