The Pamphlet Wars: The Original Debate over Citizenship in the Insular Territories

Abstract

This paper will examine some of the pamphlets on the Spanish-Cuban-American War that were published between 1898 and 1902 and will describe the extraordinary debate between the Expansionists and Anti-Imperialists over citizenship. In summary, the supporters of U.S. involvement in the war were known as the Expansionists, while the war’s opponents called themselves the Anti-Imperialists. Though neither side questioned whether the United States had the power under the Constitution to acquire new territory, the Expansionists and Anti-Imperialists differed sharply over the status of the inhabitants of the conquered territories. What were we, subject peoples or full American citizens?

Keywords: Citizenship, Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, 1898

JEL Classification: K39