Thursday, October 17, 2013

The Teller Amendment

Please explain why you believe Congress passed the Teller Amendment? If you remember, this amendment represented America's promise not to annex Cuba, but rather to allow Cuba to become an independent state.  During this era of imperialism, and America's growth into a world power, why do you think they would pass this amendment?  Analyze carefully, and as you respond consider the U.S. role in the world today.


61 comments:

Anonymous said...

The teller amendment stated that the U.s should not become part of Cuba, but let Cuba be independent. I think the congress passed the Teller Amendment because sometimes in life you just have to let people do their own thing. Although America was growing in size and power, they must have soon realized that it is not their place to take over all this land because we don't need to rule the whole entire world. This relates to how in Syria, some of our people wanted the American's to stay out of Syria and just mind their own business. Other people wanted to get involved in Syria but whatever did happen, it still isn't our job to take all the land. We want different cultures all around the world, so congress passed the Tellers Amendment to show that we want the Cubans to live their own lives, so all around the world we can be unique.

Anonymous said...

I believe congress passed the Teller Amendment because, Cuba fought for their freedom and they shouldn't be put under another countries law. Since America still wasn't the most powerful country, if someone were to go and try to take over Cuba it could hurt us. Next, with all the anti-imperialism groups, congress had to please America as well. Also, if we didn't take over Cuba it could gain us a new allie and great trading deals. Lastly, because we said no one can harm the western hemisphere we should go by that rule ourselves.

Elena Gribelyuk said...

I believe Congress passed the Teller Amendment because the Cubans had just broken free of Spain, and if the US came to Cuba and took over again, it would make us look like violent and cruel to the Cubans. Also, I think the US decided that it would be unfair for them to take over another country, as they had just had a Revolution themselves. Lastly, Congress passed the Teller Amendment to gain trading deals and allies. As America was only becoming a world power, it needed support and international connections. Passing the teller Amendment showed the rest of the war where the US stood in the Spanish-American War.

Anonymous said...

I believe the congress passed the Teller Amendment because Cuba wanted to become independent and they should do what they want to do. We had the right to become independent so I believe that they should as well. They passed this amendment because even though the U.S. was gaining a lot of power, we should let other countries do what they want and have them own their own places instead of us taking over. We want different people with different religions all around the world, so if we would take over, it would ruin that. We want the whole world to be different, not all the same.

Anonymous said...

The Teller Amendment stated that the U.S. should not take possession of Cuba and let Cuba become independent. Since the U.S. had the right to become independent, other countries should have that right applied to themselves as well. Even though we had a lot of power, it was a good thing that we never took over Cuba. Now they have their own power as we do ours. We said we would not harm the western hemisphere so we should abide by that rule. If we took possession of Cuba, who knows what our world would have been like today.

Anonymous said...

I believe that congress passed the Teller Amendment because they didn't want to do what Spain did. The Cubans were controlled by Spain, and that is why they rebelled against Spain for their freedom. If America took them over, we would be exactly like Spain. Cuba is extremely close to us, if we took over, what would stop them from rebelling against us for their freedom? Also, the U.S controlling Cuba would be just like Britain controlling us. We broke free from Britain and became independent. Controlling Cuba would make us look bad, and we were becoming a world power, so we needed allies. By passing this amendment, we looked like the good guys. We also have the reputation of being the world's big brother now, so helping Cuba and giving them their freedom helped us get that reputation.

Anonymous said...

I think that the congress passed the Teller Amendment because of many reasons. First, they got Guam, Puerto Rico, etc. so there was no need to take over another place. Also, we, the U.S., don't need to be in everyone elses business. There were many of other problems in the U.S. that we needed to focus on and Cuba wasn't one of them. Stay out of other places and build up the U.S. in strength and once we have everything under control then we can start using our power to fix other problems.

Anonymous said...

The teller amendment allowed Cuba to become independent. Also at this time America had a lot of power and it was not right to take over Cuba. It would not look good in our case if we did take Cuba over. Also it is not are job to go in and take over we need to stay out and help America become better.

Anonymous said...

I believe that Congress passed the Teller Amendment because they did not want to be hypocritical of Spain and rule Cuba. Also, the United States thought that with their support of the Cubans during the Spanish-American War, Cuba would comply with American business interests. Another reason why America did not desire to possess Cuba was because they wanted to show mercy, and that ties into the present because we (the United States) do not wish to be the worlds greediest country.

Anonymous said...

