View source for Platt Amendment

{{Short description|1901 United States law on Cuban relations}}
{{Infobox U.S. legislation
| shorttitle = 
| othershorttitles = 
| longtitle = An Act making appropriation for the support of the Army for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and two.
| colloquialacronym = 
| nickname = 
| enacted by = 56th
| effective date = 1901
| public law url = 
| cite public law = 
| cite statutes at large = Chapter 803, {{USStat|31|895}}, 897
| acts amended = 
| acts repealed = 
| title amended = 
| sections created = 
| sections amended = 
| leghisturl = 
| introducedin = Senate
| introducedbill = {{USBill|56|an amendment to H.R.|14017}}
| introducedby = [[Orville H. Platt]] ([[Republican Party (United States)|R]]-[[Connecticut|CT]])
| introduceddate = 
| committees = 
| passedbody1 = Senate
| passeddate1 = February 27, 1901
| passedvote1 = [https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/56-2/s154 43–20]
| passedbody2 = House
| passedas2 = 
| passeddate2 = March 1, 1901
| passedvote2 = [https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/56-2/h145 161–136]
| conferencedate = 
| passedbody3 = 
| passeddate3 = 
| passedvote3 = 
| passedbody4 = 
| passeddate4 = 
| passedvote4 = 
| signedpresident = [[William McKinley]]
| signeddate = March 2, 1901
| amendments = 
| SCOTUS cases = 
}}
{{History of Cuba}}
The '''Platt Amendment''' was a piece of United States legislation enacted as part of the [[Army Appropriations Act of 1901]] that defined the relationship between the [[United States]] and [[Cuba]] following the [[Spanish–American War]].<ref name="commentary">[http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=55 1901 Platt Amendment commentary] at the US Archives online</ref> It stipulated seven conditions for the withdrawal of United States troops remaining in Cuba at the end of the Spanish–American War, and an eighth condition that Cuba sign a treaty accepting these seven conditions. It helped define the terms of [[Cuba–United States relations]].

On June 12, 1901, the Cuban Constitutional Assembly approved the Platt Amendment, which had been proposed by the United States of America. The document came with a withdrawal of U.S troops from Cuba after the Spanish-American War. It amended its [[1901 Constitution of Cuba|constitution]] to contain, word for word, the seven applicable demands of the Platt Amendment.<ref>[https://history.state.gov/milestones/1899-1913/platt US archives online] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150423105708/http://history.state.gov/milestones/1899-1913/platt |date=2015-04-23 }}, Date of ratification by Cuba</ref>

On May 22, 1903, Cuba entered into a treaty with the United States to make the same required seven pledges: the [[Cuban–American Treaty of Relations (1903)|Cuban–American Treaty of Relations of 1903]].<ref name="commentary" /> Two of the seven pledges were to allow the United States to intervene unilaterally in Cuban affairs, and a pledge to lease land to the United States for naval bases on the island. The [[Cuban–American Treaty of Relations (1934)|Cuban–American Treaty of Relations of 1934]] replaced the 1903 Treaty of Relations, and dropped three of the seven pledges.

The 1903 Treaty of Relations was used as justification for the [[Second Occupation of Cuba]] from 1906 to 1909. On September 29, 1906, [[United States Secretary of War|Secretary of War]] and future U.S. president [[William Howard Taft]] initiated the [[Second Occupation of Cuba]] when he established the Provisional Government of Cuba under the terms of the treaty in Article three, declaring himself Provisional Governor of Cuba.<ref name="archives199">[https://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/199.html Records of the Provisional Government of Cuba], [[National Archives and Records Administration]]. "Established: By a proclamation of the Secretary of War, September 29, 1906, under general authority of the Permanent Treaty of 1903 between the United States and the Republic of Cuba, with oversight responsibilities assigned to the Bureau of Insular Affairs (War Department) by EO 518, October 23, 1906. ... History: Military Government of Cuba established by Maj. Gen. John R. Brooke, December 28, 1898, as a consequence of U.S. invasion and occupation of Cuba in the Spanish–American War, in accordance with Presidential order published in General Order 184, Headquarters of the Army, December 13, 1898. Spanish colonial administration formally terminated, January 1, 1899. Republic of Cuba established by transfer of sovereignty, May 20, 1902. Domestic unrest in Cuba led to the proclamation of September 29, 1906, which designated Secretary of War William H. Taft as Provisional Governor of Cuba. Taft succeeded as Provisional Governor by Charles E. Magoon, October 13, 1906. EO 518, October 23, 1906, ordered Governor Magoon to report to the Secretary of War through the Bureau of Insular Affairs. Military government terminated January 28, 1909."</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.historyofcuba.com/history/Taft-1.htm|title=William H. Taft in Cuba|website=www.historyofcuba.com|access-date=2020-01-24}}</ref> On October 23, 1906, President Roosevelt issued {{EO|518}}, ratifying the order.<ref name="archives199" />

