United States and Cuba
Many countries of the world wanted to expand on their empire by overtaking small countries and colonies. Part of Spain's addition to their empire was Cuba located ninety miles off the coast of Florida. Spain's government was abusing and depressing the Cuban people and they wanted out of it. Their control of Cuba also violated the Monroe Doctrine which prohibited European governments from controlling land in the Americas. Eventually, Cuba wanted to gain their independence from Spain so the United States decided to intervene. The U.S. used the explosion of their U.S.S Maine ,which killed 258, people as a way to start a war with the Spaniards and take Cuba from them. The United States intervening with Spain became known as the Spanish-American War. The Spanish-American war was fought for ten years in both the Caribbean and the Pacific Ocean. Many wonder why the U.S wanted to control Cuba. The United States control of Cuba would benefit the country economically, geographically, and politically.
Cuba was known for being a major exporter of sugar, fruit, and tobacco. By controlling Cuba, the United States was able to control the export of these goods. After the United States took control of Cuba, many American sugar estates started to appear all around the island. This led to most of the sugar factories in Cuba being owned by Americans. By 1905, 10% of the land in Cuba was either owned or controlled by Americans. These statistics show how quickly Americans took advantage of all the opportunities that arose in Cuba. Another supporter of the growing economy in Cuba was The Cuba Company who built a railroad that stretched 350 miles across Cuba. This railroad helped boost the Cuban economy through the increase in transportation availability.
The geographic benefit of controlling Cuba was obvious because the island is only ninety miles off the coast of Florida. This made there be no problem of importing and exporting goods on and off the island. Cuba sat in the middle of many trade routes that went through the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. The island served as a great place to set up military bases to scope out ships nearing the mainland. The military presence also provided the Cubans with protection that would not be available otherwise.
Obviously the control of Cuba did not help the relationship between the United States and Spain. It did however, impact the citizens of the island. Civilian governors were named to help control the provinces of Cuba. Mayors and representatives were also appointed to help manage the municipalities. This provided a more stable environment for everyone that lived on the island.
Eventually the U.S had to give up their control of Cuba because that is what they promised with the Teller Amendment. This amendment basically stated that the U.S. would only be in Cuba until they could gain their Independence and get back on their feet. Through the years after this amendment was passed the relationship between Cuba and the United States turned bad. An embargo was put on Cuba which was ironic because the U.S. could not trade with all of the factories that they set up there at the start of the twentieth century. Just recently thought, on December 17, 2014, the United States reconnected with Cuba and has since started to normalize relations.
