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Good Neighbor Policy Facts & Worksheets

The Good Neighbor Policy is the popular name of the foreign policy towards Latin America pursued by the administration of United States President Franklin Roosevelt.

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The Good Neighbor Policy is the popular name of the foreign policy towards Latin America pursued by the administration of United States President Franklin Roosevelt. Roosevelt announced the policy in his inaugural address on March 4, 1933. The main principle of the policy was the non-intervention of the United States in Latin American affairs.

See the fact file below for more information on the Good Neighbor Policy or alternatively, you can download our 23-page Good Neighbor Policy worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

BACKGROUND

  • Before the creation of the policy, the United States periodically practiced interventionism in Latin American affairs in order to protect the commercial and business interests of the United States.
  • Interventionism is a political term for when a state undertakes military or economic activity to influence something not directly under its control. Interventions are usually done for the benefit of the said state.
  • In his message to Congress on December 6, 1904, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt articulated The Roosevelt Corollary of 1904, which is a foreign policy stating that the United States will intervene as a last resort in conflicts in the Western Hemisphere, particularly between Latin American and European countries.
  • The corollary was a substantial amendment to the Monroe Doctrine.
  • The corollary made many Latin Americans cautious and eventually hostile toward U.S. presence in the Latin American region.

GOOD NEIGHBOR POLICY

  • In his inaugural address, Franklin Roosevelt (FDR) announced on March 4, 1933:
  • “In the field of World policy, I would dedicate this nation to the policy of the good neighbor, the neighbor who resolutely respects himself and, because he does so, respects the rights of others, the neighbor who respects his obligations and respects the sanctity of his agreements in and with a World of neighbors.”
  • The Good Neighbor Policy was FDR’s effort to denounce the U.S. interventionism of the Roosevelt Corollary, which inculcated fear and wariness in Latin Americans.
  • FDR decided to deviate from interventionary armed military efforts in Latin America for the sake of creating an amicable relationship between the United States and Latin American countries.

TERMINATION OF EXISTING EFFORTS

  • The Good Neighbor Policy annulled the Platt Amendment by the Treaty of Relations with Cuba in 1934.
  • It also ended the U.S. Marines occupation of Haiti in 1934.
  • It also terminated the negotiation of compensation for Mexico’s nationalization of foreign-owned oil assets in 1938.

IMPACT OF THE POLICY

  • The policy aimed to unite the hemispheres, as well as influence or change the way Americans perceived Latin Americans.
  • To achieve this goal, Roosevelt established the Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs (OCIAA) in August 1940 and appointed Nelson Rockefeller as head of the OCIAA.

OCIAA

  • The Motion Picture Division of the OCIAA intended to abolish pre-existing stereotypes of Latin Americans held by American society.
  • John Hay Whitney, the head of the Motion Picture Division, urged movie studios to hire Latin Americans and to make films that positively depicted Latin America.
  • Carmen Miranda was a film star who emerged in the spotlight.
  • In 1941, OCIAA collaborated with Edmund A. Chester at CBS Radio to create La Cadena de las Américas, which means The Network of the Americas.
  • La Cadena de las Américas is a radio network that broadcast news and cultural programs that placed the Good Neighbor Policy in a favorable light.

1939 WORLD’S FAIR

  • In an effort to promote peace between nations amid the emerging prospect of war, the 1939 New York World’s Fair took place to promote friendly relations between the United States and Latin America.
  • The fair, with its theme “The World of Tomorrow”, was the second-most expensive world’s fair in the United States of all time.
  • The fair was just the place to dispel negative stereotypes of Latin Americans.
  • The Latin American countries represented in the fair included Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Mexico, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and the Pan American Union.
  • The fair was a chance for those countries to showcase themselves in an appealing way to participating countries, including the United States.
  • The represented countries promoted tourism and cultural awareness at the 1939 World’s Fair.

AFTER THE WAR

  • The policy proved itself to be successful when most Latin American states quickly gathered in support of the Allies during World War II.
  • As the effects of the Cold War sharply increased, the era of the Good Neighbor Policy gradually came to a halt.
  • The United States’ need to defend the Western Hemisphere from Soviet influence became greater than the need to uphold the principle of U.S. non-interventionism by the Good Neighbor Policy.
  • This marked a new wave of involvement in Latin American internal affairs by the United States.
  • The United States directly and indirectly attacked every suspected communist or socialist movement until the end of the Cold War.
  • After the war, the anticommunist policies in Europe and Asia placed by the United States led to distrust in the Americas.

Good Neighbor Policy Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about the Good Neighbor Policy across 23 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Good Neighbor Policy worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about the Good Neighbor Policy which is the popular name of the foreign policy towards Latin America pursued by the administration of United States President Franklin Roosevelt. Roosevelt announced the policy in his inaugural address on March 4, 1933. The main principle of the policy was the non-intervention of the United States in Latin American affairs.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Good Neighbor Policy Facts
  • Country Checklist
  • Terms to Remember
  • Speech Completion
  • Insight Noting
  • Sequencing Events
  • The OCIAA
  • Important People
  • Slogan Making
  • Knowing Opinions
  • Dear Mr. President

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Link will appear as Good Neighbor Policy Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, February 2, 2021

Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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