On May 29, 1934, the United States and Cuba signed the 1934 Treaty of Relations that in its first article overrides the 1903 Treaty of Relations.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/dip_cuba001.asp|title=Treaty between the United States and Cuba May 29th 1934|last=Sklar, Barry|first=Hagen, Virginia|date=1972|website=Yale Law School – The Avalon Project}}</ref>

==Background==
[[File:Orville Hitchcock Platt.jpg|thumb|Senator [[Orville H. Platt]], creator of the Platt Amendment]][[File:Enmienda Platt.JPG|thumb|Cartoon protesting the Amendment]]During the [[Spanish–American War]], the United States maintained a large military arsenal in Cuba to protect U.S. holdings and to mediate Spanish–Cuban relations.<ref name="schoultz">Schoultz, Lars, ''Beneath the United States: A History of U.S. Policy Towards Latin America'' (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1998), pp.139-151.</ref> In 1899, the [[William McKinley|McKinley]] administration settled on occupation as its response to the appearance of a revolutionary government in Cuba following the end of Spanish control.<ref name="keen">[[Keen, Benjamin]] and Haynes, Keith, ''A History of Latin America: Volume 2 Independence to the Present'' (Boston: Houghton Mifflen Co., 2004), pp.379-380.</ref>

The Platt Amendment was an addition to the earlier [[Teller Amendment]], which had previously limited US involvement in Cuba relating to its treatment after the war, particularly in preventing its annexation which had been proposed by various expansionist political entities within the US.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://loc.gov/rr/hispanic/1898/teller.html|title=Teller and Platt Amendments|date=2011|website=Hispanic Division Library of Congress}}</ref><ref name="schoultz" /> [[Henry M. Teller|Senator Teller]] himself had a history of opposing American imperialism, criticising the [[Foreign interventions by the United States|American campaigns in Panama and the Philippines]].<ref name="schoultz" /> Yet in 1894 he had been an arch-expansionist supporting potential plans to annex Cuba, and Teller would go on to support the Platt Amendment.<ref name="schoultz" /> 
The Platt Amendment forbade the Government of Cuba from going into any international agreement that could jeopardize or undermine Cuban independence or permit foreign powers to use the island for military purposes. The United States could also and had the absolute right to get involved in any Cuban affairs to defend Cuban independence but also maintain a strong government, one that would serve justice to the people. Also another condition of the Platt Amendment was the United States demanded a naval station for themselves they could use that would be located in Cuba, this eventually led to the lease by the United States of Guantanamo Bay. Lastly, the amendment compelled the Cuban Government to stop a treaty with the United States that would make the Platt amendment authenticated, in which the United States pressured the Cubans to embrace the terms of the Platt Amendment in the Cuban constitution.

Some historians have questioned Teller's intentions, claiming that the real motive behind the resolution was to protect American beet sugar growers from Cuban competition.<ref name="schoultz" /> On the other hand, Teller became a leading opponent of land annexation in Cuba to grow sugar in the early 1900s, as well as President Roosevelt's plans to grant tariff preferences to Cuba in 1903.<ref name="schoultz" />

The Platt Amendment originated from American mistrust in the Cuban Constituent Assembly to formulate a new relationship between Cuba and the U.S.<ref name="schoultz" /> Senator [[Orville H. Platt]], chair of the [[Senate Committee on Relations with Cuba]], spearheaded the bill alongside [[Leonard Wood|General Leonard Wood]], the Governor of Cuba at the time and Secretary of War [[Elihu Root]]. Tasked with balancing Cuban independence with American desires to control Cuban politicians deemed unfit for self-governance, they established The Platt Amendment to maintain public order and turn Cuba into a "self-governing colony".<ref name="keen" /><ref name="schoultz" /> The Platt Amendment was initially intended to be its own bill, but it became an amendment as the [[56th United States Congress|56th Congress]] ended on March 4, 1901, and there was no time for the proposal to be submitted as a separate bill. 

