The Platt Amendment, an amendment to a U.S. army appropriations bill, established
the terms under which the United States would end its military occupation of
Cuba (which had begun in 1898 during the
Spanish-American
War) and “leave the government and control of the island of Cuba to its
people.” While the amendment was named after Senator Orville Platt of
Connecticut, it was drafted largely by Secretary of War
Elihu Root. The Platt
Amendment laid down eight conditions to which the Cuban Government had to agree
before the withdrawal of U.S. forces and the transfer of sovereignty would
begin.
Platt Amendment (page one)
The Platt Amendment’s conditions prohibited the Cuban Government from entering
into any international treaty that would compromise Cuban independence or allow
foreign powers to use the island for military purposes. The United States also
reserved the right to intervene in Cuban affairs in order to defend Cuban
independence and to maintain “a government adequate for the protection of life,
property, and individual liberty.” Other conditions of the Amendment demanded
that the Cuban Government implement plans to improve sanitary conditions on the
island, relinquish claims on the Isle of Pines (now known as the Isla de la
Juventud), and agree to sell or lease territory for coaling and naval stations
to the United States. (This clause ultimately led to the perpetual lease by the
United States of Guantánamo Bay.) Finally, the amendment required the Cuban
Government to conclude a treaty with the United States that would make the Platt
amendment legally binding, and the United States pressured the Cubans to
incorporate the terms of the Platt Amendment in the Cuban constitution.
Platt Amendment (page two)
The rationale behind the Platt Amendment was straightforward. The United States
Government had intervened in Cuba in order to safeguard its significant
commercial interests on the island in the wake of Spain’s inability to preserve
law and order. As U.S. military occupation of the island was to end, the United
States needed some method of maintaining a permanent presence and order.
However, anti-annexationists in Congress had incorporated the Teller Amendment
in the 1898 war resolution authorizing President William McKinley to take action
against Spain in the Spanish-American War. This Teller Amendment committed the
U.S. Government to granting Cuba its independence following the removal of
Spanish forces. By directly incorporating 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 terms of the Platt Amendment
to the delegates of the Cuban Constitutional Convention in late 1900. Although
the Cuban delegates realized that the amendment significantly limited Cuban
sovereignty, and originally refused to include it within their constitution, the
U.S. Government promised them a trade treaty that would guarantee Cuban sugar
exports access to the U.S. market. After several failed attempts by the Cubans
to reject or modify the terms of the Platt amendment, the Cuban Constitutional
Convention finally succumbed to American pressure and ratified it on June 12,
1901, by a vote of 16 to 11. The Platt Amendment remained in force until 1934
when both sides agreed to cancel the treaties that enforced it.
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