Interference in Foreign Civil War Case Study
“Resolution to recognize the independence of the people of Cuba, and to direct the President of the United States to use the US military to carry these resolutions into effect.”
Compelling Policy Question: When, if ever, should the United States involve its military in another country's revolutions?
But first- where is Cuba?
Jacques W. Redway & Russell Hinman, Map of North America, Natural Introductory Geography (New York, NY: American Book Company, 1897) 68
Policy Case study:
“Resolution to recognize the independence of the people of Cuba, and to direct the President of the United States to use the US military to carry these resolutions into effect.” (modified/link to original)
The terrible conditions that have existed for more than three years in the island of Cuba, so near our own borders, have shocked the people of the United States, have been a disgrace to civilization, and can no longer be allowed The conditions in Cuba have also led to the destruction of a United States battle ship, with its officers and crew, while on a friendly visit in the harbor of Havana. In response to the message sent by the President to Congress,
First. That the people of the island of Cuba are, and of right ought to be, free and independent.
Second. It is the duty of the United States to demand that the Government of Spain at once relinquish its authority in the island of Cuba, and withdraw its army and navy from Cuba.
Third. That the President of the United States be, and he hereby is, directed and empowered to use the entire land and naval forces of the United States to carry these resolutions into effect.
Fourth. That the United States hereby denies any plan to take control over Cuba, except in order to restore peace in Cuba. Once peace is established, The United States will leave the government and control of the island to its people.
Timeline leading up to the Resolution for recognizing Cuban Independence.
1492 - Christopher Columbus arrives in Cuba, making Cuba a Spanish Colony
1823 - President Monroe’s Monroe Doctrine tells Europeans not to make new colonies in the Americas, but America will not interfere in existing colonies.
1868 Carlos M. Céspedes wrote the Grito de Yara (Cry of Yara). This Cuban Declaration of Independence started the ‘Ten Years'’ War in Cuba. Spain won.
1890 Alfred T. Mahan argues for the U.S. to expand its territory into ocean.
1892 In New York José Julián Martí y Pérez forms Cuban Revolutionary party.
1895 Cuban independence movement declares Independencia o muerte (Independence or death),- the second revolution began
1895 U.S. President Cleveland proclaims neutrality towards the Cuban conflict.
1896 -February Spain begins reconcentration policy in Cuba.
1896 - March -A U.S. Congress resolution recognizes Cuban revolution.
1896 - December - President Cleveland says US may act if Cuba crisis continues.
1897 January- William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer's newspapers’ “yellow journalism” increases US’s anti-Spanish views in the United States.
1897 March - U.S. President William McKinley inaugurated.
1898- January Spain grants limited freedoms to Cuba.
1898- February 15th, U.S.S. Maine explodes in Havana Harbor.
1898- March The US Government issued an ultimatum to the Spanish Government to terminate its presence in Cuba. Spain does not accept.
1898 April 4, The New York Journal calls for U.S. entry into war with Spain.
10 April Spanish Governor in Cuba suspended hostilities in the war in Cuba.
1898 -April 11, President McKinley requested authorization from Congress to intervene in Cuba.
1898 - April 19 Congress to vote on Resolution for war with Spain.
Supporting Question #1: Why do some people believe the United States has the right/responsibility to involve its military in another country's revolutions?
On April 11, 1898, President William Mckinley, delivered a War Message to Congress. In his message he said...
Rebellions have occurred in Cuba against Spain for half a century. Our neutrality hurts American trade, and the cruel warfare of the Spanish shocks our people. Intervention by the United States to stop the war is justifiable for these reasons.
First, in the name of humanity and to put an end to the barbarities, bloodshed, starvation, and horrible miseries in Cuba. It is no answer to say this is in another country, and is not our business. It is our duty, for it is right at our door.
Second, we must protect our citizens living in Cuba.
Third, intervention may be justified by the injury to the business of our people, and by the devastation of the island.
Fourth, and most important, the events in Cuba are a menace to our peace. We are on the edge of war with Spain.
The tragic destruction of the Maine is proof the state of things in Cuba that is intolerable. Two hundred and sixty brave sailors and marines, have been hurled to death.
In the name of humanity, the war in Cuba must stop.
I ask the Congress to authorize the President to take measures to end the hostilities in Cuba, and to use the military of the United States as may be necessary for these purposes.
The issue is now with the Congress. I await your action.
Fitzhugh Lee, "Prepared to Move", 1897 (modified/link to original)
Lee was an American Consul in Cuba, biography
I still think that two warships at least should be at Key West, prepared to move here at short notice, and that more of them should be sent to Dry Tortugas, and a coal station be established there.
Such proceedings would seem to be in line with that prudence and foresight necessary to afford safety to the Americans residing on the island, and to their properties, both of which, I have every reason to know, are objects of the greatest concern to our Government.
