Atlas of Hispanic-American History

The land assault in Cuba forced the
Spanish Caribbean fleet to leave the shel-
ter of Santiago. U.S. naval forces
destroyed the fleet on July 3 as it tried to
escape westward, and Santiago surren-
dered to Shafter on July 17, effectively
ending the war in Cuba. An American
force led by General Nelson Miles occu-
pied Puerto Rico shortly afterward.
Manila fell in August. The fighting had
ended in just four months. U.S. battle
casualties had been relatively light, with
385 battle deaths. Many more
Americans—2,061—died of other causes,
especially yellow fever.
The Treaty of Paris, signed on
December 10, 1898, ended the Spanish-
American War. By the terms of that
treaty, Spain renounced all of its claims
to Cuba, leaving the island for the
moment under U.S. control, even
though the United States had earlier
denied any intention of permanent con-
trol through the Teller Amendment.
Puerto Rico and Guam were ceded out-
right to the United States, and the
Philippine Islands were sold to the
United States for sum of $20 million.
Spain emerged from the war with the last
vestiges of its storied empire gone. The
United States, on the other hand,
emerged as a colonial power, with two
Hispanic-American islands in the
Caribbean now under its sway.

THE “BIG STICK”:

THE UNITED STATES IN

LATIN AMERICA

In the aftermath of the Spanish-American
War, the United States, itself once a
colony that had waged a war of independ-
ence to free itself of foreign domination,
found itself for the first time with over-
seas colonies of its own. Although Cuba
would be at least politically independent
during the early years of the 20th centu-
ry—if not economically independent as
well—the United States would claim the
Philippines and the islands of Guam and
Puerto Rico as dependent territories. For
more than four decades, these territories
were governed by U.S. appointees, who
were charged with carrying out policies
devised in Washington, D.C. Even Cuba
was not truly independent: for almost 60

years, its economy was dominated by

U.S. business interests, and the country

even needed to grant the United States

the right to intervene in its affairs “in

order to maintain Cuba’s independence.”

During the early 20th century, the close

ties between the United States and both

Cuba and Puerto Rico created a greater

sense of the historical links between the

United States and Hispanic America. At

the same time, these ties also sowed the

seeds of resentment that laid the ground

for a century of conflict.

Luis Muñoz Rivera and

the Fight for Puerto

Rican Independence

Although the Spanish-American War lib-

erated Puerto Rico from Spain, it had the

immediate effect of derailing Puerto Rican

progress toward greater self-government.

In December 1897 Puerto Rico had

already received a Charter of Autonomy

from Spain. General elections were held in

March 1898, and on July 18 the island

legislature met for the first time. Luis

Muñoz Rivera (1859–1916), the patriot

who had spearheaded the movement for

autonomy, was made head of the powerful

A TIME OF TRANSITION 123

A rural schoolhouse in Puerto Rico at the turn of the 20th century (Library of Congress)