Should The United States Imperialize Cuba In The Late 1800's?

Cuba “held an economical potential that attracted American business interests and a strategic significance for any Central American canal” (Goldfield, Abbott and Anderson, p 638). Cuban rebellion “erupted again in 1895 in a classic guerrilla war… [and] American economic interests were seriously affected” (book pg638). The Spaniards started confining the locals to concentration camps “where tens of thousands died of starvation and disease” (book pg 638). This gained a lot of publicity throughout America as journalist’s were reporting the harsh treatment, which helped persuade our nation to intervene. Furthermore, this led to growing tension between Spain and

As Pérez-Stable says, "safeguarding the Cuban quota in the U.S. market was their priority" (16-17). Conflicts arose between industrialists who wished to diversify Cuba’s economy by encouraging growth of other industries, and sugar producers who desired to maintain sugar’s economic dominance. According to Pérez-Stable, industrialists argued that a diversity of products would improve the Cuban economy and "change only the composition of Cuba-U.S. trade, not its overall amount" (23). For its part, the sugar industry continued to insist that its interests were best for the nation (Pérez-Stable 23). Despite some attempts at sugar reform, the Cuban government, which was reluctant to weaken its economic ties with the United States for fear of losing its support, refrained from taking any serious steps. The discontent produced by the lack of economic diversification added fuel to the fire of the revolutionary cause.

After it became officially globally acknowledged that Cuba was in fact a communist state and was being led through a dictatorship run by Castro, it did not take long before powerful enemies and essential allies were formed. The act of seizing all foreign land with none or very little compensation was received with great hostility amongst those who lost in their property through this process, and probably the reaction that had the biggest impact on Cuba’s economy was that of the US. Castro’s communistic policies did not of course help calm this resentment and also took part in leading to the establishment of trade embargos with Cuba from the US. This meant that Cuba would now lose a very valuable buyer of their precious sugar, [5] but they did however gain another one, a powerful nation that shared quite similar Marxist ideals and were quick to form an alliance with the Cubans, the USSR.

     Cuba had been rebelling against Spanish rule for decades and the United States never intruded. America claimed that the reason for their involvement in 1895 was to assist Cuba against Spanish slaughter, but they hadn’t thought about involving themselves until their trade for sugar with Cuba was cut off. The Wilson-Gorman Tariff of 1894 placed high taxes on sugar, destructing Cuba’s sugar market and causing the discontinuation of trade with the United States. Cuba had acted as America’s primary sugar market. President Cleveland and successor, McKinley, desired to stay neutral, but the revealing of the Spanish De Lome letter and the sinking of the Maine in 1898 presented no other option.

To begin, it is important to know about the history of Cuba to fully comprehend how things came to be as they are today. Since the Conquest and Colonization Era (1492-1898), many of the prominent European countries and the powerful neighbor to the north of Cuba, the United States of America, have attempted to take control of the land. It first began with the Spanish conquistadors, specifically Diego Velázquez, who was the first to explore and settle the land. Up until the end of the 19th century, the Spanish monarch was the authoritative figure overseeing the land and

During the Spanish-American War, more people were becoming Jingoist imperialists who wanted the US to assert its global dominance. Hoping to further US business interests and expand the Navy’s resources, American merchants, businessmen, and imperialists wanted to invest in Hawaii, Samoa, and especially Cuba. Jingoists wanted Cuba because of its

During the Cold War, a new leader of Cuba rose to the top. Fidel Castro threw Barista out of power and began to lead the Cuban people with flying colors. Little did these citizens know, was he was leading them into bad relations with his many Soviet ties. But before Cuba was touched upon by Castro, the U.S. had gained the territory from Spain in 1898, in the end of the Spanish-American War. Gaining Cuba as a territory to the U.S., it was then in charge of the country's affairs and leased its naval base at Guantanamo Bay. Cuba was also one of the largest sugar producers in the century. The U.S. saw the sugar business was essential for trade profit. Between Cuba's agriculture, while growing tobacco Cuba could partner with southern U.S. to harvest and export many

