Historians differ over the meaning of the Platt amendment for Cuban independence. Their views upon this subject have relevance not only for other historians but for those who may be interested in the use of power by the United States in world affairs. The historical literature of the Platt amendment depicts the clash between the security and self-determination interests of the United States and Cuba, and provides an instructive phase of the continuing Cuban question that has intermittently agitated public opinion from the days of Thomas Jefferson to those of Fidel Castro.
Type Research Article Information The Americas , Volume 23 , Issue 4 , April 1967 , pp. 343 - 369 Copyright © Academy of American Franciscan History 1967Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)
1 U. S., Statutes-at-Large, XXXI, 897–98. The relevant portions of the Joint Resolution are quoted in the preamble to the Platt amendment. Two pertinent sections of the Treaty of Paris are as follows: “Article I, Spain relinquishes all claim of sovereignty over and title to Cuba. And as the island is, upon its evacuation by Spain, to be occupied by the United States, the United States will, so long as such occupation shall last, assume and discharge the obligations that may under international law result from the fact of its occupation, for the protection of life and property. Article XVI, It is understood that any obligations assumed in this treaty by the United States with respect to Cuba are limited to the time of its occupancy thereof; but it will upon the termination of such occupancy, advise any Government established in the island to assume the same obligations.” Malloy , W. M. (ed.), Treaties, Conventions, International Acts, Protocols and Agreements between the United States of America and Other Powers ( Washington , 1910 ), II , 1690–95.Google Scholar
2 For contemporary articles, see Trelles y Govin , Carlos M. , Biblioteca histórica cubana ( 3 vols.; Matanzas , 1922 -27)Google Scholar ; for general bibliography see Chapman , C.E. , A History of the Cuban Republic ( New York , 1927 )Google Scholar ; Fitzgibbon , R.H. , Cuba and the United States ( Menasha , 1935 )Google Scholar ; Healy , D.F. , The United States in Cuba, 1898–1902 ( Madison , 1963 )Google Scholar ; also see Smith , Robert Freeman , “ Twentieth Century Cuban Historiography ,” HAHR , XLIV , no. 1 (Feb., 1964 ), 44 -73Google Scholar ; Hellman , Florence , List of References on the Platt Amendment ( Washington : GPO , 1934 ).Google Scholar
3 Constitución de la República de Cuba, comentada (Havana, 1902), pp. 141–45.