General [[Leonard Wood]] used the financial resources of the Cuban treasury to create sanitation systems.<ref name="keen" /> A handful of civil rights, including the right to vote, were extended to literate, adult, male Cubans with property worth $250 or more, largely resulting in exclusion of the [[Afro-Cuban]] population and women from participation.<ref name="keen" />

==Provisions of the amendment==
[[File:Platt amendment page 1.jpg|thumb|Platt Amendment, p. 1.]]
[[File:Platt amendment page 2.jpg|thumb|Platt Amendment, p. 2.]]
The Platt Amendment was introduced to Congress by Senator [[Orville H. Platt]] on February 25, 1901.<ref>{{cite book|title=Neighborly Adversaries 3rd edition|last=LaRosa, Michael|first=O. Mora, Frank|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2015|location=Boulder|pages=105}}</ref> It passed the U.S. Senate by a vote of 43 to 20, and although it was initially rejected by the Cuban assembly, the amendment was eventually accepted by a vote of 16 to 11 with four abstentions and integrated into the 1901 Cuban Constitution.<ref name="schoultz" /> 

The Platt Amendment outlined the role of the United States in Cuba and the Caribbean, limiting Cuba's right to make treaties with other nations and restricting Cuba in the conduct of foreign policy and commercial relations.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=55|title=Platt Amendment 1903|date=1903|website=Our Documents|access-date=24 January 2020}}</ref> It also established that Cuba's boundaries would not include the Isle of Pines ([[Isla de la Juventud]]) until its title could be established in a future treaty, and that Cuba must sell or lease lands to the United States necessary for coaling or the development of naval stations.<ref name=":2" />

It read:
{{Quote|Preamble: 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 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, the President is hereby authorized to "leave the government and control of the island of Cuba to its people" so soon as a government shall have been established in said island under a constitution which, either as a part thereof or in an ordinance appended thereto, shall define the future relations of the United States with Cuba.

I. That the government of Cuba shall never enter into any treaty or other compact with any foreign power or powers which will impair or tend to impair the independence of Cuba, nor in any manner authorize or permit any foreign power or powers to obtain by colonization or for military or naval purposes or otherwise, lodgement in or control over any portion of said island.

II. That said government shall not assume or contract any public debt, to pay the interest upon which, and to make reasonable sinking fund provision for the ultimate discharge of which, the ordinary revenues of the island, after defraying the current expenses of government shall be inadequate.

III. That the government of Cuba consents that the United States may exercise the right to intervene for the preservation of Cuban independence, the maintenance of a government adequate for the protection of life, property, and individual liberty, and for discharging the obligations with respect to Cuba imposed by the [[Treaty of Paris (1898)|treaty of Paris]] on the United States, now to be assumed and undertaken by the government of Cuba.

IV. That all Acts of the United States in Cuba during its military occupancy thereof are ratified and validated, and all lawful rights acquired thereunder shall be maintained and protected.

V. That the government of Cuba will execute, and as far as necessary extend, the plans already devised or other plans to be mutually agreed upon, for the sanitation of the cities of the island, to the end that a recurrence of epidemic and infectious diseases may be prevented, thereby assuring protection to the people and commerce of Cuba, as well as to the commerce of the southern ports of the United States and the people residing therein.

VI. That the [[Isla de la Juventud|Isle of Pines]] shall be omitted from the proposed constitutional boundaries of Cuba, the title thereto being left to future adjustment by treaty.

VII. That to enable the United States to maintain the independence of Cuba, and to protect the people thereof, as well as for its own defense, the government of Cuba will sell or lease to the United States lands necessary for coaling or naval stations at certain specified points to be agreed upon with the President of the United States.

