Overview

This award-winning book provides a unique window on how America began to intervene in world affairs. In exploring what might be called the prehistory of Dollar Diplomacy, Cyrus Veeser brings together developments in New York, Washington, Santo Domingo, Brussels, and London. Theodore Roosevelt plays a leading role in the story as do State Department officials, Caribbean rulers, Democratic party leaders, bankers, economists, international lawyers, sugar planters, and European bondholders, among others. The book recounts a little-known incident: the takeover by the Santo Domingo Improvement Company (SDIC) of the foreign debt, national railroad, and national bank of the Dominican Republic. The inevitable conflict between private interest and public policy led President Roosevelt to launch a sweeping new policy that became known as the Roosevelt corollary to the Monroe Doctrine. The corollary gave the U. S. the right to intervene anywhere in Latin American that ""wrongdoing or impotence"" (in T. R.'s words) threatened ""civilized society."" The ""wrongdoer"" in this case was the SDIC. Imposing government control over corporations was launched and became a hallmark of domestic policy. By proposing an economic remedy to a political problem, the book anticipates policies embodied in the Marshall Plan, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank.

Full Product Details

Author:   Cyrus Veeser
Publisher:   Columbia University Press
Imprint:   Columbia University Press
Dimensions:   Width: 14.50cm , Height: 1.70cm , Length: 22.10cm
Weight:   0.383kg
ISBN:  

9780231235877

ISBN 10:   0231235879
Pages:   190
Publication Date:   11 May 2007
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.
Language:   English

Table of Contents

Introduction Economic Interests and U.S. Expansion, 1892--1907 Chapter One The Gilded Age Goes Abroad: The San Domingo Improvement Company and the Political Economy of the 1890s Chapter Two Remapping the Caribbean: U.S. Caribbean Interests and the Mission of the SDIC Chapter Three Peasants in the World Economy: The Dominican Republic in the late 1800s Chapter Four Dictating Development: Ulises Heureaux and the SDIC Remake the Dominican Republic Chapter Five The Cash Nexus: Economic Crisis and the Collapse Chapter Six Old Wine in New Skins: The U.S. Government Champions the SDIC, 1899--1904 Chapter Seven A Reign of Law Among Nations: John Bassett Moore and the Vindication of the SDIC, 1904 Chapter Eight A World Safe for Capitalism: Stabilizing the Dominican Republic, 1901--1905 Chapter Nine From The Gilded Age to Dollar Diplomacy: The SDIC and the Roosevelt Corollary, 1904--1907 Conclusion

Reviews

A detailed and well-written account of the early growth of U.S. overseas influence. Highly recommended. -- Library Journal A well-documented study... recommended. -- Choice Veeser argues that the origins of Dollar Diplomacy can be found in the story of an American firm, the San Domingo Improvement Company (SDIC), and its efforts in the Dominican Republic in the 1890s. -- Enterprise & Society This book is the first comprehensive study of the company and its role in the shaping of the Dominican economy and U.S. foreign policy... A major contribution to the fields of U.S. economic and diplomatic history as well as Dominican history. -- Journal of American History [I]n his excellent new analysis... Veeser disrupts the simplistic notion of foreign policy as window dressing for the gradually accumulating class interests of finance capitalists... [E]asy to recommend. -- Jesse Hoffnung-Garskof, Business History Review This well-wrought book will stand as an authoritative monograph& mdash;useful to both scholars and teachers. -- Seth Fein, Hispanic American Historical Review The book is an interesting and intricate account of how Dollar Diplomacy worked in practice and how, over time, it went terribly wrong. -- Gregory Weeks, Latin Americanist

A detailed and well-written account of the early growth of U.S. overseas influence. Highly recommended. Library Journal A well-documented study... recommended. Choice Veeser argues that the origins of Dollar Diplomacy can be found in the story of an American firm, the San Domingo Improvement Company (SDIC), and its efforts in the Dominican Republic in the 1890s. Enterprise & Society This book is the first comprehensive study of the company and its role in the shaping of the Dominican economy and U.S. foreign policy... A major contribution to the fields of U.S. economic and diplomatic history as well as Dominican history. Journal of American History [I]n his excellent new analysis... Veeser disrupts the simplistic notion of foreign policy as window dressing for the gradually accumulating class interests of finance capitalists... [E]asy to recommend. -- Jesse Hoffnung-Garskof Business History Review This well-wrought book will stand as an authoritative monograph - useful to both scholars and teachers. -- Seth Fein Hispanic American Historical Review The book is an interesting and intricate account of how Dollar Diplomacy worked in practice and how, over time, it went terribly wrong. -- Gregory Weeks Latin Americanist Fall 2004

Author Information

Cyrus Veeser is associate professor of history at Bentley College. He won the Bancroft Dissertation Prize for the work on which this volume is based.

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