The US Occupation of the Dominican Republic, 1916-1924

The US Occupation of the Dominican Republic, 1916-1924 From 1916 to 1924, the US government occupied the Dominican Republic, mostly because a chaotic and unstable political situation there was preventing the Dominican Republic from paying back debts owed to the USA and other foreign countries. The US military easily subdued any Dominican resistance and occupied the nation for eight years. The occupation was unpopular both with the Dominicans and Americans in the USA who felt it was a waste of money. A History of Intervention At the time, it was common for the USA to intervene in the affairs of other nations, particularly those in the Caribbean or Central America. The reason was the Panama Canal, completed in 1914 at a high cost to the United States. The Canal was (and still is) hugely important strategically and economically. The USA felt that any nations in the vicinity had to be closely watched and, if need be, controlled in order to protect their investment. In 1903, the United States created the Santo Domingo Improvement Company in charge of regulating customs at Dominican ports in an effort to recoup past debts. In 1915, the US had occupied Haiti, which shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic: they would stay until 1934. The Dominican Republic in 1916 Like many Latin American nations, the Dominican Republic experienced great growing pains after independence. It became a country in 1844 when it broke from Haiti, splitting the island of Hispaniola roughly in half. Since independence, the Dominican Republic had seen over 50 presidents and nineteen different constitutions. Of those presidents, only three peacefully completed their designated terms in office. Revolutions and rebellions were common and the national debt kept piling up. By 1916 the debt had swollen to well over $30 million, which the poor island nation could never hope to pay. Political Turmoil in the Dominican Republic The USA controlled the customs houses in the major ports, collecting on their debt but strangling the Dominican economy. In 1911, Dominican President Ramà ³n Cceres was assassinated and the nation erupted once again into civil war. By 1916, Juan Isidro Jimà ©nez was president, but his supporters were fighting openly with those loyal to his rival, General Desiderio Arà ­as, former Minister of War. As the fighting got worse, the Americans sent marines to occupy the nation. President Jimà ©nez did not appreciate the gesture, resigning his post rather than take orders from the occupiers. The Pacification of the Dominican Republic The US soldiers moved quickly to secure their hold on the Dominican Republic. In May, Rear Admiral William B. Caperton arrived in Santo Domingo and took over the operation. General Arias decided to oppose the occupation, ordering his men to contest the American landing at Puerto Plata on June 1. General Arias went to Santiago, which he vowed to defend. The Americans sent a concerted force and took the city. That wasn’t the end of the resistance: in November, Governor Juan Pà ©rez of the city of San Francisco de Macorà ­s refused to recognize the occupation government. Holed up in an old fort, he was eventually driven out by the marines. The Occupation Government The US worked hard to find a new President who would grant them whatever they wanted. The Dominican Congress selected Francisco Henriquez, but he refused to obey American commands, so he was removed as president. The US eventually simply decreed that they would place their own military government in charge. The Dominican army was disbanded and replaced with a national guard, the Guardia Nacional Dominicana. All of the high-ranking officers were initially Americans. During the occupation, the US military ruled the nation completely except for lawless parts of the city of Santo Domingo, where powerful warlords still held sway. A Difficult Occupation The US military occupied the Dominican Republic for eight years. The Dominicans never warmed to the occupying force, and instead resented the high-handed intruders. Although all-out attacks and resistance stopped, isolated ambushes of American soldiers were frequent. The Dominicans also organized themselves politically: they created the Unià ³n Nacional Dominicana, (Dominican National Union) whose purpose was to drum up support in other parts of Latin America for the Dominicans and convince the Americans to withdraw. Prominent Dominicans generally refused to co-operate with the Americans, as their countrymen saw it as treason. The US Withdrawal With the occupation very unpopular both in the Dominican Republic and at home in the USA, President Warren Harding decided to get the troops out. The USA and the Dominican Republic agreed on a plan for an orderly withdrawal which guaranteed that customs duties would still be used to pay off long-standing debts. Starting in 1922, the US military began gradually moving out of the Dominican Republic. Elections were held and in July of 1924 a new government took over the country. The last US Marines left the Dominican Republic on September 18, 1924. The Legacy of the US Occupation of the Dominican Republic Not a whole lot of good came out of the US occupation of the Dominican Republic. It is true that the nation was stable for a period of eight years under the occupation and that there was a peaceful transition of power when the Americans left, but the democracy did not last. Rafael Trujillo, who would go on to become dictator of the country from 1930 to 1961, got his start in the US-trained Dominican National Guard. Like they did in Haiti at roughly the same time, the US did help build schools, roads, and other infrastructure improvements. The occupation of the Dominican Republic, as well as other interventions in Latin America in the early part of the Twentieth Century, gave the US a bad reputation as a high-handed imperialist power. The best that can be said of the 1916-1924 occupation is that although the USA was protecting its own interests in the Panama Canal, they did try to leave the Dominican Republic a better place than they found it. Source Scheina, Robert L. Latin Americas Wars: Washington D.C.: Brassey, Inc., 2003.the Age of the Professional Soldier, 1900-2001.

