Following the Civil War, the United States exerted its diplomatic, economic, and military leverage to pursue economic and political interests in Latin America, as it believed that what was good for business was good for the country. The emphasis on national security had not disappeared, but the threats to U.S. borders were less dire than in the past as European countries were generally easing themselves out of the region. Latin American leaders had neither the unified political support nor the military strength required to counter U.S. influence. While certain Latin American policy makers resisted U.S. hegemony, both politically and militarily, others welcomed it. Political and economic elites out of power appealed to the United States for assistance because they believed it could provide stability and wealth. The United States stepped neatly and easily into this political maelstrom. The chapter concludes at the turn of the twentieth century, when the era of intervention began in earnest.

Drawing on arguments found in international relations theory, this chapter explores Philippine nationalist resistance against imperial occupation in the late nineteenth century leading up to the Philippine–American War at the turn of the twentieth century. In particular, the chapter explores the transnational diffusion of liberal ideas among Philippine revolutionaries developed during the period of Spanish colonial rule. In hopes of securing their independence after the Spanish–American War, Filipino leaders quickly developed a constitution based on republican ideals, a legislative body, and a declaration of independence and national self-determination. Paradoxically, such ideas and actions remained unpersuasive to American policymakers. With the Treaty of Paris formally ending the war with Spain in 1898, the United States acquired its first overseas empire. In response, Filipinos resorted to guerilla warfare, drawing the United States into its “first Vietnam.”