The Spanish-Cuban-American War and the Birth of American Imperialism, 1895-1902: 1895-1898

Book excerpt: "This major work by Philip Foner, the well-known historian, has as its chief object the re-definition of the conflict known in the U.S. historiography as the "Spanish-American" war. This very name, in his view, reflects the bias of two generations of historians who relegated Cuba to the passive position of a prize in a struggle between Spain and the United States. It is his contention that the Cuban nation, by virtue of its prolonged and successful rebellion of 1895-1898 (treated in Vol. 1) was a central protagonist of the conflict, its role ending when it was subjected to neocolonial status by the United States. In pursuing this new outlook, Professor Foner studied the sources available in the United States, the rich materials in the Archivo Nacional and the Library of the City Historian in Havana, and enlisted help and documentary evidence furnished by the leading historians and historical institutes of Cuba. These sources have enabled him to deal at length with the occupation and subjugation of Cuba by the United States and reconstruct the story in richer detail and in a more realistic interpretation than has ever been done before. Volume II begins with the war in Cuba after U.S. intervention in 1898 and covers the imposition of U.S. domination of Cuba through the Platt Amendment, which marked the beginning of American neocolonialism"--Back cover.