Fixed Mindset Will Destroy More Than Your Wardrobe

Fixed Mindset Will Destroy More Than Your Wardrobe Everyones Talking About Fixed Mindset vs. Growth Mindset On Saturday I went to an expo for Lu La Roe, a women’s fashion company that sells dresses, skirts, and leggings at home parties and online. I hadn’t been planning to go, mind you. I was actually headed to a different event – but something told me I should wander in and explore. I didn’t realize I was about to get a lesson in fixed vs. growth mindset – a topic that seems to be popping up everywhere in my life lately. First, there was a conversation at the Wright Foundation on what keeps us from training people to be better than we are. Then, fixed vs. growth mindset arose as the main focus of the ActionCOACH workday I attended on Friday. The next day, I was not surprised to see an article posted via LinkedIn by Susan Howington, My Best Career Advice to You, extolling the virtues of a growth mindset. Fixed mindset, just as it sounds, is a stuck frame of mind that will keep us exactly where we are. It tells us there are no options, that things won’t work, that we can’t do it or learn new things. People living in a fixed mindset are rarely the type of leaders we look up to or who triumph over adversity. They are more likely to be the people complaining. With a growth mindset, in contrast, we see possibilities. We know we can grow and change. We keep getting better and taking risks. People with a growth mindset are open to the ideas other people have for them. It is satisfying to contribute to them. Growth Mindset for My Wardrobe Back to Lu La Roe. I walked into the exhibition hall and my brain immediately told me I would not fit into anything there. I am 4’10† and when I looked at some of the XS tops and they looked huge to me. Instead of keeping my opinion to myself, I said to one of the vendors, â€Å"It seems like there aren’t a lot of things here that would fit me.† That was my first good move. I recognized my fixed mindset and voiced it. The woman immediately called over reinforcements, â€Å"Hey Tiffany! This lady thinks there’s nothing here that will fit her!† Tiffany pulled a dress from her rack and began to show me how wrong I was. Soon, not only was I trying on dresses, but I was learning how to MAKE them fit me! There’s a trick that worked on the first dress, bunching it up from underneath and tying it with a hair band to create a nice diagonal look. And another method worked on a dress that I initially saw as way too long (it was as tall as I am)! I was so excited to have gotten past my fixed mindset that I bought three items from this miracle worker, plus one from another vendor she referred me to. It was pretty easy to get past my fixed mindset about clothing. And it was fun! Creating a Growth Mindset Everywhere Will blasting through my fixed mindset about certain things in my business be as easy? I have some challenges I’m facing and I’ve been pretty hopeless about some of them. But my coaches have helped me see some possibilities there too. In fact, the email you may have received from me today about my college essay price increase came out of one of those conversations. To help understand fixed mindset, I invite you to watch this video clip from Facing the Giants: Brock’s coach literally had to blindfold him to get him past his fixed mindset so that he could not see his own perceived limits. And since Brock was a leader on the team, once he broke through his fixed mindset, his team could break through theirs as well. Note: Brock did not get past his limiting beliefs by himself, as many of us fool ourselves into believing we can do. He needed his coach to believe what he did not believe, just like I needed Tiffany and the coaches at ActionCOACH to get me past some of my stuck thoughts. I have a lot more work to do, and I know I will have to keep stretching my comfort zone. This week I’m taking new actions on my business, including reaching out to executive recruiters and past leads. As for my new Lu La Roe friend, we are talking about going shoe shopping together. Believe it or not, I have a fixed mindset about how I can’t wear dresses in the winter because I wear orthotics and don’t have decent shoes to wear with dresses. I’m ready to have that thinking blown out of the water too. Where do you see you have a fixed mindset that you want to shift? Please share in the comments! 🙂 Log in to Reply Carol says: June 20, 2017 at 9:40 am Thank you for this great article Brenda. It came just when I needed to hear it. I am a writer and am 61 years old. I work part-time for a wonderful nonprofit, but Im struggling to make ends meet. I know I view my age as a big limitation regarding work. I like your idea of receiving coaching as I tend to try to do everything on my own. Any ideas of where I can find low-cost coaching options? I live about an hour north of San Francisco. Than you. Log in to Reply Brenda Bernstein says: June 20, 2017 at 12:42 pm Thanks so much Carol. Im glad my article was so helpful! You might look for coaches trained through the Coaches Training Institute (CTI). Sometimes new coaches have lower rates. For career coaching, I would recommend contacting Thea Kelley! https://www.linkedin.com/in/theakelley/ Log in to Reply Susan Thomson says: June 20, 2017 at 9:44 am I am a work in progress on this! Its been an interesting journey to seek out opinions that are different than mine, question my fixed beliefs about how I invest my time and even how I see other people. Carol Dwecks book MINDSET has helped a lot on self-awareness. Log in to Reply Brenda Bernstein says: June 20, 2017 at 12:40 pm We are all works in progress right? Otherwise wed be in a fixed mindset! Thanks for the book recommendation, and for inspiring this blog!! Log in to Reply Dolores Priegnitz says: June 21, 2017 at 4:49 pm Excellent advice thanks for sharing. I will practice a growth mindset as I pursue new learning opportunities. Log in to Reply Brenda Bernstein says: June 21, 2017 at 5:05 pm Great Dolores! Make sure to have a coach its hard to keep a growth mindset when youre relying on your own mind :-). Log in to Reply