1901 - Congress adopts Platt Amendment regarding Cuban independence
The Platt Amendment was a rider appended to the Army Appropriations Act, a United States federal law passed on March 2, 1901 that stipulated the conditions for the withdrawal of United States troops remaining in Cuba since the Spanish-American War, and defined the terms of Cuban-U.S. relations until 1934.
It replaced the earlier Teller Amendment.
The amendment:
- Ceded to the United States the naval base in Cuba (Guantánamo Bay) Stipulated that Cuba would not transfer Cuban land to any power other than the United States
- Mandated that Cuba would contract no foreign debt without guarantees that the interest could be served from ordinary revenues
- Ensured U.S. intervention in Cuban affairs when the United States deemed necessary
- Prohibited Cuba from negotiating treaties with any country other than the United States "which will impair or tend to impair the independence of Cuba" or "permit any foreign power or powers to obtain ... lodgement in or control over any portion" of Cuba, and provided for a formal treaty detailing all the foregoing provisions
Later in 1901, under U.S. pressure, Cuba included the amendment's provisions in its constitution. After U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt withdrew federal troops from the island in 1902, Cuba signed the Cuban-American Treaty (1903), which outlined U.S. power in Cuba and the Caribbean. Tomás Estrada Palma, who had earlier favored outright annexation of Cuba by the United States, became president on May 20, 1902.