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RECOGNITION OF THE

INDEPENDENCE OF CUBA

(1898)

[The following resolution not only recognized the independence of Cuba, but authorized the levying of war upon Spain in order to force upon that country a similar recognition. The resolution was passed in response to a message sent to Congress by President McKinley, April 11, 1898, asking for permission to intervene in Cuba.]

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OINT Resolution for the recognition of the independence of the people of Cuba, demanding that the Government of Spain relinquish its authority and government in the Island of Cuba, and to withdraw its land and naval forces from Cuba and Cuban waters, and directing the President of the United States to use the land and naval forces of the United States to carry these resolutions into effect.

Whereas the abhorrent conditions which have existed for more than three years in the Island of Cuba, so near our own borders, have shocked the moral sense of the people of the United States, have been a disgrace to Christian civilization, culminating, as they have, in the destruction of a United States battle ship, with two hundred and sixty-six of its officers and crew, while on a friendly visit in the harbor of Havana, and can not longer be endured, as has been set forth by the President of the United States in his message to Congress of April eleventh, eighteen hundred and ninetyeight, upon which the action of Congress was invited: Therefore,

Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, First. That the people of the Island of Cuba are, and of right ought to be, free and independent.

Second. That it is the duty of the United States to demand, and the Government of the United States does hereby demand, that the Government of Spain at once relinquish its authority and government in the Island of Cuba and withdraw its land and naval forces from Cuba and Cuban waters.

Third. That the President of the United States be, and he hereby is, directed and empowered to use the entire land and naval forces of the United States, and to call into the actual service of the United States the militia of the several States, to such extent as may be necessary to carry these resolutions into effect.

Fourth. That the United States hereby disclaims any disposition or intention to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction, or control over said Islands except for the pacification thereof, and asserts its determination, when that is accomplished, to leave the government and control of the Island to its people. Approved, April 20, 1898.

TREATY WITH SPAIN

(1898)

[On July 26, 1898, nine days after the surrender of Santiago, the Spanish government opened negotiations for peace through the French ambassador at Washington. Fighting ceased on Aug. 12; and on Oct. 1, the commissioners of Spain and the United States met at Paris, where the following treaty was drawn up.]

T

REATY of Peace between the United States of Amer

ica and the Kingdom of Spain, Signed at Paris, December 10, 1898; ratification advised by the Senate, February 6, 1899; ratified by the President, February 6, 1899; ratified by Her Majesty the Queen Regent of Spain, March 19, 1899; ratifications exchanged at Washington, April II, 1899; proclaimed at Washington, April 11, 1899.

The United States Of America And Her Majesty The Queen Regent Of Spain, In The Name Of Her August Son Don Alfonso XIII, desiring to end the state of war now existing between the two countries, have for that purpose appointed as Plenipotentiaries:

The President Of The United States,

William R. Day, Cushman K. Davis, William P. Frye, George Gray, and Whitelaw Reid, citizens of the United States;

And Her Majesty The Queen Regent Of Spain,

Don Eugenio Montero Rios, President of the Senate, Don Buenaventura De Abarzuza, Senator of the Kingdom, and ex-Minister of the Crown,

Don Jose De Garnica, Deputy to the Cortes and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court;

Don Wenceslao Ramirez De Villa-urrutia, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at Brussels, and Don Rafael Cerero, General of Division;

Who, having assembled in Paris, and having exchanged their full powers, which were found to be in due and proper form, have, after discussion of the matters before them, agreed upon the following articles:

Article I

Spain relinquishes all claim of sovereignty over and title to Cuba.

And as the island is, upon its evacuation by Spain, to be occupied by the United States, the United States will, so long as such occupation shall last, assume and discharge the obligations that may under international law result from the fact of its occupation, for the protection of life and property.

Article II

Spain cedes to the United States the island of Porto Rico and other islands now under Spanish sovereignty in the West Indies, and the island of Guam in the Marianas or Ladrones.

Article III

Spain cedes to the United States the archipelago known as the Philippine Islands, and comprehending the islands lying within the following line:

A line running from west to east along or near the twentieth parallel of north latitude, and through the middle of the navigable channel of Bachi, from the one hundred and eighteenth (118th) to the one hundred and twenty-seventh (127th) degree meridian of longitude east of Greenwich, thence along the one hundred and twenty-seventh (127th} degree meridian of longitude east of Greenwich to the parallel of four degrees and forty-five minutes (4°45') north latitude, thence along the parallel of four degrees and fortyfive minutes (40 45') north latitude to its intersection with the meridian of longitude one hundred and nineteen degrees and thirty-five minutes (1190 35') east of Greenwich, thence along the meridian of longitude one hundred and nineteen degrees and thirty-five minutes (1190 35') east of Greenwich to the parallel of latitude seven degrees and forty min

utes (7° 40') north, thence along the parallel of latitude seven degrees and forty minutes (70 40') north to its intersection with the one hundred and sixteenth (116th) degree meridian of longitude east of Greenwich, thence by a direct line to the intersection of the tenth (10th) degree parallel of north latitude with the one hundred and eighteenth (118th) degree meridian of longitude east of Greenwich, and thence along the one hundred and eighteenth (118th) degree meridian of longitude east of Greenwich to the point of beginning.

The United States will pay to Spain the sum of twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) within three months after the exchange of the ratifications of the present treaty.

Article IV

The United States will, for the term of ten years from the date of the exchange of the ratifications of the present treaty, admit Spanish ships and merchandise to the ports of the Philippine Islands on the same terms as ships and merchandise of the United States.

Article V

The United States will, upon the signature of the present treaty, send back to Spain, at its own cost, the Spahish soldiers taken as prisoners of war on the capture of Manila by the American forces. The arms of the soldiers in question shall be restored to them.

Spain will, upon the exchange of the ratifications of the present treaty, proceed to evacuate the Philippines, as well as the island of Guam, on terms similar to those agreed upon by the Commissioners appointed to arrange for the evacuation of Porto Rico and other islands in the West Indies, under the Protocol of August 12, 1898, which is to continue in force till its provisions are completely executed.

The time within which the evacuation of the Philippine Islands and Guam shall be completed shall be fixed by the two Governments. Stands of colors, uncaptured war vessels, small arms, guns of all calibres, with their carriages and

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