Subject: Wilson's Moralistic Foreign Policy |Topic: Unit Response 5: Wilson’s Moralistic Foreign Policy | |
|Author: Enriquea Washington |Date: February 19, 2011 1:41 AM |

Opposed to the forceful foreign policy initiated by his predecessors,. President Woodrow Wilson sought to reform United States foreign relations by implementing a moralistic foreign policy using economic power. He started with his attack on Dollar Diplomacy. American Investors in Latin America and China could no longer depend on United States government support. He took a further stance against imperialism with the Jones Act of 1916, which promised independence and territorial status to the Philippines. However, a crisis in Haiti and threat to American lives and property forced his hand, and the President had to send in military intervention. Eventually, Wilson had to revert back to the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine to supervise the finances of Haiti. He also purchased more territories in the Caribbean.
He wished to go no further with aggressive foreign policy when Europe was on the brink war. His goal was for America to remain neutral. Neutral trade was a great financial benefit for the struggling American industry, but exercising America’s neutral trade rights posed great threat. The Germans began attacking merchant ships, and over one hundred American lives were lost. President Wilson threatened Germany with the break of diplomatic relations. The Germans agreed to the Sussex pledge, a pledge to not sink passenger and merchant ships without warning. The Sussex pledge temporarily kept the United States form war and gained Wilson a diplomatic victory. Keeping the country out of war won the reelection for Wilson. ButWilson, but war for American was inevitable. Despite his efforts to remain neutral, his