Imperialism, the policy of extending a country’s power and influence by taking over land and establishing colonies through military force or diplomacy was one of the many ways that Europeans displayed their wealth and power to the world. Across the Pacific, European powers were steadily extending their control over Asia and establishing their military strength. As a result, despite a previous bad experience under imperialistic policies, America opted to follow imperialism in the early 1900s. After the Spanish-American war, America had freed Cuba and was given Puerto Rico, the Philippine Islands, and Guam. With these new additions to American territory, many questioned if imperialism was a proper/legal policy for the United States. On the other

The United States embargo of Cuba has its roots planted in 1960, 53 years ago, when “the United States Congress authorized President Eisenhower to cut off the yearly quota of sugar to be imported from Cuba under the Sugar act of 1948… by 95 percent” (Hass 1998, 37). This was done in response to a growing

Did the U.S really use Imperialism to grow as a country? Imperialism is when a larger country takes over smaller and less powerful countries. The U.S used imperialism to gain control over Hawaii, The Philippines, Costa Rica, Cuba, Panama, and Guam. These countries were being controlled by the U.S because of imperialism or are still owned by America today

One of the United States most important foreign trading partners was Cuba. The Cuban and the US economy had been intertwined for nearly a decade before the turn of the 20th century with American invests of $50 million in the Cuban economy. Americans owned the most valuable land in Cuba, which were the sugar plantations. More than 90% of Cuba’s sugar was exported to the United States7. Most of the imports to Cuba and the surrounding islands came from the US. If the Cuban market closed the US would lose not only its $50 million in investments, but also millions in lost revenue from not being able to trade with Cuba.

America soon colonised Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Guam in it’s search for foreign markets, as well as purchased the Philippines from Spain. Imperialism was an active force in America that dramatically altered it’s rising economy and world status, as it went onto become one of the most notable countries of the time period.

The type of imperialism that applies to Hawaii is economic; Hawaii became a protectorate of the U.S. through economic treaties. Americans owned about three-quarters of Hawaii’s

expanding it boarders in the early and mid 1800’s. Throughout the world in the 1880’s there was a large need for countries to gain places where they could get natural resources. Almost every Western European Nation was in need to imperialize. Examples of this were the scramble for Africa, and the spheres of influence. The cartoonist Thomas Nast depicts this in his cartoon “The worlds plunder” which appeared in Harper’s weekly in 1885. America’s need to I imperialize was similar to that of Europe. The way the U.S. went about gaining markets was no different then what they had done before to gain land. The U.S. looked to fighting to gain land and when they saw the Cubans wanted independence from Spain the U.S. looked to help Cuba to get land in return. Throughout the war there was yellow journalism to gain support from the American population. Also when the USS Maine got bombed the American immediately blamed it on Spain. Years later it was found the explosion happened internally and Spain couldn’t have bombed it. The U.S. easily defeats Spain and in return for helping Cuba the U.S. gained Puerto Rico, The Philippines, and Guam. After Cuba Got there independence the U.S. wanted to keep their influence in Cuba so they passed the Platt amendment which made Cuba a protectorate and gave the U.S. a naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. It also would not let Cuba Make a treaty Without The U.S. The U.S. Justifies their actions for helping Cuba and gaining

So, as the United States considers a future Cuba without Fidel Castro as president, it is important to understand how the United States past relationship with Cuba contributed to the relationship the United States has with Cuba today. That relationship, initially based on trade agreements, soon became one based on politics, economics, and the military. The bases for this relationship were also the bases for the end of friendly relations between Cuba and the United States. When the Spanish American War ended, the United States government passed the Treaty of Reciprocity with Cuba to assist Cuba’s economy as well as build good relations with Cuba. However, this relationship ended soon after World War I when Cuban sugar producers found out that American were buying sugar and reselling it.