ABSTRACT
The United States is vastly superior to all of the Caribbean neighbors in size, wealth, natural resources, and population. In the nineteenth century, the United States faced enormous problems at home and often exhibited only minimal interest in the Caribbean. The United States attitude toward the lands and peoples of the Caribbean Basin is older than the Panama Canal, older than the Monroe Doctrine, older even than the nation itself. A war with Mexico brought the United States to its "natural borders," the ocean and the Gulf; a terrible civil war delayed the movement only a few years before the Americans began to talk of the mission beyond the mainland. The United States asserted its determination to leave the government and control of Cuba to its people when the fighting ended. Because of the slavery issue, the United States traditionally exhibited little regard for Haiti and did not extend diplomatic recognition until 1862, when the slaveowners had left Washington.
