During the past century one of the most controversial aspects of the United States foreign relations has been the American policy in the Caribbean region. This problem did not reach a critical stage until the United States had become a world power in the latter decades of the nineteenth century. With the development of American economic interests in the far east, in Central and South America, with the advent of diplomatic relations of a complicated nature with the major powers of the world, the United States was faced with the dual problem of providing for adequate safe-guards of national defense and further protecting her investments in the so-called "backward" regions of the world. It was such a condition that led to the formulation of the open door policy in China by John Hay. Today a similar condition exists which explains American attitude toward the recognition of Manchukuo as found in the Stimson Doctrine. The building of the Panama Canal as a vital necessity in the American structure of national defense, and the aggressive policy of certain great powers directed against the defenseless Latin American nations, brought the question of the hegemony of the United States in the Caribbean to the fore at the beginning of the twentieth century. It is true that the Monroe Doctrine in the nineteenth century had resulted in the assumption by the United States of a general overlordship in the Caribbean area but conditions did not warrant any molestation of the integrity of the nations in the Caribbean. Beginning first with the Venezuela affair during Cleveland's administration a much more specific and firm tone can be noticed in our Caribbean policy. This led, after the Spanish American War, to a protectorate in Cuba, intervention in several Central American States, and even in Wilson's administration to a policy which would not give recognition to a de facto government in Mexico which supposedly had been established by violence. This forward policy, this frank assumption of overlordship in the Caribbean by the United States, has been the subject of violent recrimination and controversy. It has undoubtedly earned for us the fear and even hatred of many people of Latin America. The whole problem of American imperialism in Central and South America is too vast to envisage in one general study. Isolated segments and specific phases can only be separated from the general mass and subjected to scrutiny and evaluation. It is the purpose of this thesis to isolate one such phase, American policy in santo Domingo. In approaching the problem of American policy in Santo Domingo emphasis in this thesis is first given to a consideration of the historical background, the period of colonization, and the emancipation from Spanish rule. Further, the principal geographical features are commented upon. With this background approach completed, the chaotic conditions existing in Santo Domingo from 1892 to 1895 are discussed. Then follows a study of the advent of American intervention in 1905, the treaty of 1907, and the period of armed occupation from 1916 to 1924. The final phase of the thesis concerns the restoration of Dominican control and important factors, both economic and political, which have transpired in the Dominican Republic since the withdrawal of American troops.