I think Congress passed the Teller Amendment because we sympathized with the Cubans. They had just won their freedom much like the American people did. Also, if we took over Cuba the rebels would have staged a rebellion like they did against the Spanish. Another reason why Congress passed the Teller Amendment is because if we established good relations with Cuba, we would have access to a lot of sugar cane. Also, we had a great opportunity to make a new ally. Finally, since America told European powers that they had to abide by the Monroe Doctrine, I think the U.S. should also abide by it.

Anonymous said...

i believe that the reason congress passed the "Teller Amendment" was to keep the people of Cuba free from United States colonization. Congress did not want the people of Cuba to be under any control other than their own.

Anonymous said...

I believe Congress passed the Teller Amendment because it was only right for Cuba to have their independence. Also, if we did take over Cuba we wouldn't have been able to establish a new ally and an easy place to trade with. Being an upcoming world power we also needed to maintain a good reputation. If we took over Cuba it wouldn't look good after we fought Britain for our freedom. By passing the Teller Amendment, America showed the rest of the world who we were becoming in terms of a world power.

Anonymous said...

I think Congress passed the Teller Amendment because Cuba had just gained independence. The United States got rid of the Spanish government and Cuba became free, so if we took over Cuba, we would look like we just fought the war to colonize it. Also, we fought for our freedom from Great Britain, so Cuba should get its freedom because it is no longer under Spanish rule. Lastly, although we were growing in size and power, we didn't need to expand our empire yet.

Anonymous said...

The Teller Amendment stopped the U.S from occupying and governing Cuba. I beleive that congress partly wanted to allow Cuba the same chance to be independent as the U.S the Anti-Imperialism party also would have to be taken into consideration by Congress. The U.S is a country that holds the beleif that all people deserve to be free with their own choices. Cuba had been oppressed and controlled by the Spanish goverment and deserved a chance to install their own goverment. America gave Cuba their chance and allowed them to run with it.

Anonymous said...

The teller amendment states that the U.S. cannot take over Cuba instead they let Cuba be independent. I believe congress did this because they did not what the world to think they only help countries to take over them. For instance America was on the stage of rising up to be a super power so what they did in this decade made a huge impact on how other countries viewed us. Also I think they were trying to establish good relations with Cuba because they were only 90 miles off the coast of Florida and U.S. citizens had a lot of business in Cuba. Expertly sugar cane. Over all i think it was very smart to establish the Teller Amendment.

Anonymous said...

I think that congress passed the Teller Amendment because Cuba wanted to become more independent. America became independent so why can't Cuba? It's only fair. We also don't need to get into other countries business. The U.S. gained power, so we could've taken over Cuba but the U.S. knows what it feels like to become independent and wants to let other countries have the same freedom.

Anonymous said...

I think that the congress passed this ammendment because Cuba wanted freedom. Anyways, Americas a global power and owns two countries in the central parts of the Western Hemisphere. Also, we get a lot from Cuba so we should let them become a country. Adding on to that, we basically are 90 miles away from them so they are like a bordering country.

Anonymous said...

The Teller Amendment allowed Cuba to become an independent state without the US overcoming it. I believe that the congress passed this amendment to let Cuba develop from not being ruled by the Spanish government. This was also a good opportunity to take advantage of Cuba and the US's strong relationship for future trade or just allies.

Anonymous said...

I believe Congress pasted the teller amendment because they wanted to stop President Mckinley from annexing Cuba. Also most of the Americans thought the war was for Cuba to break free from Spain.

Anonymous said...

I think that congress passed the Teller Amendment because Cuba had just broken free from the Spanish. So if we were to go in and annex them and make them U.S. territory then what did Cuba fight for. Since we recognize a fight for independence with ourselves in mind we acknowledge what they went through to become independent.

Anonymous said...

The U.S passed the teller amendment because we had just helped Cuba become independent so why would we take it. The Teller Amendment shows the U.S as a kind and helpful Nation. It also gave us opportunity for trade in Cuba. This would help us as a growing power. The Spanish Cuban war relates to the Syria problem. This is because the Syrian people are revolting against its government.

Anonymous said...

I think congress passed the Teller Amendment because Cuba deserves their own freedom. The US fought for independence, and so did Cuba, therefore Cuba deserves independence as well. Even though the US had a lot of power, and could've had even more with Cuba, we should always be respectful of what other countries want and deserve.

Anonymous said...

Congress passed the Teller Amendment because the Cubans just got their freedom from spain and should be someone else laws if they are not there anymore and since we had a lot of trade with Cuba we cant let them go by others people's laws and we should make them happy and if we do we could of got more trade. Also it made the US look more powerful when we helped Cuba.
Passing the Teller Amendment showed everyone that we had power.

