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The Platt Amendment Revisited: A Bibliographical Survey

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2015

James H. Hitchman
James H. Hitchman*
Affiliation:
Western Washington State College, Bellingham, Washington
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Extract

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
Copyright © Academy of American Franciscan History 1967

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References

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.

4 Política cubana y sistema americano (Havana, 1902), 32 pp.

5 De la colonia a la república (Havana, 1919), pp. 198–99.

6 His autobiography, articles and proposals for U. S.-Cuban relations were edited by Emilio Roig de Leuchsenring, Por Cuba Libre (Havana, 1954).

7 República de Cuba. Senado. Memoria de los trabajos realizados durante las cuatro legislaturas y sesión extraordinaria del primer período congresional. 1902–1904. Mención Histórica. Documentación relacionada con los acontecimientos que dieron, como resultado definitivo, la independencia y el establecimiento en República de Cuba, 1892–1902 (Havana, 1918), pp. 191–93, 662–63.

8 Cómo se hizo la constitución de Cuba (Havana, 1928), pp. 70–110. Other convencionales made their proposals public, chiefly in Diario de la Marina and La Discusión, e.g., Diego Tamayo, Eliseo Giberga, Joaquín Quílez. Mención Histórica carries other proposals as well as the secret session summary minutes. Domingo Méndez Capote, Giberga and Sanguily, who left memoirs or “works” wrote nothing of their views on the Platt amendment in them. Hevia, Aurelio, Colección de artículos y documentos (Havana, 1908)Google Scholar, reprinted some of his articles from El Mundo.

9 Cuba, los primeros años de independencia (2 vols.; 3rd ed.; Paris, 1929), I, 288–91, 300–18, 359–75. The radicals hoped for new points of negotiation. Mención Histórica, pp. 562–67; cf. Wood Papers, Wood to Root, April 15, 1901, Library of Congress Manuscript Division (LCMD), who stated the Cubans were going to Washington in order to find a way to accept the Platt amendment.

10 Bartolomé Masó y Márquez (Havana, 1947), pp. 313–18, 321–25; see also, Infiesta, R., Máximo Gómez (Havana, 1937)Google Scholar; Sterling, Carlos Márquez, Don Tomás. Biografia de una época (Havana, 1953)Google Scholar. Gómez, the most influential man in Cuba after the death of Martí, urged unity and temporary cooperation with the United States in order to render occupation unnecessary, New York Times, June 7, 1899. For voting statistics and party alignments, see Riera, Mario, Cuba Politica, 1899–1955 (Havana, 1955).Google Scholar

11 Cuba y la enmienda Platt (Havana, 1921), pp. 43–5, 92, 98, 109. For a polemical critique, see Gandarilla, Julio César, Contra el Yanqui (Havana, 1913).Google Scholar

12 La enmienda Platt, estudio de su alcance e interpretación y doctrina sobre su aplicación (Havana, 1922), pp. 24–38, 79–118.

13 “Sobre la génesis de la enmienda Platt,” Cuba Contemporánea, XXX (Oct., 1922), 117–25.

14 “The Platt Amendment,” American Journal of International Law, XVII (Oct., 1923), 761–65.

15 “Génesis de la enmienda Platt,” Cuba Contemporánea, XL (May-August, 1926), 47–63. Jorge Roa pointed to Wilson’s role in the Platt amendment’s origins, Sanguily to Estrada Palma’s.

16 “The Platt Amendment,” Foreign Affairs, VIII (April, 1930), 364–78; also, Torriente, , La enmienda Platt (Havana, 1930)Google Scholar. He stressed a letter of Plan’s dated June 1, 1904, but did not check other sources. See notes 27, 45.

17 “Revolution in Cuba,” Foreign Affairs, XII (October, 1933); Martí: Apostle of Freedom (New York, 1950).

18 El proceso histórico de la enmienda Platt (Havana, 1941), p. 290.

19 La enmienda Platt (2 vols.; Havana, 1935), I, xxv, 15, 54–64, 77–103, 141, 178, only one of his many books and articles on American imperialism in Cuba. On the revisionists, see Corbitt, Duvon C., “Cuban Revisionist Interpretations of Cuba’s Struggle for Independence,” HAHR, XLIII, no. 3 (Aug., 1963), 395-404.Google Scholar

20 Historia de Cuba en sus relaciones con los Estados Unidos y España (4 vols.; Havana, 1937–42), IV, 9, 80–3, 90–110, 119, 170–72, 192, 214–15.

