Moral Diplomacy (feb 1, 1913 – nov 1, 1916)

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Hoping to improve America’s damaged foreign relations, President Wilson (along with his secretary of state: William Jennings Bryan) employed moral diplomacy – the use of high moral standards when dealing with other countries. An example of this was the passage of the Jones Act (1916) which granted the Philippines universal male suffrage, a bill of rights, full territorial status, and promised to give the islands the independence that they had long sought once a stable government was established. During Wilson’s first term, Congress also repealed an act that had exempted the U.S. from having to pay the Panama Canal tolls. Additionally, U.S. citizenship was granted to all Puerto Ricans and they were even allowed to practice limited self-government. Meanwhile, secretary of state Bryan was working on a series of conciliation treaties in which nations vowed to have a one-year waiting phase before taking military actions over a conflict, as well as to submit such disagreements to international commissions for deliberations.

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