Platt+Amendment

The Platt Amendment

During the Spanish-American War, the Teller Amendment allowed Cuba's sovereignty as an independent nation, as par of the war resolution of 1898. But U.S. troops continued to stay in Cuba from 1898 to 1901. By 1901, Congress withdrew the troops with the condition that Cuba except its terms, which were included in an amendment to an army appropriations bill, the Platt Amendment. This Amendment required Cuba to:

1. never sign a treaty with a foreign power that impaired its independence 2. never build an excessive public debt. 3. allow the U.S. to intervene in Cuban affairs to preserve its independence and maintain law and order. 4. allow the U.S. to maintain naval bases in Cuba, including Guantanamo Bay.

The U.S. wanted to protect its commercial interests, but needed something to maintain their presence and order. Those against annexation in Congress put the Teller Amendment in the 1898 war resolution and allowed President McKinley to take action against Spain in the Spanish-American War. By directly inserting the requirements of the Platt Amendment into the Cuban constitution, the McKinley Administration was able to shape Cuban affairs without violating the Teller Amendment. General Leonard Wood, commander of the U.S. occupation forces and military governor of Cuba, presented the Platt Amendment to the delegates of the Cuban Constitutional Convention in late 1900. Although the Cuban delegates saw how it would significantly limited Cuban sovereignty and originally rejected it entirely, the U.S. Government promised them a trade treaty guaranteeing Cuban sugar exports access to the U.S. market. The Cuban Constitutional Convention finally ratified it on June 12, 1901, by a vote of 16 to 11. Cuba became a U.S. protectorate, making its foreign policy open to U.S. control. In fact, the U.S. intervened in several Cuban affairs in 1906, 1912, 1917, and 1920. By 1934, rising Cuban nationalism and criticism of the Platt Amendment resulted in its repeal as part of Franklin D. Roosevelt's Good Neighbor policy toward Latin America. The United States did keep Guantanamo Bay.

More info: The amendment was named after Senator Orville Platt of Connecticut, however, it was drafted mostly by Secretary of War Elihu Root. Other conditions of the Amendment were that it demanded that the Cuban Government construct plans to improve sanitary conditions on the island, relinquish claims on the Isle of Pines (//Isla de la Juventud//), and agree to sell or lease territory for coaling and naval stations to the United States.

Here's the actual Platt Amendment: http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/cuba/platt-amendment.htm

Sources: AMSCO http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/platt.htm http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/time/ip/86557.htm http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=old&doc=55