¶ … War for Cuban Conquest
In 1883, Frederick Jackson Turner gave a speech to the World's Columbian Exposition, introducing what is now known as the "Turner thesis" of American history. This thesis says "continental expansion...was the driving, dynamic factor of American progress. Without [it] America's political and social institutions would stagnate. If one adhered to this way of thinking, America must expand or die." (Musicant) It was an odd moment to being saying such things, and a prophetic one, for America has, perhaps unbeknownst to him, just run out of frontier to conquer. Further expansion had to be overseas. Of course, "overseas" was already conquered, had its own government, and its own citizens. Thus a war of conquest rose on the horizon for America. The perfect opportunity to conquer arose during what was...
In the 1820s, most Spanish colonies parted ways with Spain; Cuba did not, preferring not to face the
blood and gore of a prolonged battle. AS time passed, the colonial
government felt comfortable becoming increasingly cruel and overbearing. "The members of the planter class and the intellectuals who had initially opposed independence then began to show their dissatisfaction. Some, favoring reform over revolution, opted for demanding self-government within the
framework of the empire." (Hernandez) Some also sought annexation to the United States in order to preserve slavery, though that feeling faded after the civil war. In 1867 the Junta de Informaci n discussed reforms, and…
