Caribbean History: From Colonialism to Independence
AM217
Lecture 12: America’s backyard
In this lecture, we will consider the growing presence and influence of the United
States of the America in the Caribbean region, which was part of its increasingly
active role in the Americas as a whole. As will be seen, 1898 was a crucial year at
the dawn of the ‘American century’.
Lecture structure
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
North America and the Caribbean
The Monroe Doctrine
Towards the American Century
Cuba
Spanish-American War (1898) and its aftermath
America’s backyard
The twentieth century witnessed the emergence of the United States as the leading
power in the Caribbean. Although European powers continued to be interested in
the region, none possessed the political will or strength to challenge the hegemony
of the United States…The other major colonial power in the region [after Britain and
France], Spain, was to lose its Caribbean colonies, Cuba and Puerto Rico, in the
Spanish-American War of 1898.
Gad Heuman, The Caribbean, 2006, p. 129.
José Martí
To be Cuban comes before being white, before being black, before being
mulatto…[Cuban independence would create a country] with all, and for the good of
all.
Quoted in Aviva Chomsky, A History of the Cuban Revolution, 2011, p. 22.
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