A resolution passed in response to a message sent to Congress by President
McKinley, April 11, 1898, asking for permission to intervene in Cuba. As was often to be
the case in the twentieth century the professed anti-colonialism proved to be a useful
tool in extending US power.
Joint Resolution 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 to 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.
Whereas, the abhorrent conditions which have existed for more than three years in the
Island of Cuba, so near our own borders, have shocked the moral sense of the people of the
United States, have been a disgrace to Christian civilization, culminating, as they have,
in the destruction of a United States battleship, with two hundred and sixty-six of its
officers and crew, while on a friendly visit in the harbor of Havana, and can not longer
be endured, as has been set forth by the President of the United States in his message to
Congress of April eleventh, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, upon which the action of
Congress was invited: Therefore,
Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in
Congress assembled,
First. That the people of the Island of Cuba are, and of right ought
to be, free and independent.
Second. That it is the duty of the United States to demand, and the Government of the
United States does hereby demand, that the Government of Spain at once relinquish its
authority and government in the Island of Cuba, and withdraw its land and naval forces
from Cuba and Cuban waters.
Third. That the President of the United States be, and he hereby is, directed and
empowered to use the entire land and naval forces of the United States, and to call into
the actual service of the United States, the militia of the several States, to such extent
as may be necessary to carry these resolutions into effect.
Fourth. That the United States hereby disclaims any disposition or intention to
exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction, or control over said Islands except for the
pacification thereof, and asserts its determination, when that is accomplished, to leave
the government and control of the Island to its people.
Approved, April 20, 1898.
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© Paul Halsall, July 1998
