Cuba: Context and Consequences for the American Empire

Abstract

ABSTRACT Over the course of the twentieth century, the United States left an oversized imprint on the island of Cuba using the successful outcome of the Spanish American War to jump-start its imperial project, exert specific agendas and mandates on an otherwise sovereign nation, and make the island a testing ground for the further expansion of its empire. Yet, despite the sweep of Manifest Destiny and the heavy-handed nature of empire, local on-the-ground conditions in Cuba ensured that a tiny island, a mere 90 miles away from the mainland of America, was able to not only exercise its own autonomy but also a considerable degree of influence across an array of both small and large connections. Despite any inequities in the distribution of power, internal considerations of revolution, race and nationalism dictated the terms of Cuban history in this period and provided the rigid framework within which the United States was forced to operate. Consequently, to understand the causes and outcome of the American Empire it is necessary to place its narrative in a context that allows for a more nuanced dynamic among hegemon and subordinate. This approach calls for an examination of specific interactions occurring in distinct local conditions that maintained their own imperatives and prerogatives.