2019 NEH Summer Institute, The Center for José Martí Studies Affiliate at the University of Tampa: “The Spanish-American War and Semi-Independence I and II” with Michael Conniff
Date
2019-07-01
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The University of Tampa
Abstract
Three themes begin this presentation: U.S. desires to annex Cuba, Cubans’ efforts to win
independence from Spain, and longstanding economic and cultural ties between Cuba and the
United States. José Martí’s efforts to free the island from Spanish colonialism culminated in a
military attack in which he died in 1895. Two military veterans of the independence struggle,
Antonio Maceo and Máximo Gómez, continued to fight and after two years stood on the verge
of victory. Spain’s vicious counterattacks drew adverse attention from the American public and
U.S. investors in the island. Jingoistic voices in the United States, especially in the press and
Theodore Roosevelt’s expansionist wing of the Republican Party, pushed for and got a declaration
of war against Spain in spring 1898. The four-month conflict led to U.S. victory and army
occupation of the island during the next four years. U.S. authorities kept Cuban independence
leaders out of the new government and, after debating annexation, committed to granting
independence, under strict limits imposed by the Platt Amendment.
Description
Please click on YouTube Video link above to stream the presentation.
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Keywords
Martí, José, 1853-1895, Platt Amendment, Spanish-American War, Maceo, Antonio, 1845-1896, Gómez, Máximo, 1836-1905, Roosevelt, Theodore, 1831-1878, Guerra de Independencia cubana