History and Social Science, Part 116

Question 1: Discuss and describe the causes of the Spanish-American War.

Answer 1: The Spanish-American War centered around Cuba. There had already been several revolts against the Spanish leadership on that island, and the Wilson-Gorman Tariff had damaged the Cuban economy. In 1896, the Spanish sent General Valeriano Weyler to establish a reconcentration camp, where the dissenting Cubans could be weeded out. Many in the United States pushed the government to intervene in Cuba; businessmen were worried about their crops, Christians and humanitarians were worried about the Cuban people, and imperialists saw a good chance to seize the island. The two final causes of the war were the DeLome letter, in which the Spanish minister to the US insulted President McKinley, and the explosion of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor. Although the Spanish still claim to not have caused this explosion, the US nevertheless declared war on April 25, 1898.

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Question 2: Give an overview of the Spanish-American War.

Answer 2: The Spanish-American War only lasted between six and eight weeks before the US claimed victory. The first phase of it was fought in the Philippines, and the second in Cuba. In Cuba, the United States scored a crucial victory when a rag-tag group of soldiers known as the Roughriders (Theodore Roosevelt among them) took Kettle Hill and secured Santiago. Although the Teller Amendment of 1898 had promised independence to Cuba after the war, the Platt Amendment, which was inserted into the Cuban Constitution in 1901, made Cuba a protectorate of the US. The US control of Guantanamo Bay dates back to this amendment. In 1934, Cuba received its independence. The Spanish-American War formally ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1898. The US received Guam, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Wake Island. The US also paid the Spanish $20 million because Manila had supposedly surrendered after the end of the war, making it an invalid wartime concession.

Question 3: Give an overview of the debate over the Philippines and the Filipino War.

Answer 3: In the years 1898 and 1899, the question of what to do about the Philippines was hotly debated in the US. Imperialists (including Henry Cabot Lodge and Theodore Roosevelt), wanted to make the group of islands into a state, argued against Anti-imperialists (e.g., Andrew Carnegie, Mark Twain) who felt that the US would be drawn into Asian conflicts. Some politicians, like William Jennings Bryan, voted for the Treaty of Paris and the acquisition of the Philippines because they felt it would be a disaster that would discourage further imperialism. In 1899, the Filipino leader Aguinaldo led the people against US forces. This uprising was only crushed after much cruelty. Later, the Tydings-McDuffie Act of 1934 promised independence to the Philippines within 10 years but they did not receive it until 1946. Some relevant Supreme Court rulings from this period were in the Insular Cases of 1901: the Court asserted that citizens of US territories do not have the same rights as citizens of the continental US.

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