Albert Shaw, The Blowing Up of the Maine, American Monthly Review of Reviews, April 1898: "The Progress of the World." (modified/link to original)
Shaw, an expert on international law, was the editor of the magazine Review of Reviews.
Believing the destruction of the Maine was an accident is not realistic. Battleships don’t blow themselves up.
The Spaniards hated that the Maine was sent to Cuba. They saw it as America interfering with Spanish rule over Cuba. They believed the American warship was in Havana with hostile plans.
The Captain and crew of the Maine knew of the rumors of threats to destroy the Maine. It was assumed the Spanish had put mines in the harbor to prepare for a possible war with America. Most Spaniards would have considered anchoring the Maine close to a submarine mine was for their safety.
Even if we ignore the cause of the Maine incident, the great majority of the American people hope President McKinley will quickly use the occasion to secure independence for Cuba.
Spain has been unable to conquer the Cuban rebels. The people of the United States do not want to help Spain control Cuba. On the contrary, they are now ready to help the Cubans drive Spain out of the Western Hemisphere. If we allow this Cuban struggle to run on forever, the American people will lose self-respect and the respect of all mankind.
The people of the United States made up their minds on the Cuban question long ago. For months they have been asking the government to recognize that a war exists on the island of Cuba and that the insurgents had proved they deserve recognition as a government. That Congress and the President had not done anything in response to the fighting has confused the public.
After debating for days, Congress declared a state of war exists in Cuba. President Cleveland must take action.
He should declare that a state of war exists in Cuba, and that the citizens of America should remain neutral. It will be the duty of the United States and its people to remain neutral, but this recognition will help the Cubans feel they deserve independence, and lets them know the United States will aid them in securing it if Spain refuses to change.
Resolutions of neutrality would not cause war with Spain. But if war does come, the President will have behind him a united people, ready to do everything to drive Spain out of Cuba, and to secure for fellow-Americans the right of self-government.
New York Journal, Destruction Of The War Ship Maine Was The Work Of An Enemy, February 17, 1898 (modified)
the New York Journal published stories using highly emotional writing, banner headlines and graphic images to attract readers. This style of journalism is known as "yellow journalism". (text below picture)
(text of newspaper)
George Eugene Bryson, the Journal’s special correspondent at Havana, writes that many Spaniards in the Cuban capital, say that the Maine was destroyed by a mine.
This is the opinion of several American naval authorities. The Spaniards, it is believed, arranged to have the Maine anchored over one of the harbor mines. If this can be proven, the brutal nature of the Spaniards will be shown.
Assistant Secretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt says he is convinced that the destruction of the Maine in Havana Harbor was not an accident.
The Journal offers a reward of $50,000 for any evidence that will convict the person, persons or government criminally responsible for the destruction of the American battleship and the death of 258 of its crew.
The suspicion that the Maine was deliberately blown up grows stronger every hour. Not a single fact to the contrary has been produced....
Telegram from Fitzhugh Lee, to Assistant Secretary of State Day, 27 November, 1897 (modified/link to original)
Lee was an American Consul in Cuba, biography. In the late 1800’s, the Spanish were losing control of their colony, Cuba. Concerned about rebellion, they moved many Cubans to "reconcentration" camps .The Spanish claimed they were “protecting them”. Newspaper reports described the "reconcentrados."
460 women and children were thrown in piles like animals, sick, dying, and dead.
Among the many deaths we witnessed, there was one scene impossible to forget. A girl of 18, laying lifeless on the ground; the body of a young mother, cold and rigid, but with her young child still alive clinging to her dead breast. the corpse of a dead woman holding her son in a dead embrace. From all this evidence, we think that the number of deaths among the reconcentrados has amounted to 77 percent.
Marie Elizabeth Lamb, Awake United States! New Orleans, LA: 1898
(the song is below the cover image)
Eagle soar on high, and sound the battle cry!
1. How proudly sailed the warship Maine,
a Nation's pride, without a stain!
A wreck she lies, her sailors slain.
By two-faced butchers, paid by Spain!
Eagle soar on high,
And sound the battle cry
Wave the starry flag!
In mud it shall not drag!
Awake! it is no dream;
Do you hear the sailors scream?
Comrades will you go?
Avenge the cruel blow!
And crush their marble heart!
M.C. Thayer, Columbia Make Cuba Free, Frank Van Cauwenbergh Music, 1898
(lyrics below the cover page)
The captives from Cabanas
Hail thy sweet liberty;
Columbia, as civilized nation,
Hear my appeal, be kind and generous;
To thee the slave owes his emancipation.
In my distress I call on thy heroes;
My children starved, murdered or enslaved.
My soil laid waste and my defenders slain,
From all my wealth and harvest rich bereaved.
Columbia, deliver me from Spain!
