Question
- To what extent was the United States an imperial power in Latin America before 1914?
Overview
The Spanish-American War, or, as historian Michael Gonzales-Cruz more appropriately refers to it, the Spanish-Cuban-American-Philippine-Puerto-Rican War of 1898, is frequently cited as the starting point for research into the character of US imperialism in Latin America and the Pacific. 1
Tensions over Spanish authority in Cuba, along with late-nineteenth-century yellow journalism and the destruction of the American warship Maine in Havana Harbour, possibly necessitated war. The Treaty of Paris, the final accord between the two countries, transferred the Spanish territories of Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Guam to the United States, effectively ending the Spanish empire and establishing an American one. Cuba was temporarily placed under American authority, and Spain was compensated for its losses.
The conflict marked the United States’ emergence as an externally focused world power. It left the United States with a physical and commercial empire, as well as the incentive for American nation-building efforts in countries such as Haiti and the Dominican Republic. 2
The existence of
The establishment of formal American administration over former Spanish colonial possessions prompted historians to wonder
Questions regarding American influence abroad that had never been asked before. How was it?
How will this new worldwide activity be defined? Was the United States now an empire? How was it?
Given the anti-imperial sentiment, action in sovereign countries would have been permissible.
domestic public opinion sentiment? These questions serve as the foundation for historiography.
