After several years of being suppressed by Spain, in 1895, Cubans began their struggle for independence, rebelling against Spain’s colonial government by forming groups of revolutionaries. This attracted the attention of Americans “because of the economic and political instability that it produced in a region within such close geographical proximity to the United States” (history.state.gov). At this point in time, nations throughout the world were acquiring territories and gaining domain over other countries, and Americans feared that if the United States did not start establishing colonies overseas, they would take the risk of being overpowered. The Cuban revolt highly concerned the then US President William McKinley, and there was no doubt …show more content…
Cuba was a country rich in agriculture, with their main crops being sugar cane, tobacco, citrus, and coffee. Besides their abundant crops, Cuba also offered the opportunity for the US to set military bases, thus gaining predominance in the Caribbean and in the Pacific. Therefore, Americans relished the opportunity of establishing economic relations with Cuba, and loathed the thought of Cuban agricultural crops benefiting only Spain. Americans wanted to set up companies to develop and gain profit from Cuba’s agricultural resources, making this “a combination of idealism and concern and self-interest” …show more content…
Castro, with the assistance of an Argentinian doctor and well-known revolutionary, Ernesto “Che” Guevara, overthrew Batista on January 1, 1959. Moreover, Castro’s communist and left-wing ideology regarding Cuba’s government would negatively affect the United States, and his “regime quickly severed the country’s formerly strong ties with the United States by expropriating U.S. economic assets in Cuba and developing close links with the Soviet Union”
Late 19th century America, about 100 years since claiming independence from Britain the new idea of imperialism has enthralled the nation. Imperialism, the concept in which a stronger nation spreads their military, economic, and political influence to a weaker nation has become a new world wide sensation. After the annexation of Alaska and Hawaii their interests diverted back to nation of Cuba. Cuba, located 90 miles south of Florida has been in the minds of many Americans for years. In 1854 America attempted to buy Cuba from Spain and failed. Later Cuba tried to pursue independence from Spain and failed, but forced Spain to abolish slavery letting Americans to invest in sugar companies in Cuba. Cuba trying to fight for independence once more got the support of many Americans wanted to join in the fight for the Cuba’s independence. This caused the infamous Spanish American War.
One of the United States most important foreign trading partners was Cuba. The Cuban and the US economy had been intertwined for nearly a decade before the turn of the 20th century with American invests of $50 million in the Cuban economy. Americans owned the most valuable land in Cuba, which were the sugar plantations. More than 90% of Cuba’s sugar was exported to the United States7. Most of the imports to Cuba and the surrounding islands came from the US. If the Cuban market closed the US would lose not only its $50 million in investments, but also millions in lost revenue from not being able to trade with Cuba.
Cuba was one of the territories that United States imperialized. The US was a heavy consumer of the sugar produced in Cuba but didn’t meet the sugar industry demands. The international market collapsed, and the US used this opportunity to purchase the sugar mills in Cuba “Cuban sugar mills into bankruptcy … sensing an opportunity, investors from the United States
Castro’s involvement with the foreign and domestic politics during the early Cold War period greatly influenced the outcome of the Cuban Revolution. Without the actions taken by foreign powers like the United States and Russia, some events on the domestic front may have had very different results. It is important to understand how every nation’s foreign policies can influence more than just one other nation, and this was especially true for Cuba. It was this mix and chain of events which produced the communist Cuba that we are familiar with today.
90 miles off the coast of Key West, Florida lies a beautiful, small country known as Cuba. Cuba is a melting pot of many different types of ethnicities including Americans, African Americans, and Europeans. Cuba has a very unique culture that gets even better as you look into their government, sports and education, arts, and heritage. In Cuba, they have a communist government.
