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Spanish-American War

Spanish-American War during Anti-Imperalism of the 19th century


American imperialists originally cast the Spanish-American War as a war for Cuban liberation from Spanish imperialism. In this context, it could be argued that such a war would merely enforce the Monroe Doctrine, which articulated American opposition to European colonialism in the western hemisphere. The anti-imperialist opponents of the war would soon be able to argue that it was unbecoming for Americans to fight imperialism with imperialism; it was noble to liberate Cuba, but decidedly ignoble to subsequently deny it independence.


In 1899, David J. Hill wrote that the United States had three options regarding the Spanish Empire. The first option was to conclude that Spain had enjoyed a right to exploit its colonies and, since the United States could defeat Spain, the United States had every right to inherit Spain's empire. The second approach held that, while Spain was unjustified in its conduct regarding its colonies, the United States was hardly justified in interfering. The third possibility was that Spain was so abusive in its actions that the United States had the right to intervene on humanitarian grounds and ensure a more just existence for the colonies. The imperialists would initially argue that they were simply adopting the third approach. The anti-imperialists argued that, good intentions aside, the first approach would prevail more often than not over the altruistic third option and, therefore, the second choice was always the best.

Many anti-imperialists felt that America was more concerned with dominating the western hemisphere than with protecting it from Europeans, although the two causes could be argued by imperialists to go hand in hand. The often-quoted Marine Corps General Smedley Butler stated in the early 20th century that he had "helped in the rape of a half dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street". General Butler felt that his mission was not just to prevent European encroachment, but to safeguard American hegemony over technically independent neighbors. While the United States continued to dominate Central and South America after the Spanish-American War, that conflict was certainly distinct in its conduct and aftermath.

On February 9, 1898 a cable written by the Spanish ambassador to the United States was intercepted and found to contain some rather unflattering references to President McKinley. Following this assault on the national dignity, the battleship Maine blew up in Havana harbor, killing 260 Americans. While it was widely understood that the explosion was most likely an accident, many were willing to seize on the tragedy as a cassus belli. The national media generally facilitated this process with an obvious dose of commercial savvy. Here is where William Randolph Hearst's immortalized words were uttered to an artist he had hired to render the explosion for his newspapers. "You furnish the pictures and I’ll furnish the war".

Much of the early support for the war was predicated on the fact that, by intervening on behalf of the Cuban people, the United States would be coming down firmly on the side of the underdog as well as expelling European influence from the Caribbean. The war was sold as a liberation of Cuba, not as the annexation of that island or of any other territory. It quickly became clear, however, that the war aims were considerably broader than the liberation of the Cuban people. The United States also invaded the Spanish colonies of Puerto Rico and the Philippines and used the surge of wartime nationalism to officially annex Hawaii in July. Despite these previously unprecedented actions, American casualties during the war, which lasted from April to August of 1898, were minimal. The treaty of Paris, signed in December of 1898, ceded Puerto Rico and Guam to the United States, which also remained as occupiers in Cuba and the Philippines. In the other immortal quote from the Spanish-American War, Ambassador John Hay opined that it was "a splendid little war".

The status of Cuba was dictated by the Platt amendment in 1901. While the United States did not technically annex the island, Cuba would hardly be granted genuine sovereignty. The legislation granted the U.S. considerable influence over Cuba's foreign policy and economy as well as reserving the U.S. the right to intervene in Cuba in the event of external or internal threats. The naval base at Guantanamo Bay was thrown in for good measure.

Although President McKinley felt that "The Philippines, like Cuba and Puerto Rico, were entrusted to our hands by the providence of God" , the nation now found itself facing a new type of identity crisis; in addition to finding its domestic identity, the United States now had to confront its role in the community of nations. Despite God's generosity, very few Americans had asked for these new territories; they had supported a war for Cuban liberation, not one for territorial aggrandizement. As a brutal insurgency took hold in the Philippines, Americans of all persuasions began questioning their nation's motives.

When the Treaty of Paris was signed, the Philippine nationalist leader Emilio Aguinaldo, who was in no mood to replace one imperial overlord with another, began to direct a guerilla insurgency against the American occupation. While some anti-imperialists romanticized or at least empathized with the insurgents' cause, the mood among many Americans after the insurgency began was one of disbelief and contempt. Many found it reprehensible that the Filipinos proved to be ingrates in the wake of "liberation". William Howard Taft felt that "the resistance to American authority is nothing but a conspiracy of murder and assassination". Anti-imperialists would have wondered exactly what "authority" Mr. Taft was referring to.

Posted by: Helen P. Nash

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