Long term, would the US have been better off annexing Cuba after winning the Spanish-American war?
It’s difficult to speculate why decisions were made 125 years ago. But after the US beat Spain in the Spanish-American war, the US got control of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines.
The US could have pressed the issue and taken control of Cuba, too, but since (among other reasons) the Spanish American War was about Cuban independence, the US couldn’t really assert control without being seen as hypocritical.
Thinking forward to the 1960s and then to today, would the US have been better off making Cuba a territory or a state? Russia wouldn’t have had the western hemisphere influence that it does. Castro wouldn’t have risen to power, the whole Bay of Pigs fiasco wouldn’t have happened. JFK probably wouldn’t have been assassinated, and the US would have a friendly and productive state to the south.
Was it a mistake to not take Cuba in 1898 as American?
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11 Answers
Close enemies keep your citizens in line.
No. We’ve had enough difficulty with Puerto Rico, and Washington has shown no inclination to let PR go free or to make it a state.
Probably! Seems it was a mistake giving the Philippines its independence. Prematurely as it turned out to be. It didn’t take long before a President clung to power and turned dictator.
Colonization is almost always a mistake and ultimately a disaster.
Maybe. Batista and Castro were both horrible, I don’t know much about other leaders in Cuba. I don’t see why Cuba had to be destined for socialism and communism though; it could have gone a different way.
I think having small islands to take care of is an added burden probably for countries, not a bonus. I actually never thought about that. How does the US benefit from having PR or USVU as a territories? Maybe Guam has a strategic location for us.
@zenvelo When Clinton was president Puerto Rico voted against becoming a state when they had a chance, I don’t know if there was a vote recently. They don’t pay US federal taxes and as far as I know the majority don’t want to. You say go free, do Puerto Ricans want to give up their US passports? I have never heard that. Is that what you mean?
I don’t know about 1898, but I have long thought that if the US had not banned trade with Cuba in the 1960s, Castro would have been overwhelmed by American consumer culture and Cuba would either be the 51st state or a capitalistic democracy.
@Call_Me_Jay Interesting. Cuba still does business with a lot of countries, why do you think the US would have made such a difference? Venezuela went socialist in the last 20 years and the US was trading with them.
I think Miami would be much different if we had been trading with Cuba, maybe asylum for Cubans never would have lasted so long.
The Teller Amendment was an amendment to the United States declaration of war on Spain in 1898 that promised Cuba’s independence after the Spanish-American War:
Purpose. The amendment was intended to show that the United States had no colonial intentions and would support Cuba’s independence.
In short, the U.S. would help Cuba gain independence from Spain and then withdraw all its troops from the country.
These kind of hypothetical questions leave me not even able to understand the line of questioning. It just can’t be assessed. Sure then, no. You also can’t mess with history.
That’s like asking the Brits how they would be if the didn’t let the US have their freedom.
Many Brits just say “we let you win. we didn’t want you anyway”
@JLeslie Yes, the independence movement has waned, but DC is not in a mood to make it a state. So it continues as a red-headed step child, under obligation of the US but not getting as much recognition or assistance it needs.
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