Treaty of Paris (1898)

The Spanish–American War began on April 25, 1898, due to a series of escalating disputes between the two nations, and ended on December 10, 1898, with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. It resulted in Spain's loss of its control over the remains of its overseas empire. After much of mainland in the Americas had achieved independence, Cubans tried their hand at revolution in 1868–1878, and again in the 1890s, led by José Martí. The Philippines at this time also became resistant to Spanish colonial rule. August 26, 1896, presented the first call to revolt, led by Andrés Bonifacio, succeeded by Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy. Aguinaldo then negotiated the Pact of Biak-na-Bato with the Spaniards and went into exile to Hong Kong along with the other revolutionary leaders. The Spanish–American War that followed had overwhelming public support in the United States due to the popular fervor towards supporting Cuban freedom. On September 16, President William McKinley issued secret written instructions to his emissaries as the Spanish–American War drew to a close: ==Negotiations==

Article V of the peace protocol between United States and Spain on August 12, 1898, read as follows: The composition of the American commission was somewhat unusual in that three of its members were senators, which meant, as many newspapers pointed out, that they would later vote on the ratification of their own negotiations. These were American delegation's members: • William R. Day, chairman, who had resigned as U.S. Secretary of State to lead the commission • William P. Frye, a senator from Maine • Cushman Kellogg Davis, a senator from Minnesota • George Gray, a senator from Delaware • Whitelaw Reid, a former diplomat and a former nominee for Vice President , Secretary of State, signing the memorandum of ratification on behalf of the United States The Spanish commission included the following Spanish diplomats: • Eugenio Montero Ríos, • Buenaventura de Abarzuza, • José de Garnica, • Wenceslao Ramírez de Villa-Urrutia, • Rafael Cerero, and • Jules Cambon (French diplomat). The American delegation, headed by former Secretary of State William R. Day, who had vacated his position as U.S. Secretary of State to head the commission, arrived in Paris on September 26, 1898. The negotiations were conducted in a suite of rooms at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. At the first session, on October 1, the Spanish demanded that before the talks got underway, the return of the city of Manila, which had been captured by the Americans a few hours after the signing of the peace protocol in Washington, to Spanish authority. The Americans refused to consider the idea and, for the moment, it was pursued no further. Felipe Agoncillo, a Filipino lawyer who represented the First Philippine Republic, was denied participation in the negotiation. For almost a month, negotiations revolved around Cuba. The Teller Amendment to the declaration of war made it impractical for the United States to annex the island as it had with Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines. The negotiators then turned to the question of the Philippines. Spanish negotiators were determined to hang onto all they could and hoped to cede only Mindanao and perhaps the Sulu Islands. Others had recommended retaining only the island of Luzon. However, in discussions with its advisers, the commission concluded that Spain, if it retained part of the Philippines, would be likely to sell it to another European power, which would likely be troublesome for America. On November 25, the American Commission cabled McKinley for explicit instructions. Their cable crossed one from McKinley saying that duty left him no choice but to demand the entire archipelago. The next morning, another cable from McKinley arrived: This position was proposed by U.S. negotiators, though they considered it unsound, and was formally rejected on November 4. Spain was in distressed financial condition, and was responsible for considerable Cuban debt, having been sovereign when the debts were incurred. Estimating U.S. costs in the war at $300 million and regarding Porto Rico as worth only a fraction of that, the negotiators favored acquisition of the Philippines as indemnity for the balance. Seeking a solution to avoid collapse of the negotiations, Senator Frye suggested offering Spain $10 or $20 million, describing the purpose as the assumption of existing debts incurred for improvements of a pacific nature. The State Department approved, though it considered this odious. After some discussion, the American delegation offered $20 million on November 21, one tenth of a valuation that had been estimated in internal discussions in October, and requested an answer within two days. Montero Ríos said angrily that he could reply at once, but the American delegation had already departed from the conference table. When the two sides met again, Queen-Regent Maria Christina had cabled her acceptance. Montero Ríos then recited his formal reply: Work on the final draft of the treaty began on November 30. It was signed on December 10, 1898. ==Ratification==

Spanish ratification In Madrid, the Cortes Generales, Spain's legislature, rejected the treaty, but Maria Christina signed it as she was empowered to do by a clause in the Spanish constitution. U.S. ratification In the Senate, there were four main schools of thought on U.S. imperialism that influenced the debate on the treaty's ratification. Republicans generally supported the treaty, but those opposed either aimed to defeat the treaty or exclude the provision that stipulated the acquisition of the Philippines. Most Democrats, particularly in the South, opposed expansion. A minority of Democrats also favored the treaty on the basis of ending the war and granting independence to Cuba and the Philippines. During the Senate debate on ratification, Senators George Frisbie Hoar and George Graham Vest were outspoken opponents. Hoar stated: Some anti-expansionists stated that the treaty committed the United States to a course of empire and violated the most basic tenets of the constitution. They argued that neither the Congress nor the President had the right to pass laws that governed colonial peoples who were not represented by lawmakers. Some Senate expansionists supported the treaty and reinforced such views by arguing: Expansionists said that the Constitution applied only to citizens, an idea that was later supported by the Supreme Court in the Insular Cases. As the Senate debate continued, Andrew Carnegie and former President Grover Cleveland petitioned the Senate to reject the treaty. Both men adamantly opposed such imperialist policies and participated in the American Anti-Imperialist League, along with other such prominent members as Mark Twain and Samuel Gompers. Fighting erupted between Filipino and American forces in Manila on February 4, and quickly escalated into a battle between armies. This changed the course of debate in the Senate in favor of ratification. The treaty was eventually approved on February 6, 1899, by a vote of 57 to 27, just over the two-thirds majority required. Only two Republicans voted against ratification: George Frisbie Hoar of Massachusetts and Eugene Pryor Hale of Maine. Senator Nelson W. Aldrich had opposed entry into the Spanish–American War but supported McKinley after it began. He played a central role in winning the treaty's two-thirds majority ratification. Source: ==Provisions==