VIII. That by way of further assurance the government of Cuba will embody the foregoing provisions in a permanent treaty with the United States.|author=|title=|source=}}

After [[President of the United States|U.S. President]] [[Theodore Roosevelt]] withdrew American troops from the island in 1902, Cuba signed the [[Cuban–American Treaty of Relations (1903)|treaty]] the next year after which Cuba executed a lease of land to the United States for a [[Guantanamo Bay Naval Base|coaling and naval station at Guantánamo Bay]].<ref name=":2" /> Originally the U.S. would have been able to build four military bases, but Cuba managed to negotiate this down to two, those being Guantanamo and Bahia Honda, which was traded in 1912 for more land at Guantanamo.<ref name="schoultz" /> This was a surprise given that Secretary Root had indicated his wish for the U.S. to become the owner and enforcer of Cuba's waterfront while the Platt Amendment was being drafted.<ref name="schoultz" />

==Aftermath==
Following acceptance of the amendment, the United States ratified a tariff that gave Cuban sugar preference in the U.S. market and protection to select U.S. products in the Cuban market.<ref name="keen" /> The huge American investment into sugar led to land being concentrated into the hands of the largest sugar mills, however, with estimates that 20% of all Cuban land was owned by these mills.<ref name="keen" /> This led to further impoverishment of the rural masses. Workers on the mill were in constant fear of eviction, with cheap imported labor from other parts of the Caribbean keeping wages very low and the prices for independent cane pushed down to a minimum. In addition, the mills monopolized the railroads and ran them for private benefit. The lack of consumer purchasing power and the limited market available for manufactured goods meant that little industrialization would occur in the decade after the 1903 Treaty of Relations. Overall, over $200 million was spent by American companies on Cuban sugar between 1903 and 1913.<ref name="keen" />

[[Tomás Estrada Palma]], who had once favored outright annexation of Cuba by the United States, became president of Cuba on May 20, 1902. He was re-elected in 1905 despite accusations of fraud from his liberal opponents, but was forced to resign along with the rest of the executive when opposition against his rule turned violent.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Cuba: The Pursuit of Freedom|last=Thomas|first=Hugh|publisher=Harper and Hugh|year=1971|location=New York|pages=472}}</ref> The U.S. invoked the Platt Amendment to begin the [[Second Occupation of Cuba]] and install a Provisional Government.

Political instability and frequent American occupation through the early 1900s meant that legitimate constitutional rule was increasingly difficult to come about. Though Cuban citizens enjoyed an improved standard of living in this period, Article 40 of the 1901 Cuban Constitution and Article III of the Platt Amendment meant that constitutional rights could be suspended under emergency provisions.<ref name=":1" /> Therefore, the Platt Amendment contributed to an erosion of the individual rights of the Cuban people, and it was not long before the Cuban public were calling for a replacement to the 1901 Constitution.<ref name=":1" />

The Platt Amendment was a major blow to hopes of social advancement for Afro-Cubans, who hoped that their participation in the [[Spanish–American War|Spanish-American War]] would mean equality with the white planters and commercial elites of Cuba. Nearly 40% of the Cuban fighting force against Spain were made up of people of color, and Afro-Cubans had spent generations fighting for their country's independence.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last=Brock|first=Lisa|date=1994|title=Back to the Future: African-Americans and Cuba in the Time(s) of Race|journal=Contributions in Black Studies|volume=12|issue=3|pages=9–32}}</ref> As well as becoming disenfranchised through voting acts, Afro-Cubans were also blocked from many state institutions as they now required educational or property qualifications to be gained.<ref name=":3" /> 

