“Imperialism,” refers to a country’s policy of extending their rule over foreign countries. Such actions usually arise from said country’s desire to subjugate a group of countries and their resources to establish an empire. On that note, the United States’ actions in the Caribbean region, specifically their invoking of the Platt Amendment in Cuba arises. Historian John Bartlow Martin supports this action by stating that it was conceptualized for the “strategic considerations” (Martin, 1978) of Cuba’s independence. In reality, this was an extension of the United States’ imperialism in the late 19th and early 20th century.
The USA played a big role in Cuba’s economy after 1875. From the time of the 1898 Spanish-American war until 1959, the U.S. also played an important political role in Cuba's internal and foreign policies. During 1898 the USA declared war on Spain. In 1898 the USA manages to defete Spain which gives up all claimes to cuba and surrenders it to the US. In 1902 Cuba becomes independent with Tomas Estrada Palma but the Platt Amendment keeps the island under US protection and gives the US the right to intervene in Cuban affairs.
If the United States cannot respond to a threat near our own borders, why should Europeans or Asians believe that we're seriously concerned about threats to them? If the Soviets can assume that nothing short of an actual attack on the United States will provoke an American response, which ally, which friend will trust us then? (Reagan, 2012). This statement had to do with his concern over the events that were happening in Central America, which during this time had the Pro Soviet Sandinista government running Nicaragua which in had just ridded itself a previous dictatorship in 1979. This was also problematic because in 1981, Sandinista-supported Marxist guerrillas launched an offensive against the government of El Salvador, which was pro-American (Russell, 2010).
Then, after McKinley declared war upon the Spanish in 1889, America could use imperialism to gain land and power in the world. America declared war on Spain in April 1889, not to gain land, but to assist Cuba in gaining its independence. Only later into the war, it realized how it can benefit through imperialism. The newly acquired land increased America’s resources and gave them new countries to trade with and worked as an advantage for the U.S. military as well. Turner believed that the idea of the frontier shaped the American being and their characteristics.
The USA was influenced to war heavily by Cuba, which was still part of Spain’s American empire, In 1895 Cuba wanted to become independent however it was still under the Spanish control which made it hard to become free. When Cuban nationalists, led by Jose Marti, began a revolt against Spanish rule they were backed by America however they were quickly dealt with by the Spanish army. The president at the time William McKinley also believed in the moral perspective of the Whiteman’s burden so they supported the Cuban population. The harsh methods of the Spanish (to stop the Cuban revolt) were criticised by the Americans, where there was a strong support for American intervention in Cuba. In February 1989 those who were seeking intervention got a big opportunity as the warship, the USS Maine, was blown up whilst stationed on the harbour of Havana.
The U.S is not justified in annexing the Philippines and fighting a war to keep it because it was just a chance to exploit people and land to earn power and prestige. On April 25, the United States declared war on Spain following the sinking of the Battleship U.S.S. Maine in Havana harbor sent by President McKinley to protect U.S citizens. Cuba was the first to initiate its own struggle for independence. Spain used ruthless brutal tactics to bring down the revolt where the U.S intervened due to sympathy for Cuban rebels.
Examine the role of the United States in the outcome of the Cuban revolution= The ties and tensions between Cuba and America are historic; with America’s aid Cuba was able to assert its independence from the Spanish colonies. Yet the United States were eyeing Cuba carefully, they saw not only economic and commercial opportunities but they saw their manifested destiny of expansion. As explained by future President John Quincy in 1823, Cuba is a natural appendage of the North American continent . There are many ways in which the United States affected the outcome of the Cuban revolution but the main three is the economic and political influence the United states had over Cuba since the 1700s, the use of containment and other cold war policies implemented by the united states which forced Cuba into the arms of the Soviet union dramatically influencing the outcome of the revolution and Americas actions in Latin America and elsewhere in the world. Cuba is located only 90 miles off Florida with harbours in strategic position for enemies to threaten war or conversely for America to use as a first line of defence.
– Latin America relations is that of foreign intervention. Foreign interventions have shaped the current region in a symbiotic relationship into the form of a partnership that was reformed from the imperialistic bipolar relationship the U.S. previously had with Latin America and Caribbean region. U.S. intervention has produced distinctive connections with different results. Within Cuba after “Cuba Libre”, the American occupation strengthened political alliances for Cuban politicians as a mean to secure national ascendancy (500). Continuing the method of eliciting cooperation from the region, the U.S. sought to strengthen stable military leaders exchanging loans and military assistance for the upkeep of U.S. national interests within the country, as seen with Trujillo and the U.S. relationships (128).
Panama Crisis * Theodore Roosevelt, who became president of the United States in 1901, believed that a U.S.-controlled canal across Central America was a vital strategic interest to the U.S. * The Panama Canal would shorten the distance that ships had to travel to pass between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The canal would permit shippers of commercial goods, ranging from automobiles to grain, to save time and money by transporting cargo more quickly. * Failed negotiations with Colombia, which owned Panama, led to the U.S. providing funds and a naval blockade in support of Panama's revolution. In a controversial move, Roosevelt implied to Panamanian rebels that if they revolted, the U.S. Navy would assist their cause for independence.
The Monroe Doctrine was the statement of U.S. policy toward Latin America. Scholars have interpreted the doctrine as the U.S. declaration of intent to be the principal power of the Western hemisphere.After Latin American nations overthrew Spanish and Portuguese rule in the early 1800s, the United States feared other European nations would try to claim the newly independent nations as colonies.President James Monroe's speech to Congress in late 1823 is known as the Monroe Doctrine. He declared the Americas off limits to any future European colonization and announced America's intention to stay out of European affairs.U.S. presidents invoked the Monroe Doctrine throughout the 1800s. For instance, James K. Polk told Europeans not to interfere in the U.S. dispute with Mexico over California and Texas in 1845.President Theodore Roosevelt's Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine in 1904 proclaimed the U.S. would intervene militarily in Latin American nations considered unstable.