The Spanish-American war began with Cuba wanting their independence from Spain, as they were under Spanish rule. The primary source, “We Must Act!”, was written by John M. Thurston in 1898, during the war, right before American involvement. Thurston was a United States Senator from Nebraska. He created this source to beg the U.S. President, William McKinley, to intervene the war. Unlike other writers, who wanted to act in the war because of economic gain, Thurston was intent on stopping the Cuban’s suffering. Shortly after this source was written, the United States declared war on Spain in April of 1898 after the sinking of the Battleship Maine in the Havana harbor. The war was brought to an end with the Treaty of Paris, because of this Spain lost its control over Cuba, and they gained their independence.
Throughout his writing, it’s obvious Thurston is taking a very humanitarian perspective, as he mainly focuses on the amount of death and agony Cuba is going through. He tries to persuade McKinley to get involved because it is the humane thing to do. Thurston expresses the urgency of the situation by incorporating his own experience. He had just visited Cuba in March and saw the harsh conditions and concentration camps first-hand. In the first sentence of his writing, Thurston writes, “By command of silent lips” (Thurston, 63), which is talking about his wife who died of illness in Cuba. He shares that this recent loss inclined him to finally make a statement about the current events. He ends his statement by saying they could watch Cuba be destroyed and devastated but that would make them cowards.
We can look at this source from a larger historical perspective, which would be the general idea that the United States was considered superior, and it was their job to imperialize. Although most of Thurston’s call to action is to help save the suffering Cubans, it is clear these ideas are rooted into him, nonetheless. During his call to action, he states that only the United States can help because they are the most powerful, “Only one power can intervene– The United States of America. Ours is the one great nation of the New World, the mother of American Republics” (Thurston, 64). Although he isn’t directly saying he thinks Cuba needs to be civilized, this quote still shows his opinion that America is very powerful compared to other countries. This all ties into the broad view that the United States had during this time, that it was their job to imperialize and “save” others, as they were a dominant force.
Sources:
Thurston. “We Must Act!” 1898. In American Empire at the Turn of the Twentieth Century: A Brief History with Documents, edited by Kristin Hoganson, 62-65. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin’s, 2017.
The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Picture Collection, The New York Public Library. “Spanish American War, Cuba, 1898” New York Public Library Digital Collections. Accessed October 26, 2022. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/5fa2b380-c533-012f-ba01-58d385a7bc34