The Treaty of Paris provided for the independence of Cuba from Spain, but the U.S. Congress ensured indirect U.S. control by the Platt Amendment and the Teller Amendment. Spain relinquished all claims of sovereignty over and title to Cuba. Upon Spain's departure, Cuba was to be occupied by the United States, which would assume and discharge any obligations of international law by its occupation. The treaty also specified that Spain would cede Puerto Rico and the other islands under Spanish sovereignty in the West Indies as well as the island of Guam in the Mariana Islands to the United States. was further clarified by the Convention Between the United States and Great Britain (1930). ==Aftermath==

In the United States Victory in the Spanish–American War turned the United States into a world power because the attainment of the territories of Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines expanded its economic dominance in the Pacific. Its growth continued to have effects on U.S. foreign and economic policy well into the next century. Furthermore, McKinley's significant role in advancing the ratification of the treaty transformed the presidential office from a weaker position to a prototype of the stronger presidency that is more seen today. In Spain The ''Generation of '98'' in Spain comprised those Spanish writers deeply impacted by the events and committed to cultural and aesthetic renewal. They were associated with modernism. The term refers to the moral, political and social crisis in Spain produced by the humiliating loss of the worldwide empire. The intellectuals are known for their criticism of the Spanish literary and educational establishments, which they saw as steeped in conformism, ignorance, and a lack of any true spirit. Their criticism was coupled with and heavily connected to the group's dislike for the Restoration Movement that was occurring in Spanish government. A few years after the war, during the reign of Alfonso XIII, Spain improved its commercial position and maintained close relations with the United States, which led to the signing of commercial treaties between the two countries in 1902, 1906 and 1910. Spain would turn its attention to its possessions in Africa (especially northern Morocco, Spanish Sahara and Spanish Guinea) and would begin to rehabilitate itself internationally after the Algeciras Conference of 1906. In the Philippines Philippine revolutionaries had declared independence from Spain on June 12, 1898, and continued to resist the imposition of American sovereignty. On August 12, 1898, representatives of Spain and the US concluded a peace protocol in Washington D.C., suspending hostilities. Article 3 of that agreement specified, "The United States shall occupy and hold the City, Bay. and harbour of Manila, pending the conclusion of a treaty of peace which shall determine the control, disposition, and government of the Philippines." Representatives of Spain and the U.S. concluded the treaty in Paris on December 10, ending the war between them. Article 3 ceded the Philippines from Spain to the U.S. The 1899 Battle of Manila between American and Filipino troops on February 4–5, 1899, then ignited the Philippine-American War, which concluded with an American victory in 1902. In the meantime, Spain and the U.S. exchanged treaty ratifications on April 11, 1899, completing the passage of Philippine sovereignty to the U.S. In Mindanao The United States fought long brutal wars against the Moro sultanates in Mindanao from 1899 to 1913. It annexed the Sultanate of Maguindanao and the Confederation of sultanates in Lanao in 1905 after the Battle of the Malalag River and then annexed the Sultanate of Sulu in 1913 after the Battle of Bud Bagsak. In Puerto Rico The armistice of August 12, 1898, which served as the basis for the Treaty of Paris, established that the peace commissioners would be appointed exclusively by the United States and Spain, with no provision for Puerto Rican representation. The five American commissioners began their work in Paris on September 30, 1898, while Puerto Rico's political leadership—then still formally governing the island under the Autonomous Charter of 1897—remained in San Juan with no role in the negotiations that would determine the island's sovereignty. During the weeks between the armistice and the formal transfer of Puerto Rico, the island's autonomous government took no collective action to seek representation in Paris or to articulate Puerto Rican interests before the negotiating parties. On October 13, 1898—while the American commissioners in Paris were debating the disposition of Spain's colonial territories—Luis Muñoz Rivera dissolved the Partido Liberal Fusionista de Puerto Rico, citing the need to "facilitate the work of the American government." Two days earlier, on October 11, the Partido Autonomista Ortodoxo had also dissolved. With both major political organizations disbanded before the treaty was signed on December 10, 1898, Puerto Rican civil society entered the post-treaty period without organized political representation. ==See also==