Platt Amendment

Page one of the Platt Amendment.

On March 2, 1901, the Platt Amendment^[1] passed which amended the 1901 Army Appropriations Bill.^[2] It stipulated seven conditions for the withdrawal of United States troops remaining in Cuba at the end of the Spanish–American War, and an eighth condition that Cuba sign a treaty accepting these seven conditions. It defined the terms of Cuban–U.S. relations to essentially be an unequal one of U.S. dominance over Cuba.

On June 12, 1901, Cuba amended its constitution to contain the text of the Platt Amendment.^[3]

On May 22, 1903, Cuba entered into an international treaty with the United States to make the same required seven pledges: the Cuban–American Treaty of Relations.^[4] Two of the seven pledges were to allow the United States to intervene unilaterally in Cuban affairs, and a pledge to lease land to the United States for naval bases on the island. (The 1934 Treaty of Relations replaced the 1903 Treaty of Relations, and dropped three of the seven pledges.)

The 1903 Treaty of Relations was used as justification for the Second Occupation of Cuba from 1906 to 1909. On September 29, 1906, Secretary of War (and future U.S. president) William Howard Taft initiated the Second Occupation of Cuba when he established the Provisional Government of Cuba under the terms of the treaty (Article three), declaring himself Provisional Governor of Cuba.^[5][6] On October 23, 1906, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 518, ratifying the order.^[5]

Background

During the Spanish–American War, the United States maintained a large military arsenal in Cuba to protect U.S. holdings and to mediate Spanish–Cuban relations.^[7] In 1899, the McKinley administration settled on occupation as its response to the appearance of a revolutionary government in Cuba following the end of Spanish control.^[8]

In an effort to turn Cuba into a "self-governing colony",^[8] the United States established fighters to maintain public order. American General Leonard Wood used the financial resources of the Cuban treasury to create sanitation systems.^[8] Franchisement and voting rights were extended to literate, adult, male Cubans with property worth $250 or more, largely resulting in exclusion of the Afro-Cuban population from participation.

Cartoon protesting the Amendment

Conditions of the amendment

The Platt Amendment was introduced to Congress by Senator Orville H. Platt on February 25, 1901.^[9] It passed the U.S. Senate by a vote of 43 to 20.^[7] Though initially rejected by the Cuban assembly, the amendment was eventually accepted by a vote of 16 to 11 with four abstentions and integrated into the 1902 Cuban Constitution.^[7]

The Platt Amendment outlined the role of the United States in Cuba and the Caribbean. It restricted Cuba in the conduct of foreign policy and commercial relations.^[1] It established that Cuba's boundaries would not include the Isle of Pines (Isla de la Juventud) until its title could be established in a future treaty.^[1] The amendment also demanded that Cuba sell or lease lands to the United States necessary for coaling or the development of naval stations.^[1] After U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt withdrew federal troops from the island in 1902, Cuba signed the Cuban–American Treaty (1903), which specified the terms of a lease of land to the United States for a coaling and naval station at Guantánamo Bay.

Aftermath

Following acceptance of the amendment, the United States ratified a tariff that gave Cuban sugar preference in the U.S. market and protection to select U.S. products in the Cuban market. Tomás Estrada Palma, who had once favored outright annexation of Cuba by the United States, became president of Cuba on May 20, 1902.

Most of the Platt Amendment provisions were repealed in 1934 when the Treaty of Relations between the United States and Cuba was negotiated as a part of U.S. president Franklin Roosevelt's "Good Neighbor policy" toward Latin America. José Manuel Cortina and other members of the Cuban Constitutional Convention of 1940 eliminated the Platt Amendment from the new Cuban constitution.

The long-term lease of Guantánamo Bay continues. The Cuban government under Castro has strongly denounced the treaty as a violation of article 52 of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, which declares a treaty void if procured by the threat or use of force. However, article 4 of the Vienna Convention states that its provisions shall not be applied retroactively.

In pop culture

In the 1982 film Fast Times at Ridgemont High, the Platt Amendment is incorrectly referenced as being a 1906 amendment to the United States Constitution. The movie also incorrectly refers to the senator originating the legislation as "John Platt".

See also

• Cuban–American Treaty of 1903, the Guantanamo lease
• Cuban–American Treaty of Relations, promises, including the promise to lease
• Pearcy v. Stranahan – 1907 Supreme Court case which settled the status of the Isle of Pines
• Spooner Amendment, an amendment also in the 1901 military appropriations bill pertaining to the Philippines (acquired during the Spanish–American War)

References

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