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Neighborly Concern: John Nevin Sayre and the Mission of Peace and Goodwill to Nicaragua, 1927-28
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 December 2015
Extract
For almost two decades prior to 1927 Nicaragua had been governed by Washington “more completely than the American Federal Government rules any state in the Union.” Such governance was justified by the State Department which raised the specter of the Monroe Doctrine not only to bolster America's economic ambitions in the region but also to protect the nation's national security — a fact which took on added importance due to the recent construction of the Panama Canal. From 1912 to 1925, a Legation Guard of United States Marines reminded the country of the overwhelming American dominance. For only a brief period did America's military presence abate. In 1926, however, a civil war broke out that threatened to destroy the political and economic stability the United States had come to rely on. American military assistance was requested and quickly rendered. What events led to U.S. military action in this Central American country?
- Type
- Research Article
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- Copyright
- Copyright © Academy of American Franciscan History 1988
Footnotes
*
I wish to thank the American Historical Association for a 1984 Albert J. Beveridge Research Grant. In addition, I am deeply indebted to Mrs. Wilma Mosholder of the Swarthmore College Peace Collection. She is the true Sayre scholar and I merely her assistant.
References
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