Editing Spanish–American War (section)

===American interest in the Caribbean===
In 1823, the fifth American President [[James Monroe]] (1758–1831, served 1817–25) enunciated the [[Monroe Doctrine]], which stated that the United States would not tolerate further efforts by European governments to retake or expand their colonial holdings in the [[Americas]] or to interfere with the newly independent states in the hemisphere. The U.S. would, however, respect the status of the existing European colonies. Before the [[American Civil War]] (1861–1865), Southern interests attempted to have the United States purchase [[Captaincy General of Cuba|Cuba]] and convert it into a new [[slave state]]. The pro-slavery element proposed the [[Ostend Manifesto]] of 1854. Anti-slavery forces rejected it.

After the American Civil War and Cuba's [[Ten Years' War]], U.S. businessmen began monopolizing the devalued sugar markets in Cuba. In 1894, 90% of Cuba's total exports went to the United States, which also provided 40% of Cuba's imports.<ref>Pérez, Louis A., Jr, ''Cuba: Between Reform and Revolution''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995. p.&nbsp;149</ref> Cuba's total exports to the U.S. were almost twelve times larger than the export to Spain.<ref>Pérez, Louis A., Jr, Cuba: Between Reform and Revolution. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995. p.&nbsp;138</ref> U.S. business interests indicated that while Spain still held political authority over Cuba, it was the U.S. that held economic power over Cuba.

The U.S. became interested in a trans-isthmus canal in either [[Nicaragua]] or [[Panama]] and realized the need for naval protection. Captain [[Alfred Thayer Mahan]] was an exceptionally influential theorist; his ideas were much admired by future 26th President [[Theodore Roosevelt]], as the U.S. rapidly built a powerful [[United States Navy|naval fleet]] of steel warships in the 1880s and 1890s. Roosevelt served as [[Assistant Secretary of the Navy]] from 1897 to 1898 and was an aggressive supporter of an American war with Spain over Cuban interests.

Meanwhile, the "Cuba Libre" movement, led by Cuban intellectual [[José Martí]] until he died in 1895, had established offices in Florida.<ref>Gary R. Mormino, "Cuba Libre, Florida, and the Spanish American War", ''Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal'' (2010) Vol. 31 Issue 1/2, pp. 43–54</ref> The face of the Cuban revolution in the U.S. was the "[[Cuban Junta]]", under the leadership of [[Tomás Estrada Palma]], who in 1902 became Cuba's first president. The Junta dealt with leading newspapers and Washington officials and held fund-raising events across the U.S. It funded and smuggled weapons. It mounted an extensive propaganda campaign that generated enormous popular support in the U.S. in favor of the Cubans. Protestant churches and most Democrats were supportive, but business interests called on Washington to negotiate a settlement and avoid war.<ref>{{Cite journal |jstor = 2507259|title = The Propaganda Activities of the Cuban Junta in Precipitating the Spanish-American War, 1895–1898|journal = The Hispanic American Historical Review|volume = 19|issue = 3|pages = 286–305|last1 = Auxier|first1 = George W.|year = 1939|doi = 10.2307/2507259}}</ref>

Cuba attracted enormous American attention, but almost no discussion involved the other Spanish colonies of [[Puerto Rico]], also in the Caribbean, or of the [[Philippines]] or [[Guam]].<ref>{{Cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fODT-qOVoiIC&pg=PA318 |first=George C. |last=Herring |title=From Colony to Superpower: US Foreign Relations Since 1776 |chapter=The War of 1898, the New Empire, and the Dawn of the American Century, 1893–1901 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=9780199743773 |pages=318–319 |date=2008-10-28 |access-date=2021-05-18 |via=Google Books |archive-date=September 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230923144106/https://books.google.com/books?id=fODT-qOVoiIC&pg=PA318 |url-status=live }}</ref> Historians note that there was no popular demand in the United States for an overseas colonial empire.<ref>{{Cite journal |jstor = 1861842|title = American Imperialism: The Worst Chapter in Almost Any Book|journal = The American Historical Review|volume = 83|issue = 3|pages = 644–68|last1 = Field|first1 = James A.|year = 1978|doi = 10.2307/1861842}}</ref>