21 Historia constitucional de Cuba (Havana, 1942), pp. 19 ff., 281–341, and passim. Juan Clemente Zamora revived one of the arguments used in the convention when he claimed that the Platt law could be abolished because, as part of the constitution, it came under the provision for amendment. This, of course, did not take into consideration the fact that the Platt law was also a “permanent treaty” between the United States and Cuba. El estado y el ejército (Havana, 1917), pp. 170 ff. Cf. Corujo, E. Hernández, Los fundamentos históricos y filosóficos de la constitución de 1901 (Havana, 1953)Google Scholar, who emphasized the Enlightenment background to the constitution.

22 Historia de la nación cubana (10 vols.; Havana, 1952), VII, 105–113.

23 Armonias y conflictas en torno a Cuba (Mexico, D. F., 1956), pp. 286–304.

24 La cubanía aniquilada por la enmienda Platt (Sancti Spiritus, 1958), pp. 138, 165–66, 173, 242.

25 “Our Relation to the Peoples of Cuba and Porto Rico,” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, XVIII (July, 1901), 145–59; “The Pacification of Cuba,” Independent, LIII (June 27, 1901), 1464–68; “A Solution of the Cuban Problem,” World’s Work, II (May, 1901), 729–35.

26 “Pacification of Cuba,” Independent, pp. 1464–68.

27 Platt papers, Connecticut State Library, Platt to Jno. H. Flagg, Jan. 18, 1904; Wood papers, LCMD, Platt to Wood, April 24, 1901; Root papers, LCMD, Root to Hay, Jan. 11, 1901. Coolidge, L.A., An Old-Fashioned Senator: Orville H. Platt (N. Y., 1910)Google Scholar. Miss Kathleen Lawler, Platt’s devoted secretary, who saved many of his private papers and wrote a long memorandum on the drafting of the Platt amendment, remained convinced the Senator wanted Cuban independence. The Platt amendment, however, represented less stringent measures than Platt wanted. Platt Papers, Platt to Edwin F. Atkins, June 11, 1901.

28 “The Work of the Cuban Convention,” Forum, XXXI (June, 1901), 401–12; Cuba and the Intervention (New York, 1905).

29 Wilson papers, LCMD, Wilson to Robinson, May 22, 1899, Nov. 22, 1901, Nov. 29, 1901; Robinson, , “The Result in Cuba,” Independent, LIII (June, 1901), 1469-70.Google Scholar

30 Robinson, Cuba and the Intervention, pp. 224–29, 241, 269, 273–74.

31 Under the Old Flag (2 vols.; N.Y., 1912), II, 472–502; Wilson papers, Wilson to Root, Nov. 3, 1899, Wilson to D.W. Flagler, March 16, 1899, Wilson to Goldwyn Smith, Dec. 27, 1899.

32 Henry Moore Teller: Defender of the Old West (Caldwell, 1941), pp. 309–13, 342–44.

33 Notes on a Busy Life (2 vols.; Cincinnati, 1916), II, 52–55. An act of Congress in 1899 bearing his name prevented the American government from granting franchises in Cuba.

34 Cuba (New York, 1910), chs. five and seven, pp. 167–70.

35 The Recommendations of Habana Concerning International Organization (New York, 1917), pp. 3–11; cf. “The Origin and Purpose of the Platt Amendment,” American Journal of International Law, VIII (July, 1914), 585–91, an editorial, probably by Scott, who argued that Root conceived the policy, gave it to McKinley, who asked Platt to introduce it to Congress. The Platt amendment, as Scott saw it, was limited to Cuba, and not intended for general application to Latin America. Of course, elements of it could be seen in the interventions in Nicaragua, Haiti and Santo Domingo. Cf. Benton, E.J., International Law and the Spanish-American War (Baltimore, 1908), p. 290 Google Scholar, who held that the Platt amendment was “probably the first international agreement formally defining a right of forcible intervention.”