Anonymous said...

The U.S. passed the Teller Amendment because if we did not then we would be hypocritical and have too many things to handle. The entire Spanish American War was trying to stop Spain and get Cuba's freedom, so we could not give Cuba freedom and then take it from them. Also, we were not really ready to handle Cuba being a part of us and it was just too much to deal with. We felt that Cuba should not be forced to be part of another country so we did not force them to be. The U.S. nowadays is still trying to end wars to help others gain freedom and we are still trying not to take other's freedom.

Anonymous said...

Today the Teller Amendment is not longer valid. It was replaced by the Platt Amendment in the early 1900's. Also the US did keep a military base in Cuba so the only thing that the amendment did was prevent Cuba from joining the United States. Going back to the day that the Amendment was passed i believe that it was passed because Teller had a sugar company in Colorado and if Cuba became part of the United States then the Cuban sugar companies would compete with his sugar companies and ultimately reduce his profits. Another reason is that America wanted to stay isolated and Cuba is not isolated from other countries.

Anonymous said...

I believe congress passed the Teller Amendment because, when the US became free from England, we worked out our own government and ran our own lives. It would be very hypocritical if we took away their freedom, after they became their own country. Also, our reputation would have been ruined for a very long time if we took control of Cuba.

Anonymous said...

I think Congress passed the Teller Amendment because Cuba needed their freedom. I would be unfair that we became free from England and Cuba wouldn't be free from us. If we did this our reputation would have gone down and the sugarcane economy would have plummeted.The Teller Amendment was fair because it showed we didn't tyrannize other countries, we let them have what they want.

Anonymous said...

The Teller Amendment prevented the US from taking possession of Cuba. I believe that congress passed the Teller Amendment because Cuba wanted their freedom and they were fighting for it. Since back then the US was not the world power they did not have as much of a voice as today, so congress went and passed the Tellers Amendment so that Cuba could be free and be their own country.

Anonymous said...

I think that Congress passed the Teller Amendment because the U.S might have had issues within the country and didn't want to have to manage a new, developing country. Taking control of a country is a big responsibility. The country may not have an established government, which makes it even harder. Since Cuba just gained it's freedom from Spain, taking over Cuba would make the U.S look like hypocrites.

Anonymous said...

The teller Amendment prevented the US from taking over Cuba. I believed congress passed this to prove to its people it wasn't an imperialistic country and as it was becoming a world power it wanted a positive reputation as a liberating country who believed in freedom. So for public view they kept Cuba liberated.

Anonymous said...

I believe that the U.S. passed the Teller Amendment because cuba is right off our boarder. If we owned cuba any they had a Civil War against us they could easily come into our country and fight. Finally it isn't our destiny to own Cuba because we know how it feels to be owned and we would be hypocrites.

Anonymous said...

I belived congress passed the Teller Amendment because, Cuba had just fought for there freedom from spain so they should not just be put under the power of another country. Whoes to say that the Cubans would not just rebel against us so It would be unintelligent.

Anonymous said...

I believe congress passed the Teller Amendment for the reason that, Cuba had just won there freedom from all the harsh years from Spain.If the U.S took over Cuba they would be no different from Spain dictator ship,it would of made the U.S violent and cruel.It shows how the U.S probably cared for cuba's well being and shows a good relationship.

Anonymous said...

I believe the U.S passed the teller amendment because cuba just fought for their freedom and shouldn't be colonized by another country again. It would make us look hypocritical after we just fought for our freedom against England. Also, the U.S was just starting to become a world power and needed allies and international support. Passing the teller amendment showed the rest of the world what kind of country the U.S wanted to be.

Anonymous said...

The teller amendment depicted that the U.S. and Cuba should not become one but still should be connected. This compromise allowed Cuba to be inndependent. I think the U.S choose to do this because we realized we put to much on our plate and expected the whole world due to Americas arrogance. I think America realized owning the world is unrealistic. This was a step in the right direction.Considering our role in the world today, we still are a very important world power and are considered the " global police" so our arrogance and wanting to own the world has not completely gone away

Anonymous said...

I believe Congress passed the Teller Amendment because Cuba rightly deserved their freedom and space. The United States could not just go and take over Cuba right after they won their freedom from Spain. This would make the US look like they use their role of being the most powerful country for good use. Finally, no annexing Cuba could lead to a well working friendship between the two countries.



Anonymous said...