Before the Spanish the US had no political reasons of interest to become engaged in conflict within the Caribbean region. To draw attention to their campaigns, US politicians, like Albert J. Beveridge, began to declare that it was America’s God given right to go to Cuba and take control; although this was not the
When Cuba started fighting against Spain for independence, America claimed they admired Cuba’s passion for liberation. It reminded America of it’s own origins, making Americans believe it was their duty to help the Cuban people. Or at least this was the noble image that the American government wanted to project and that the American people greatly believed. As Perez states in his work, “The
After analysing all of the source’s mentioned above, it is evident that all three authors have very diverse perspectives on the Cuban Revolution. Whilst it may seem to Source A’s audience that the author (Alistair Cooke) is simply trying to inform the American public of Castro’s leadership after examination, it seems as though they are trying to brainwash readers into rebelling against Castro. Thus, the Source is considered anti- Castro. Comparatively, in Source B, Herbert L. Matthews reports on an exclusive interview with Castro’s best lieutenants, Major Che Guevara to present the audience an anecdote which portrays a strong sense of patriotism, pride and authority which are all factors that present the audience with Matthews pro- Castro perspective. Additionally, Source C’s perspective is also in Castro’s favour as the Source is secondary and means that the author could see the context of the situation without being restricted by any element of bias. Meaning that, he was able to see all the events that occurred after Castro took over
In 1959, Fidel Castro came into power by overthrowing Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista and from that moment on the United States was very skeptical about him. They felt this way because they were very much aware of Castro's relationship with the leader
On January 1, 1959, Fidel Castro and his band of rebels overtook the Cuban government. Their Revolution was based on massive agrarian reform and equality throughout. It was not based on Communism or communistic ideals. The US government was against the rise of Castro and his people. They had been able to control the Cuban government by controlling the successive presidents, since the Spanish-American War early in the 20th Century. The rise of Castro was undertaken with a distinct anti-American flavor to it. Castro was able to expand his popularity by fusing the anti-American fever with massive reforms intended to give social and economic equality to all Cubans. The economic presence, of the US, within Cuba was great at the time of Castro’s
Louis A. Pérez Jr. is an American author who wrote this source in 2002, which was four years before the end of Castro’s rule. The journal article in its entirety was made to explore how and why the US had fear of and loathing towards Fidel Castro. In the extracts, I have selected benefits and disadvantages brought about by Castro are mentioned and explored. The source, for example, mentions how Castro nationalised US property such as sugar corporations, cattle ranches, oil refineries, utilities, mines, railroads and banks. Although it may have initially created economic problems, the nationalism of US property would have been a good thing, as it would have helped Cuba feel more independent and free and therefore benefit the nation socially by creating a sense of patriotism. In another extract pulled from the same article, the four
Although the sinking of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor was the impetus the United States needed to enter open war with Spain, it would be nearsighted to say that this was America’s first attempt at “helping” our Cuban neighbors. The Ostend Manifesto is a prime example of an attempt at bringing Cuba into our fold. Southerners in the 1850’s would have been elated if Cuba were to join our ranks, for the island plantations would undoubtedly bolster the pro-slavery cause. However, the 1890’s brought about different motives for the conflict with Spain, and they were more than just one Caribbean isle; in the end, America did not even end up annexing the entirety of Cuba (we did reserve the right to set up a government and leased
Numerous Cubans invited Fidel Castro's 1959 overthrow of the authoritarian President Fulgencio Batista, yet the new request on the island pretty much 100 miles from the United States made American authorities anxious. Batista had been a degenerate and harsh despot, however he was thought to be ace American and was a partner to U.S. organizations. Around then, American enterprises and rich people claimed half of Cuba's sugar manors and the dominant part of its dairy cattle farms, mines and utilities. Batista did little to confine their tasks. He was additionally dependably anticommunist. Castro, by differentiate, objected to the approach that Americans took to their business and interests in Cuba. The time had come, he accepted, for Cubans to
Cuba is population is 11,075,244 and still growing . The whole area of Cuba is 42,803 square mile. The capital is Havana it is the largest city in Cuba. The currency for Cuba is the Cuban peso. Cuba is located 50 mi west from Haiti across the Windward Passage, 87 mi south of the Bahamas, 90 mi south of Florida, 130 mi east of Mexico and 91 mi north of Jamaica. Cuba is the largest in the Caribbean. the land is mostly flat but has rolling plains, high hills and mountains in the southeast region.
In 1940 to 1944, communist Fulgencio Batista withheld power as the president of Cuba and then from 1952 to 1959, United States backed dictator until fleeing Cuba because of Fidel Castro’s 26th of July Movement. Socialist Fidel Castro governed the Republic of Cuba as Prime Minister from 1959 to 1976 and then as President from 1976 to 2008. Fidel Castro’s intent was to provide Cuba with an honest democratic government by diminishing the corrupt way in which the country was run, the large role the United States played in the running of Cuba as well as the poor treatment & the living conditions of the lower class.