ShmoopTube
Where Monty Python meets your 10th grade teacher.
Search Thousands of Shmoop Videos
AP U.S. History Videos 294 videos
What did the Spanish messengers bring with them to North America? Hint: you probably wouldn't be thrilled to get this for your next birthday.
AP U.S. History Diagnostic 24. How did the United States choose containment over the National Security Council Report in Latin America?
AP U.S. History Diagnostic 22. Which established foreign policy was the National Security Council Report used to solidify?
AP U.S. History Exam 1.45 169 Views
Share It!
Description:
AP U.S. History Exam 1.45. How did the United States both follow and violate the Truman Doctrine with its Cold War actions in Latin America?
Transcript
- 00:00
[ musical flourish ]
- 00:04
And here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by overthrow,
- 00:07
the underestimation of one's outer strength.
- 00:12
All right, give this excerpt a read.
- 00:13
[ mumbles ] Truman Doctrine.
Full Transcript
- 00:17
All right, and the question:
- 00:19
How did the United States both follow and violate the Truman Doctrine
- 00:22
with its Cold War actions in Latin America?
- 00:24
And here are your potential answers.
- 00:26
[ mumbles ]
- 00:31
All right, well, during the Cold War, the U.S. made some
- 00:33
pretty, uh, interesting choices in how it dealt with
- 00:36
political instability in Latin America.
- 00:38
So let's see how the U.S. managed to simultaneously
- 00:41
play by and break the rules of the Truman Doctrine
- 00:44
in their adventures south of the border.
- 00:47
During the Cold War in Latin America did A -
- 00:49
the United States offer economic support to countries not
- 00:53
threatened by outside forces?
- 00:55
Well, actually, the U.S. sent significant financial aid only to
- 00:58
countries they believed were threatened by outside forces,
- 01:01
so that knocks out A and D.
- 01:03
Did the U.S. overstep its mission because B -
- 01:07
extensive military aid was sent to countries
- 01:10
fighting off communist threats? Hmm.
- 01:12
Well, most of the country's military resources were
- 01:14
pretty tied up in Asia at the time, so our efforts were primarily
- 01:18
economic ones.
- 01:19
So that eliminates B.
- 01:21
Which means that the U.S. both followed and violated the Truman Doctrine
- 01:24
in Cold War Latin America because C -
- 01:26
communist leaders were overthrown and replaced by dictators
- 01:30
in a series of CIA-led coups.
- 01:33
The main policy of the Truman Doctrine involved
- 01:35
"supporting free peoples who are resisting
- 01:38
attempted subjugation."
- 01:41
But the U.S. often assisted those free peoples
- 01:43
by overthrowing their country's leadership and installing
- 01:46
hand-picked dictators. [ chuckles ]
- 01:48
So C is the right answer.
- 01:50
Unfortunately, these U.S.-backed leaders sometimes sparked as many problems
- 01:53
as the leftists who preceded them,
- 01:55
creating a pretty charged climate
- 01:57
for those clinging to power. [ groaning ]
Related Videos
Ever heard of a "living document"? They eat and breathe just like the rest of us! They even walk around on their own two legs. Okay, fine—maybe t...
If the Puritans had gotten their way, religion would play a much larger role in lawmaking these days. Want to know more? Watch the video for all th...
What happened between the creation of the Articles of Confederation and the ratification of the current U.S. Constitution? This video analyzes the...
The Modernists thought the world had a lot of problems, and they were intent on fixing them—or at least talking about fixing them. Unfortunately,...
This video explains Federalism and the quest for a fair balance between state and national power. It covers the progression and compromises of Fede...