I believe congress passed the Teller Amendment for a few reasons. First, because we didn't want to follow in Spain's footsteps. Cuba decided to rebel against Spain because they didn't like the way Spain led them. What if we treated Cuba the same way Spain did, and Cuba tried to rebel against us, and the cycle repeated? Another reason why congress passed the Teller Amendment is because if we took over Cuba, we would look bad to some other countries because we would be viewed just like Spain, like what I said in my last reason. Finally, it would be harder to control Cuba because it is farther away from the rest of the United States.

Anonymous said...

I think that Congress passed the teller amendment for a few reasons- first, to satisfy the portion of the public who were against imperialism. The US was already a decently powerful force in the world, so we could afford to let Cuba do as they pleased. Another reason for this was probably because the Cubans were already trying to break free from Spain, and if we took over Cuba, there would be another revolt- and thats the last thing that America wanted. Lastly, we really wanted that sugar that was there and if there was a revolt when we took over then there would be no sugar!

Anonymous said...

I believe congress passed the Teller Amendment because they didn't want any other countries taking over there because they were isolated from all the major powers and they wanted it to stay that way. They also had business interests in Cuba like sugar.

Anonymous said...

I believe the teller amendment was passed because the people did not want the U.S to become an imperialistic nation. The U.S citizens did not want to become the oppressors like the British. Cuba was having a revolution just like the U.S did against the British. Also if we did Annex them the people would be just as unhappy when they were under spanish rule. And Other nations would see us as an Imperialistic nation.

Anonymous said...

I believe that congress passed the Teller Amendment because Cuba wanted their freedom and independence. The Teller Amendment stated that the U.S. should not become a part of Cuba. Also, to let Cuba become independent. Since the U.S. had the right to become independent and free, other countries should have the right too.

Anonymous said...

The Teller Amendment was passed by congress because it was Cuba who fought for their freedom. Not the US fighting for Cuba. The US fought for it's independence, and if other Countries attacked us we would not be able to fight. Just like Cuba fighting and needing recovery time for them. I believe it wasn't are turn to fight a wounded Country and how would someone like it if they fell down and then got kicked. The Cubans needed time for the growth of their Country.

Anonymous said...

I believe congress passed the Teller Amendment because, cuba had just won their freedom form spain, and the us would look like hypocrites. Also we don't need to worry about another countries problems. lastly, I think it was a very good decision by the congress.

Anonymous said...

The Teller Amendment was an amendment to a joint resolution of the United States Congress, enacted on April 20, 1898, in reply to President William McKinley's War Message. It placed a condition on the United States military's presence in Cuba. According to the clause, the U.S. could not annex Cuba but only leave "control of the island to its people. I think Congress passed the Teller Amendment because Cuba had won its independence from Spain and wants to be "isolated" from the world for a little while and build up their nation. On the contrary, the US still wants to have ties with Cuba.

Anonymous said...

I believe congress passed the Teller Amendment because Cuba just fought for their freedom from Spain. The Teller Amendment stated that Cuba should be allowed to become independent and that the U.S. should not become part of Cuba. If the U.S. was allowed independence other countries should be allowed their independence too.

Anonymous said...

The teller amendment stated that the U.S would not colonies Cuba. One resin this amendment was created to show that the U.S. would not be hypocritical. About a hundred hears before the Spanish American War, the U.S. had revolted against the idea of imperialism. To turn around and begin colonizing Latin American countries. Would violate the basic principles that the country had been founded on. Secondly, the Teller Amendment was created to com the fears. Many of these countries where afraid that the U.S. would soon try and take over the western hemisphere.

U.S. in the current day is being accused of trying to colonize the middle east. The United States has attempted to influence middle eastern governments to protect against an oil crisis. Terrorist organizations have accused the U.S. of controlling this governments and basically colonizing them. This has led to numerous attacks against the U.S.

Anonymous said...

The teller amendment stated that the U.S would not colonies Cuba. One resin this amendment was created to show that the U.S. would not be hypocritical. About a hundred hears before the Spanish American War, the U.S. had revolted against the idea of imperialism. To turn around and begin colonizing Latin American countries. Would violate the basic principles that the country had been founded on. Secondly, the Teller Amendment was created to com the fears. Many of these countries where afraid that the U.S. would soon try and take over the western hemisphere.

U.S. in the current day is being accused of trying to colonize the middle east. The United States has attempted to influence middle eastern governments to protect against an oil crisis. Terrorist organizations have accused the U.S. of controlling this governments and basically colonizing them. This has led to numerous attacks against the U.S.

Anonymous said...

