The Spanish American War (1898-1901): Increasing Spanish-Cuban Tensions: Late 19th century

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Other causes underlying the 1895 Cuban revolt include a general opposition to a long history of Spanish control, and the more immediate effects of the American Wilson-Gorman Tariff of 1894. The tariff, which raised prices on sugar imported from Cuba in order to protect US sugar growers, ended up hurting the Cuban economy significantly. Hard times in Cuba led to public unrest and conflict with the Spanish regime. However, it should be noted that although Spanish atrocities against the Cubans are often emphasized, both sides in the Cuban conflict beginning in 1895 killed civilians and destroyed private property.

The US was alarmed by developments in Cuba and had sympathies with the insurrectos from the beginning. First and foremost, the US was always concerned about having a strong European power just offshore the Florida coast. The Spanish, who were considered (wrongly) to have a powerful Navy at the time, posed a potential threat to US trade in the Caribbean. With the Panama Canal on the collective US drawing boards, US policymakers were particularly concerned with the future of maritime shipping in the Caribbean. And of course, the US had financial reasons for wanting to stop the conflict. As mills and plantations went up in flames, American leaders and businessmen increasingly feared that American investments in Cuba might be harmed, not to mention American citizens currently in Cuba.Less specific to the region, the US had long held a position of anti-colonial tradition, originating fromt he fact that the US had once been a set of colonies that had themselves #revolted against their British overlords##. Americans quickly drew parallels between themselves and the Cubans, seeing the Cubans as facing a similar situation to the one the 13 colonies had faced. For all these reasons, the US was happy to have an excuse to oppose the Spanish.

None of the above events or commentary seem to suggest that the after the Spanish-American War in 1898 the US would annex several territories (taking colonies). However, in many ways, the early 1890s were the perfect incubator for imperialist expansion at the end of the decade. The Depression of 1893-1897 and the continuing switch from a predominately agricultural export economy to one in which manufactured goods were the primary export combined to fuel the search for foreign markets. The actions of the US during and just after the Spanish-American War can thus be seen as a redefinition of values, or as an illumination of the separate values simultaneously animating American policy and public debate.

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