Columbia, my struggling sons inspire,
And fill their hearts with love for liberty;
Thy magic name has set their ranks on fire.
The struggle is on, we will be dead or free.
The hour is past where Spain by persecution
May in abjection rule us with her law;
Cuba will have her own free constitution,
Under thy wings, O free Columbia!
It is not peace, nor is it war. It is desolation and distress, misery and starvation. The reconcentrados are virtually prison yards for the poor reconcentrado women and children.
Torn from their homes, with foul earth, foul water and foul food or none, it is no wonder that one-half have died and that one-quarter of the living are so sick that they cannot be saved. Little children walk about terribly emaciated, eyes swollen and abdomen bloated to three times the natural size.
“I went to Cuba thinking that the picture had been overdrawn. I could not believe that out of a population of one million six hundred thousand, two hundred thousand had died in these Spanish reconcentrados within a few months due to starvation and diseases.
It must be seen with one's own eyes to be realized. When I visited Los Pasos Hospital in Havana I saw four hundred women and children lying on the stone floors in an indescribable state of emaciation and disease!
In 1898, the New York Journal published an illustration titled “The Cuban Mother”.
In 1896, the artist C.J. Taylor created a cartoon titled "The Cuban melodrama" for Puck Magazine.
Library of Congress summary
Caption:
The Noble Hero (to the Heavy Villain)- Stand back, there gol darn ye! - If you force this thing to a fifth act, remember that’s where I git in my work!
Louis Dalrymple, The duty of the hour; - to save her not only from Spain, but from a worse fate, Puck, 1898
Library of Congress summary
Kurz & Allison, Destruction of the U.S. battleship Maine in Havana Harbor Feb 15th, 1898, 1898.
Library of Congress summary
Grant Hamilton, "The Spanish Brute." Adds Mutilation to Murder Judge Magazine 1898
Video of the Funeral parade of nine of the victims of the "Maine" disaster", recorded at Key West, Fla., March 27, 1898. source
Steele, Will poor Cuba look in vain?" Denver Post, March 1898
Bart, No Room for him on this side, Minneapolis Journal, April 1898
Supporting Question #2: Why do some people believe the United States does not have the right/responsibility to involve its military in another country's revolutions?
The dictionaries define “patriotism” as “love of one's country,” and “patriot” as “one who loves and faithfully serves his country.”
These definitions should be kept in mind, especially at a time of warlike excitement when the word “patriotism” is on every lip.
To “serve one's country faithfully” means not only to love it, but to consider what is best for it, and then act appropriately.
We admire as the highest sign of patriotism the voluntary sacrifice of one's life in battle for one's country. This kind of patriotism captures the imagination, but makes us forget another kind of self-sacrificing which is far more useful. While war can help a country, there are less cruel ways than war to accomplish goals.
The man who resists clamor for an unnecessary war, exposing himself to the criticism of lacking patriotism, in order to save his country from a great calamity, is a far better patriot one than those who cry for war, especially if they let others do the fighting.
There is no belief more dangerous to the liberties of a free people than the belief that clamoring for war is a sign of patriotism. Can true patriotism possibly be eager to rush our country into war while there is a chance for honorable peace?
The Hartford Post, Their Real Feeling, 1898 (modified/link to original)
Under the disguise of a desire to help a people struggling for liberty, Congress has talked for months in favor of intervention by the United States to help the Cuban insurgents. Within the last week, however, it has thrown off its cloak and shown its true character. Its motive for Cuba has been, not a love of liberty, not sympathy with human suffering, but simple bloodthirstiness. It has been crazy to fight somebody, and Spain is a convenient target.
The talk at every gathering of Congressmen has been strongly in favor of war in any event. Even if Spain apologized for the loss of the Maine; even if she allowed us to send supplies and medicine to relieve the reconcentrados; even if she surrendered her rule in Cuba; Congress would still demand blood. It is hard to believe that savages of this sort continue to display themselves in public in this end of the 19th century of Christian civilization! Whether we are willing to believe it or not, the fact stares us in the face.
Blood, war, revenge, these are the words of the hour with the men whom the people have sent to Congress to make laws for their civil government. These words show their real feeling.
Maine’s Hull Will Decide, New York Times, February, 1898 (modified)
Divers Will Inspect the Ship’s Hull to Find Out Whether the Explosion Was from the Outside or Inside. Magazines of WarShips Sometimes Blow Up Because of Too Much Heat Inside – Hard to Blow Up the Magazine from the Outside.
Secretary Long was asked whether he thought this was the work of the enemy. He replied: “I do not. I think from the signs, however, that there was an accident – that the magazine exploded. How that came about I do not know.
Captain Schuley, who knows a great deal about war ships, did not think the Maine had been destroyed on purpose.
He did not believe that the Spanish or Cubans in Havana had either the information or the equipment necessary to blow up the magazine, while the Maine was under guard.
