ResultsoftheSpanishAmericanWar

Essay In May of 1900, the US Congress initiated civil government in Puerto Rico with the Foraker Act. The US continued to exercise the controlling power, which was a condition that proved repugnant to many Puerto Ricans. As a consequence, the law was subsequently amended to give Puerto Ricans a wider role in the government. The majority of Puerto Ricans eventually demanded a larger quantity of local control and many other changes. During World War I, the US Congress passed the Jones Act, which came into effect in March of 1917. It conferred full territorial status on the island, gave US citizenship to its inhabitants, and limited its self-government only by the veto of a governor appointed by the president of the US. The act failed to grant the measure of self determination that Puerto Ricans had demanded in light of the democratic tradition of the US, because key officials, including the governor, remained presidential appointees and were thus beyond local control. In spite of the legal limits on political autonomy, Puerto Ricans slowly developed a sense of greater liberty as a result of the change of sovereignty. The powers of the church and the state were separated, which resulted in open competition for religious adherence. Government programs began to deal directly with the vital needs of the people, including education, health and sanitation, and the regulation of working conditions, which were designed to remedy centuries of neglect. In the Treaty of Paris (1898) the United States acquired Guam, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico for 20 million dollars. The people living in the Philippines fought against U.S. rule for independence. This uprising caused another war known as the Philippine War. Unlike the Spanish- American war that had only a few days of actual combat, the Philippine War lasted for four years. The main form of combat in the Philippine War was guerilla warfare, but America used Guam as a U.S. navy base, which helped us. After the Spanish-American War, Spain gives up their power over Cuba and ceded Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines to the U.S. But soon after, the Philippines and Cuba rebelled against the United States; the U.S. started fighting a war against the Philippines and in the 1930’s Cuba became anti-American and ended America’s intervention in their affairs stated in the Platt Amendment. The Platt Amendment gave the U.S. the right to get involved in Cuba’s affairs to protect “life, liberty, and individual liberties”. The Platt Amendment also gave the U.S. the rights to Guantanamo Bay, located at the tip of Cuba, which the U.S. turned into a naval base in 1903. The main reason as to why the Spanish- American was a splendid little war because it didn’t last long and stopped Spanish rule in the new world while giving Americans many new countries. Images Foraker Act Treaty of Paris (1898) Source List Philippines: http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/mkinly3.htm Foraker Act: http://search.eb.com/eb/article-54555 Jones Act: http://search.eb.com/eb/article-77837 Treaty of Paris: http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/subtitles.cfm?titleID=33 http://www.pbs.org/crucible/ http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h820.html