36 Imperialism and World Politics (New York, 1936; reissue), pp. 419–20.

37 Our Cuban Colony (New York, 1928), pp. 63–85, 312, part of a series edited by Harry Elmer Barnes entitled, “American Imperialism,” American Fund for Public Service Studies in American Investments Abroad. Nearing, S. and Freeman, J., Dollar Diplomacy (New York, 1925)Google Scholar, is another critical economic interpretation in this series.

38 A History of the Cuban Republic (New York, 1927), p. 151.

39 Leonard Wood, A Biography (2 vols.; New York, 1931), I, chs. ten to seventeen, passim; Wood, , “The Military Government of Cuba,” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, XXI(March, 1903), 53-82.Google Scholar

40 The Cuban Situation and Our Treaty Relations (Washington, 1931), pp. 184–85. For a capable summary analysis, see Buell, Raymond Leslie, Cuba and the Platt Amendment (New York, 1929)Google Scholar, for the Foreign Policy Association.

41 The Crime of Cuba (Philadelphia, 1933), pp. 173–83.

42 “Amending the Platt Amendment,” Foreign Affairs, XII (April, 1934), 448–57; The United States and Cuba (New York, 1934).

43 The United States and the Caribbean Area (Boston, 1934); see his expanded treatment, Intervention and Dollar Diplomacy in the Caribbean (Princeton, 1964), pp. vii, 24–31.

44 Cuba and the United States, 1900–1935 (Menasha, 1935), chs. one to three.

45 Elihu Root (2 vols.; New York, 1938), I, 306–25; Root papers, LCMD; Mención Histórica, no. 72, doc. M, Commission Report; cf. Cummins, Lejeune, “The Origin and Development of Elihu Root’s Latin American Diplomacy,” unpublished Ph. D. dissertation, University of California, Berkeley, 1964 Google Scholar, who stressed the legalistic, nationalistic, and intellectual background in Root’s foreign policy as he sought to protect the security of the Panama Canal route. Root’s own reasoning may be found in his private papers and his reports as Secretary of War. See also a convenient collection, Root, , The Military and Colonial Policy of the United States, Bacon, R. and Scott, J.B., eds. (Cambridge, 1916).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

46 A History of the Monroe Doctrine (Boston, 1963), 231–32.

47 The Caribbean Policy of the United States (Baltimore, 1942), pp. ix, 172–88.

48 The Latin American Policy of the United States (New York, 1943), pp. 138–41, 278–82; for other aspects, see Logan, J.A. Jr., No Transfer, An American Security Principle (New Haven, 1961)Google Scholar; Mecham, J.L., The United States and Inter-American Security, 1889–1960 (Austin, 1961).Google Scholar

49 In the Days of McKinley (New York, 1959), pp. 182–88, 568–70, 667; Dawes, C. G., A Journal of the McKinley Years, Timmons, B.N., ed. (Chicago, 1950), p. 263.Google Scholar

50 The Life of William McKinley (2 vols.; N. Y., 1918), II, 212, 334–75.

51 William McKinley and His America (Syracuse, 1963), pp. 447–49. Morgan erred in stating that the Cuban convention rejected the Platt amendment. While a few other authors and some of the contemporary press made the same mistake, Mención Histórica makes it clear that the moderates and conservatives prevented any rejection of the Platt amendment. Instead, the convention agreed to send the commission to Washington. Only about six of the thirty-one delegates were opposed to an accord with the United States at that point. Mención Histórica, pp. 559–63; Diario de la Marina, April 13, 1901; Patria, April 9, 1901; La Discusión, April 13, 1901; New York Times, April 13, April 14, 1901; Robinson, Cuba and the Intervention, pp. 260–65; notes 9, 20.

52 The United States in Cuba, 1898–1902 (Madison, 1963), pp. xii, 164, 167, 208–15; see also Smith, Robert Freeman, The United States and Cuba: Business and Diplomacy, 1917–1960 (New York, 1960)Google Scholar, critical of U.S. policy and the same author’s collection of documents, What Happened in Cuba? (New York, 1963).

53 Hitchman, J.H., “Leonard Wood and the Cuban Question, 1898–1902,” unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of California, Berkeley, 1965.Google Scholar

54 Plank, John N., “The Caribbean: Intervention, When and How,” Foreign Affairs, XLIV, no. 1 (Oct., 1965), 37-48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar