Cuba and Puerto Rico• Both hoped that the peace treating ending the
Spanish-American War would mean independence for them
• Teller Amendment actually said that Cuba would be free…
Disappointment• To restore order + protect US
investments = McKinley set up military governments to rule the islands
• General Leonard Wood appointed Governor of Cuba
• Constructed schools and a sanitation system (especially needed to reduce the mosquito population)
Yellow Fever• Carlos Finlay—a Cuban doctor—had a theory that
mosquitoes spread Yellow Fever (He was right)
• The sanitation system basically eliminated this disease
Governor Leonard Wood
• Presided over the writing of a new constitution that limited Cuba’s independence
• US Congress agreed to remove American troops only if Cuba made the Platt Amendment part of its constitution:
Platt Amendment
1. Limited Cuba’s freedom to make treaties with other countries
2. Authorized the US to intervene in Cuban affairs
3. Required Cuba to sell/lease land to the US for naval & fueling stations (which led to the US Navy base at Guantanamo Bay)
Platt Amendment
• In effect: Cuba was an American protectorate
• US promised to help Cuba from other nations, but reserved the right to intervene in its affairs
• Cuba reluctantly accepted the Platt Amendment & American troops left Cuba…
Cuba & the US
• Over the next 30 years, the US remained involved in Cuban affairs
• US pressured Cuba to accept policies that favored US investors
• Sent in American troops when they decided the Cuban gov’t couldn’t keep order
• 1934—US finally renounced its right to intervene. However, American influence over Cuba remained very strong
Puerto Rico & the US• Very different from Cuba
• US ruled the island as a territory
Question: Were the people of Puerto Rico going to be entitled to the same rights as US citizens?
NO
• US Supreme Court ruled (1901)
• The new territories were not fully part of the US
…so Congress could pick and choose what rights territories would receive
Foraker Act
• Puerto Rico’s governor and upper house of the legislature were to be appointed by the US
• The lower house could be elected by Puerto Ricans
Jones Act of 1917• Made Puerto Ricans American citizens
• Gave them the right to elect members of both houses of their legislature
• 1952: Puerto Rico became a self-governing commonwealth of the US that has strong ties of citizenship and trade today