In 1895, the artist Bernhard Gillam drew a cartoon titled "The Trouble In Cuba" for Judge magazine. (source)
In 1898, the artist Louis Linscott drew a cartoon titled "Uncle Sam celebrates Arbor Day".
Library of Congress summary
A newspaper from Berlin named Kladderadatsch published a cartoon titled "This Encounter Does Not Seem, at Present, Exactly A Happy One For Poor Cuba", Kladderadatsch (Paper from Berlin)
Manuel Moliné, LA FATLERA DEL ONCLE SAM, La Campana de Gràcia (Spanish Paper), 1896
Translations: (Top) "Uncle Sam's craving",
(below): "To keep the island so it won't get lost."
Eduardo Sáenz Hermúa, “Refran de actualidad, por mecahis”, Blanco y Negro (Spanish Magazine), 1896 (source)
Title Translation: “current news, by sugar”
Subtitle: “Quien mantiene a cerdo ajeno, pierde el pienso y pierde el cerdo.”
Subtitle Translation: “Who keeps a pig from others, loses the feed and loses the pig.”
The American “sindicato azucarero” (Sugar Union), feeds the Cuban Insurrection Pig “Beligerancia” (belligerence)
La Situacio De Cuba, La Campana de Gracia (Spanish Magazine), March 1891.
Caption translation: "On Cuba sinking lurks ... an eagle! Spanish, we are alert! Havana will be lost”
Book of cartoons from the Events surrounding Cuba source
cartoons spanamerican war.pdfWhat were the results of the debate over the Resolution for the Independence of Cuba? (source: Library of Congress)
Following its declaration of war against Spain issued on April 25, 1898, the United States added the Teller Amendment asserting that it would not attempt to exercise control over Cuba. Two days later Commodore George Dewey sailed from Hong Kong with Emilio Aguinaldo on board. Fighting began in the Philippine Islands at the Battle of Manila Bay on May 1 where Commodore George Dewey reportedly exclaimed, "You may fire when ready, Gridley," and the Spanish fleet under Rear Admiral Patricio Montojo was destroyed. However, Dewey did not have enough manpower to capture Manila so Aguinaldo's guerrillas maintained their operations until 15,000 U.S. troops arrived at the end of July. On the way, the cruiser Charleston stopped at Guam and accepted its surrender from its Spanish governor who was unaware his nation was at war. Although a peace protocol was signed by the two belligerents on August 12, Commodore Dewey and Maj. Gen. Wesley Merritt, leader of the army troops, assaulted Manila the very next day, unaware that peace had been declared.
In late April, Andrew Summers Rowan made contact with Cuban General Calixto García who supplied him with maps, intelligence, and a core of rebel officers to coordinate U.S. efforts on the island. The U.S. North Atlantic Squadron left Key West for Cuba on April 22 following the frightening news that the Spanish home fleet commanded by Admiral Pascual Cervera had left Cadiz and entered Santiago, having slipped by U.S. ships commanded by William T. Sampson and Winfield Scott Schley. They arrived in Cuba in late May.
War actually began for the U.S. in Cuba in June when the Marines captured Guantánamo Bay and 17,000 troops landed at Siboney and Daiquirí, east of Santiago de Cuba, the second largest city on the island. At that time Spanish troops stationed on the island included 150,000 regulars and 40,000 irregulars and volunteers while rebels inside Cuba numbered as many as 50,000. Total U.S. army strength at the time totaled 26,000, requiring the passage of the Mobilization Act of April 22 that allowed for an army of at first 125,000 volunteers (later increased to 200,000) and a regular army of 65,000. On June 22, U.S. troops landed at Daiquiri where they were joined by Calixto García and about 5,000 revolutionaries.
U.S. troops attacked the San Juan heights on July 1, 1898. Dismounted troopers, including the African-American Ninth and Tenth cavalries and the Rough Riders commanded by Lt. Col. Theodore Roosevelt went up against Kettle Hill while the forces led by Brigadier General Jacob Kent charged up San Juan Hill and pushed Spanish troops further inland while inflicting 1,700 casualties. While U.S. commanders were deciding on a further course of action, Admiral Cervera left port only to be defeated by Schley. On July 16, the Spaniards agreed to the unconditional surrender of the 23,500 troops around the city. A few days later, Major General Nelson Miles sailed from Guantánamo to Puerto Rico. His forces landed near Ponce and marched to San Juan with virtually no opposition.
Representatives of Spain and the United States signed a peace treaty in Paris on December 10, 1898, which established the independence of Cuba, ceded Puerto Rico and Guam to the United States, and allowed the victorious power to purchase the Philippines Islands from Spain for $20 million. The war had cost the United States $250 million and 3,000 lives, of whom 90% had perished from infectious diseases.