While American forces were taking
over the Philippines preparations
are underway for an invasion of
Cuba. Eager to fight, 200,000
volunteers joined the army.
Among the troops was Theodore
Roosevelt who had resigned his
desk job in the Navy Department
to become second-in-command of
a volunteer regiment called the
Rough Riders. A mixed group
made up of cowboys college
students and adventures.
Roosevelt became a symbol of
national enthusiasm for the fight
against Spain.
By the end of June, United States troops had established a beachhead near
Santiago on the eastern tip Cuba. On July 1, U.S. troops engaged the Spanish
defenders of Santiago in a bloody fight. United States forces attacked the
ridges around the city.
Roosevelt's Roughriders charged up San Juan Hill joined by black soldiers of the 9th and 10th
Calvary regiment's. Under constant and heavy fire they suffered heavy casualties as more than
200 men were killed and more than 1100 wounded before they took the hill.
Then on July 3, American ships sank a Spanish squadron that was trying to escape from Santiago
Harbor. This blow ended Spanish resistance in Cuba. United States troops then landed on the
Spanish controlled island of Puerto Rico. There they met little opposition and quickly conquered
the island.
On August 12, Spain
excepted a truce the war
had lasted less than four
months. In a peace treaty
signed in December 1898,
the United States acquired
Puerto Rico, the Philippines
and the Pacific island of
Guam. Cuba became an
independent nation.
Although most Americans
were pleased by the new
status as a great power they
soon learned power
brought with it great and
sometimes troublesome
challenges.
Even before the war
Congress and made it clear
that the United States did
not intend to claim Cuba
as a colony. A joint
resolution in 1898 demand
that Spain withdraw from
Cuba it also included a
clause known as the Teller
Amendment. In this
Congress renounced any
plan to annex Cuba.
Americans pointed to the
Teller Amendment as
proof of their higher moral
purpose in the war.
The war however
had left Cuba in
chaos. The
government was at
a standstill,
sanitation was
almost nonexistent
and disease was
rampant. In
response to these
conditions
President McKinley
installed a military
government to
administer the
island. The
Americans worked
to wipe out yellow
fever and improved
Cuban education
and agriculture.
In 1900, when the Cubans begin to draft a constitution the United States insisted that they insert a
provision known as the Platt Amendment. Under the Platt Amendment Cuba promised not to make
treaties that might result in foreign intervention. It also agreed to let the U.S. set up two naval stations
on the island. It also recognized the right of the U.S. to send troops to Cuba to preserve order. In effect
the Platt Amendment mane Cuba a protectorate of the U. S. A protectorate is a country that is
technically independent but its government and economy are controlled by stronger power.
After the SpanishAmerican war Pres.
McKinley was unsure
whether United States
should rule the
Philippines. According to
reports he paced the floor
the White House night
after night before
deciding the Filipinos
were unfit for self
government. At that
point, furthermore, he
felt the United States had
a duty to uplift the
Philippine civilization and
Christianize them.
Most Americans probably
shared the view that the U.S.
should govern the Philippines,
but others were firmly against
colonialism, the practice of
owning colonies. Some critics
pointed out that the
constitution made no provision
for ruining colonies. Others
feared that the overseas
empire would drive the
country to war with other
powers. The Philippines were
much farther away from the
U.S. than Hawaii and ruling the
islands would closely involve
the United States in Asian
affairs.
Further complicating
the debate was a
rebellion in the
Philippines. In 1896,
Emilio Aguinaldo led
nationalist revolt
against Spanish rule. As
you recall the
revolutionaries led by
Emilio Aguinaldo had
joined forces with the
Commodore Dewey in
taking Manila.
Aguinaldo hoped that
the American victory
would bring
independence to the
Philippines. But while
the Senate debated the
peace treaty, McKinley
ordered the American
troops to occupy all the
Philippine Islands.
The Senate decided to ratify the treaty making The Philippines a territory of the United States.
Aguinaldo furious over the betrayal took arms against the United States. For two years the U.S.
fought a bloody war against Aguinaldo and his rebels in a continuation of his fight for
independence against Spain. During the war the Americans committed many of the same
atrocities they had initially declared war on Spain for.
Finally in 1901 United States captured Aguinaldo and crushed the revolt. The revolution had
lasted longer, killed more people and cost more money than the original war against Spain in
1898. The long and bitter battles showed that acquiring an empire was easier than running one.
Expansion was fueling the
growth of American industry
which was rapidly becoming
the largest in the world. New
markets and raw materials
provided more jobs and
investment opportunities for
Americans. But some people in
America feared expansion
came at to high of a cost.
People like William Jennings
Bryan even earned of “the
paralyzing influence of
imperialism.” In the meantime
another consequence of
expansion became clear to
United States.
The country had been founded on the principle of self government, yet expansion
often came without consent of the governed. Expansionists justified colonial rule by
insisting that the annexed populations were not yet ready to govern themselves. They
regarded the people of the Pacific and in the Caribbean as little more than children.
However, it was too late to debate imperialism. There was no going back to simpler
times. In less than 40 years William Seward’s dream of an American empire had
become reality. As one French diplomat observed, “United States is seated at the
table where the great game is played and it cannot leave it now.”