The teller amendment stated that the U.S would not colonies Cuba. One resin this amendment was created to show that the U.S. would not be hypocritical. About a hundred hears before the Spanish American War, the U.S. had revolted against the idea of imperialism. To turn around and begin colonizing Latin American countries. Would violate the basic principles that the country had been founded on. Secondly, the Teller Amendment was created to com the fears. Many of these countries where afraid that the U.S. would soon try and take over the western hemisphere.

U.S. in the current day is being accused of trying to colonize the middle east. The United States has attempted to influence middle eastern governments to protect against an oil crisis. Terrorist organizations have accused the U.S. of controlling this governments and basically colonizing them. This has led to numerous attacks against the U.S.

Anonymous said...

The Teller Amendment stated that the US would not colonize Cuba after the Spanish American War. Instead, Cuba would be free to become an independent country. There are a number of reasons why they did this. First, they didn't want to look like hippocrits to the rest of the world. About a hundred years before, the US had revolted against the idea of imperialism. If we were to turn around and create a colony in Cuba we would be violating a basic principle of our country. Secondly, the Teller Amendment was created to calm the fears of other Latin American countries. Many of these countries feared that the US would soon attempt to take over the Western Hemisphere and their countries.

Currently, the US is dealing with a similar situation in the Middle East. For many years, the US government has been attempting to influence middle eastern governments to protect against an oil crisis. Although the US has tried not to be obvious, many terrorist organizations accuse the US of going to far and attempting to colonize these countries. This has led to numerous attacks against the US.

Anonymous said...

During the Spanish American War in 1898, the American Congress passed the “Teller Amendment ” in order to prove to the Spain that the US was not making an imperialistic land-grab of Cuba, but rather liberating it as an independent state. I think this act of the US government was a great example to the world showing them the most important thing is to liberate the people and give them democracy. This built the foundation of an outstanding nation that will soon become the leader of the world.

Looking back at history, the US was involved in the Korean War and the Vietnam War. I do not think they were trying to take over their territory, but rather trying to show their difference in idea of democracy from the communist ideology. The results may not have successfully shown victory of the wars then, however looking at the world now, the Soviet Union has collapsed and communist China has changed their color to capitalism…. The conclusion is that communism is not the solution to a successful world.

The US is strongest nation in the world and we have the duty to help and influence the world to become a better environment for the people. We do not want to police the world. What we need to learn is that when we want to help another nation, we need to know more about their culture and religion so we can educate them to achieve our democratic spirit. I believe that the wonderful nation we were back then will continue to be a magnificent nation in the future.

Anonymous said...

The Teller Amendment made Cuba independent. I think that it would be hypocritical for the US to take Cuba especially right after they fight for Cuba. If the Congress did not pass the amendment, Cuba would make the US look extremely bad. If the US took Cuba, the US would grow but also the US would have to deal with revolutions and other things.

Anonymous said...

I believe the congress passed the Teller Amendment because Cuba wanted to be independent. They wanted to be free, and not be forced under any law. Since America had so much power, it would be wrong for them to take over because it would make us look bad. Cuba and other countries deserve to have their respect and freedom.

Anonymous said...

i believe the teller amendment was passed because cuba fought hard for their freedom. and did not want to be run by another country. america was also a new country and wanted more allies with other countries.

Unknown said...

I believe the congress gave the teller amendment as a justification for war. So they would not be looked down upon by other countries and the US populace, because if you say that we will annex Cuba you will acquire less support then if you say I will free Cuba

Anonymous said...

The amendment allowed Cuba to become independent. In this scenario the US could relate to Cuba. It wasn't that long ago that the US branched of from England and gained their independence. Congress allowed this because we understand what its like to want freedom and wanted to help Cuba gain their independence.

Anonymous said...

The Teller Amendment was passed by Congress to let Cuba be its own country which was a good idea because they just became independent and we shouldn't take that away again.

Katy Simpson said...

The teller amendment was an amendment passed by congress that restricted the US from taking control over cuba. I think this was passed because as a weak, budding country still establishing it's limits, we did not want to risk our own safety as well as limiting Cuba from reaching it's full potential as a nation.

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

The Teller Amendment was an amendment to a joint resolution of the United States congress. This Amendment was established in april of 1898. This amendment was the declaration of war with spain.

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

The Teller Amendment was passed by Congress to let Cuba be an independent country. I think this amendment was a good idea because it would be unfair of us to annex Cuba after they just gained their freedom. This would have the US and Cuba still be connected, but not connected and put together as one country.