Our New Colonies: Cuba, Porto Rico and Philippines

This map celebrating the United States victory in the Spanish-American War was created not by one of the large publishing firms out of New York or Chicago, but by John L. Smith, an ordinary citizen, stationer, and veteran of the Civil War from Philadelphia. It is emblematic of the outsized symbolic importance this victory had in the United States, and is an example of how maps could serve as agents of propaganda in America’s relentless expansionism. While the map references “our new colonies,” Cuba is given substantial prominence, occupying most of the map and accompanied by text detailing the economic benefits that the United States could extract from the island. The Philippines and Puerto Rico appear almost as afterthoughts, and Guam isn’t even acknowledged. The map’s construction reflects many Americans’ view of the Spanish-American War and its aftermath: the war served to unify the country and heal divisions left from the Civil War, and these “new colonies” would now add to the economic prosperity the country was enjoying after the Panic of 1893. In the words of the Department of State, “The United States was suddenly a colonial power with overseas dependencies.”

Teach with this item from Unit 4 of the curriculum guide, Reading Dangerously: Censorship and the Freedom to Read in 20th Century America.