Treaty of Paris of 1989

SIGRID MAIAL A. PERJES

BSN-1H

Introduction

The Treaty of Paris (1898) was the peace treaty signed on December
10, 1898 by Spain and the United States that ended the Spanish-
American War. The American Peace commission consisted of William R.
Day, Sen. Cushman K. Davis, Sen. William P. Frye, Sen. George Gray,
and the Honorable Whitelaw Reid. The Spanish commission was
headed by Don Eugenio Montero Rios, the President of the Senate.
Other member of Spanish Peace commission: 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 negotiated on Spain’s behalf. The terms of
the treaty also ended the age of Spanish imperialism and established
the United States as a world power. Under the treaty, Cuba gained
independence from Spain, and the United States gained possession of
the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam. Marking the end of Spanish
imperialism, the treaty established the United States’ position as a
world power.
 BRIEF HISTORY OF SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR

The 1898 war between the United States and Spain came after three
years of fighting by Cuban rebels to win independence from Spain.
Happening so close to the coast of Florida, the conflict in Cuba
transfixed Americans. Concerns for U.S. economic interests in the
region, along with the American public’s outrage over the brutal tactics
of the Spanish military spurred public sympathy for the Cuban
revolutionaries. With tensions between the U.S. and Spain growing,
the explosion of the U.S. battleship Maine in Havana harbor on
February 15, 1898 brought the two nations to the brink of war. On
April 20, 1898, the United States Congress passed a joint resolution
acknowledging Cuban independence, demanding that Spain abandon
its control of the island, and authorizing President William McKinley to
use military force. When Spain ignored the U.S. ultimatum, McKinley
implemented a naval blockade of Cuba and called for 125,000 U.S.
military volunteers. Spain declared war on the United States on April
24, and the U.S. Congress voted to declare war against Spain the next
day. 

The first battle of the Spanish-American War was fought on May 1,

1898 in Manila Bay, where U.S. naval forces defeated the Spanish
armada defending the Philippines. Between June 10 and June 24, U.S.
troops invaded Cuba at Guantanamo Bay and Santiago de Cuba. With
the Spanish Army in Cuba defeated, the U.S. Navy destroyed the
Spanish Caribbean armada on July 3. On July 26, the Spanish
government asked the McKinley administration to discuss terms of
peace. On August 12, a cease-fire was declared with the understanding
that a peace treaty must be negotiated in Paris by October.

Negotiations in Paris

Peace negotiations between representatives of the United States and

Spain began in Paris on October 1, 1898. The American contingent
demanded that Spain acknowledge and guarantee the independence of
Cuba and transfer possession of the Philippines to the United States. In
addition, the U.S. demanded that Spain pay Cuba’s estimated $400
million national debt.

After agreeing to Cuban independence, Spain reluctantly agreed to sell

the Philippines to the U.S. for $20 million. Spain also agreed to pay
back the $400 million Cuban debt by transferring possession of Puerto
Rico and the Mariana island of Guam to the United States.

Spain demanded that it be allowed to retain possession of the

Philippines capital city of Manila—which had been captured by U.S.
forces hours after the August 12 cease-fire had been declared. The
United States refused to consider the demand. Spain had no other
choice, and the U.S. ultimately paid Spain 20 million dollars for
possession of the Philippines. The islands of Puerto Rico and Guam
were also placed under American control, and Spain relinquished its
claim to Cuba. Representatives of Spain and the U.S. signed the treaty
on December 10, 1898, leaving it up to the two nation’s governments
to ratify it. 

While Spain signed the agreement days later, ratification was strongly
opposed in the U.S. Senate by senators who viewed it as instituting an
unconstitutional policy of American “imperialism” in the Philippines.
 After weeks of debate, the U.S. Senate ratified the treaty on February
6, 1899 by a single vote. The Treaty of Paris took effect on April 11,
1899, when the U.S. and Spain exchanged documents of ratification.

SIGNIFICANCE

While the Spanish-American War had been short in duration and relatively
inexpensive in terms of dollars and lives, the resulting Treaty of Paris had a
lasting impact on both Spain and the United States. 

While it suffered initially from the terms of the treaty, Spain eventually
benefited from being forced to abandon its imperialistic aspirations in favor
of focusing on its many long-ignored internal needs. Indeed the war resulted
in a modern Spanish renaissance in both its material and social interests.
The post-war period in Spain saw rapid advances in agriculture, industry,
and transportation over the following two decades. 

As Spanish historian Salvador de Madariaga wrote in his 1958 book Spain: A

Modern History, “Spain felt then that the era of overseas adventures had
gone, and that henceforth her future was at home. Her eyes, which for
centuries had wandered to the ends of the world, were at last turned on her
own home estate.” 

The United States—whether intentionally or not—emerged from the Paris

peace talks as the world’s newest superpower, with strategic territorial
possessions stretching from the Caribbean to the Pacific. Economically, the
United States profited from the new trade markets it gained in the Pacific,
Caribbean, and the Far East. In 1893, the McKinley administration used the
terms of the Treaty of Paris as partial justification for annexing the then-
independent Hawaiian Islands.
 CONCLUSION

The Spanish-American War ended the Spanish Regime in the Philippines.

However, by the end of the war started the American occupation. The Treaty
of Paris relinquishes Spain all claim of sovereignty over Cuba. This includes
to give up the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico to the United States.

After the treaty United States faced with a decision on what to do with the
Philippines. US believed that Philippines is in capable of self-governing since
and by this reason, US realized that “nothing could be more negligent than
leaving them in anarchy”. This led them to their belief in the “White Man’s
Burden”. https://sites.google.com/site/centralcoastroutesandroots/migrating-to-the-us/

treaty-of-part-2). The Treaty leads to Philippine-America War.

The Treaty of Paris is US government entry to the pacific and merely an

illusion of Philippine Independence. It was actually a contract of sale
between American Government and Spanish Government. This treaty gave
American control over Philippines, Guam and Puerto Rico, countries who
were previously occupied or under control from Spanish Government.

Reference

“Treaty of Peace Between the United States and Spain; December 10, 1898.” Yale ISBN:
0758162367Law School.
(www.thoughtco.com/treaty-of-paris)
“The Spanish–American War: The United States Becomes a World Power.” Library of
Congress.
(www.thoughtco.com/treaty-of-paris)
McKinley, William. “The Acquisition of the Philippines.” U.S. Department of State.
(www.thoughtco.com/treaty-of-paris)
de Madariaga, Salvador (1958). “Spain: A Modern History.” Praeger.
(www.thoughtco.com/treaty-of-paris)
Treaty of Peace between the United States of America and the kingdom of spain(Treaty of
Paris), signed in Paris, December 10, 1989.
(https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1898/12/10/treaty-of-peace-between-the-united-
states-of-america-and-the-kingdom-of-spain-treaty-of-paris)