Tensions between Afro-Cubans and U.S. military officials were rife, with hostile language and sometimes gunfire being exchanged between the two groups.<ref name=":3" /> Frustrated middle class blacks would launch the [[Partido Independiente de Color|Independent Party of Colour]] (PIC) in 1908, but this was barred by the Cuban Congress soon along with all other parties of colour, accused of inciting race war. The PIC's call for limited armed protests would eventually spark the [[Negro Rebellion]] of 1912 which killed between 3,000 and 6,000. The rebellion was defeated by the Cuban army and led to the PIC dissolving afterwards.<ref name=":3" /> The U.S. sent 1,292 Marines to protect the American-owned companies, as well as copper mines, railroads, and trains. The Marines had only one skirmish with the rebels with no casualties on either side.<ref name=Clark>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LRmj4wHv-kIC&pg=PA98 |title=Battle History of the United States Marine Corps, 1775–1945 |isbn=978-0-7864-5621-5 |last=Clark |first=George B. |date=2010 |publisher=McFarland }}</ref>
[[File:Guantanamo bay satellite image.jpg|thumb|[[Guantanamo Bay Naval Base|Guantanamo Bay]] from satellite images]]
Women activists were also disappointed by the result of the Platt Amendment's conditions. As with Afro-Cubans, women played important roles in the Cuban independence movement and were characterised as 'mambisas', or courageous warrior mothers symbolizing the struggle for social justice.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal|last=Davies|first=Catherine|date=1996|title=National Feminism in Cuba: The Elaboration of a Counter-Discourse 1900-1935|journal=The Modern Language Review|volume=91|issue=1|pages=107–123|doi=10.2307/3734000|jstor=3734000}}</ref> However, they were also denied voting rights and female suffrage would not be obtained until 1940.<ref name=":4" /> Any attempts by women to discus equality of the sexes with the Cuban government saw them labeled as nationalists or flat out ignored.<ref name=":4" />

Most of the Platt Amendment provisions were repealed in 1934 when the [[Cuban–American Treaty of Relations (1934)|Cuban-American Treaty of Relations of 1934]] between the United States and Cuba was negotiated as a part of U.S. president Franklin Roosevelt's "[[Good Neighbor policy]]" toward Latin America.<ref name=":0" /> [[José Manuel Cortina]] and other members of the Cuban Constitutional Convention of 1940 eliminated the Platt Amendment from the [[1940 Constitution of Cuba|new Cuban constitution]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Wachs|first=Jonathan|date=1996|title=Reviving the 1940 Cuban Constitution: Arguments for Social and Economic Rights in a Post-Castro Government.|journal=American University International Law Review|volume=10|issue=1|pages=525–569}}</ref> 

The long-term lease of [[Guantanamo Bay Naval Base]] continues. The Cuban government since 1959 has strongly denounced the treaty as a violation of Article 52 of the 1969 [[Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetailsIII.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=XXIII-1&chapter=23&Temp=mtdsg3&clang=_en|title=Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties|last=Nations|first=United|date=2020|website=United Nations Treaty Collection}}</ref> which declares a treaty void if procured by the threat or use of force. However, Article 4 of the Vienna Convention states that its provisions shall not be applied retroactively.

Historian Louis A. Perez Jr. has argued that the Platt Amendment resulted in the conditions it had hoped to avoid, including Cuban volatility.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Cuba Under the Platt Amendment, 1902-1934|last=Perez|first=Louis|publisher=University of Pittsburgh Press|year=1986|location=Pittsburgh}}</ref>

==In popular culture==
The Platt Amendment is used in the 1982 film ''[[Fast Times at Ridgemont High]]'' as an example of high school students not paying attention in class.

==See also==
{{Wikisource}}
* ''[[Pearcy v. Stranahan]]'' (1907), U.S. Supreme Court case on the status of the [[Isla de la Juventud|Isle of Pines]]
* [[Spooner Amendment]] (1901), pertaining to the [[Philippines]] 
* [[Teller Amendment]] (1898), recognizing Cuba's right to independence

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Cuba topics}}
{{United States intervention in Latin America}}
{{Cuba–United States relations}}

[[Category:United States foreign relations legislation]]
[[Category:1901 in American law]]
[[Category:1901 in Cuba]]
[[Category:Constitution of Cuba]]
[[Category:Republic of Cuba (1902–1959)]]
[[Category:History of the foreign relations of the United States]]
[[Category:Treaties of Cuba]]
[[Category:Treaties of the United States]]
[[Category:Treaties concluded in 1903]]
[[Category:Treaties entered into force in 1904]]
[[Category:Spanish–American War]]
[[Category:Banana Wars]]
[[Category:Guantánamo Province]]
[[Category:Guantanamo Bay Naval Base]]
[[Category:Political history of Cuba]]
[[Category:1900s in Cuba]]
[[Category:1901 establishments in Cuba]]<!--concluded-->
[[Category:1904 establishments in Cuba]]<!--entered into force-->
[[Category:Cuba–United States relations]]
[[Category:Riders to United States federal appropriations legislation]]
[[Category:Eponymous treaties]]
[[Category:Sugar industry of Cuba]]