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Conclusion The End Of The Splendid Little War

 

The Armistice ending hostilities in the Spanish-American War came just in time to spare the forces in Puerto Rico from at least two major battles.  Word of the agreement did NOT reach the Philippines in time to prevent the Mock Battle of Manila.  From the battlefield, the war moved into the Quai d'Orsay at the French Foreign Ministry.  Commissioners were appointed in September, and negotiations began on October 1st.  The battle of bullets would end with the battle of words.

Treaty of Paris - 1998 Commissioners
United States	Spain
William R. Day (Secretary of State) Senator William Frye (R/ME) Senator George Gray (D/DE) Senator Cushman K. Davis (R/MN) Whitelaw Reid, Diplomat	Senator Eugenio Montero Rios Senator Buenaventura Abarzuza Associate Justice Jose de Garnica y Diaz Envoy Wenceslao Ramirez de Villa Urrutia General Rafael Cerero y Saenz

The Spanish had their backs to the wall, two Naval squadrons totally destroyed, and American troops in full control of the Philippines, Guam, Cuba and Puerto Rico.  For the most part, Madrid had been willing for some time to cede its hold on Cuba, Puerto Rico, and even the innocuous island of Guam.  The sticky point became the Philippine Islands, Spain willing to cede perhaps one island, but hoping to retain a portion of its empire.  The Spanish commissioners argued that Manila had surrendered AFTER the armistice, and for this reason could not be claimed as a conquest of the war.  The Filipino's sent their own delegation to Paris, but they were left out of all negotiations.  At home, the populace was calling for nothing less than possession of all of the spoils of war.

Even as the arbitration went on in Paris, heated debate raged in some quarters at home.  Anti-imperialists such as Mark Twain and William Jennings Bryan argued against any treaty that took land from Spain for the purposes of American expansion.  Though the Teller Amendment prevented the United States from holding on to Cuba following any agreement between Madrid and Washington, DC, some Americans feared that the politicians would use the victory over Spain to over-expand U.S. borders into the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico...which were NOT included in the Teller Amendment.   Racists like Benjamin Tillman argued against expansion simply because they wanted no more non-white Americans.

Three key elements gave the American commissioners to the process ample reason to stand their ground, and demand nothing but complete surrender to U.S. control of all the spoils of war, including the Philippines:

1. President McKinley himself kept a very attentive ear to the proceeding, and had developed a political policy more in tune with the expansionists than the anti-imperialists.

2. The American public, as well as powerful leaders like Republican Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, largely felt "we fought for it, we have earned it".

3. During the naval blockade at Manila, the bay had become filled with the ships of numerous European nations.  It was no small secret that, if a vacuum were created in the political structure of the Philippines, France or Germany would be more than willing to step in to fill the void.

On October 25th President McKinley instructed the American delegation to settle for nothing less than full annexation of the Philippine Islands.  One month later, with the American commissioners standing their ground, the Spanish delegation abandoned their futile efforts and reached agreement.

On December 10th representatives of both nations signed the treaty in Paris.  Spain had acquiesced to ALL American demands, granting independence to Cuba and ceding Puerto Rico, Guam and all of the Philippine Islands to the United States.   In return, the United States agreed to pay a $20 million indemnity to Spain.

With the agreement announced, all that remained was for the Treaty of Paris to be ratified by the United States Senate.  At home the debate between the expansionists and the anti-imperialists continued.   For a while, Senate ratification was doubtful at best.  Author Mark Twain stated, "I have read carefully the treaty of Paris, and I have seen that we do not intend to free, but to subjugate."  On December 21 President McKinley issued his Benevolent Assimilation Proclamation, wherein he asserted that Americans had a responsibility to educate, civilize and uplift the conditions of the Filipinos.  The turning point came at the last minute when Democratic leader William Jennings Bryan called for ratification of the treaty.  Bryan had come to the conclusion that once the Philippines were freed from Spanish rule, the U.S. could arrange to provide the island nation with its freedom.

On January 1, 1899 Emilio Aguinaldo was declared president of the new Philippine Republic, but the United States refused to recognize the new government.  On February 6 the United States Senate finally voted on the Treaty of Paris.  It was confirmed by a vote of 52 to 27.  Requiring a two-thirds majority vote, the treaty was ratified with ONE VOTE making the difference.

Two days before that Senate vote, on February 4, 1899, an incident occurred in a suburb of Manila that ended with U.S. forces killing three Filipino soldiers.  Just two days before the official end of The Splendid Little War, the sequel war began.  Later called the PHILIPPINE INSURRECTION, there would be nothing splendid about it.