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Spanish-American War of 1898

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A Brief History of Guantanamo Bay, America’s “Idyllic Prison Camp”

A hundred years at the edge of empire.
by Stephen Benz via Literary Hub on January 30, 2019
Political Cartoon of Uncle Sam bringing shovels to McKinley who has one foot in the U.S. and the other in Panama, as American flags dot the globe.

The Large Policy

How the Spanish-American War laid the groundwork for American empire.
by Brenda Wineapple via The Nation on January 31, 2018
Theodore Roosevelt and his Rough Riders, Battle of San Juan, Cuba, 1898.

How It Became Wrong for Nations to Conquer Others

It’s only a century since US diplomats first persuaded the world that it’s wrong for countries to annex their neighbours.
by Kerry Goettlich via Aeon on March 13, 2025
Theodore Roosevelt

The Threat Behind Trump’s Praise of McKinley & Roosevelt

The president says he wants to be peacemaker—but his heroes were warmongers.
by Ted Snider via The American Conservative on February 11, 2025
Thomas Brackett Reed.

America First’s Forgotten Founder

There are better models for President Trump than William McKinley. 
by James W. Carden via The American Conservative on February 7, 2025

The Historical Roots of Donald Trump’s Aggressive Nationalism

What the President’s confrontations with Panama, Greenland, Canada, and Colombia suggest about his expansionist vision.
by Greg Grandin, Isaac Chotiner via The New Yorker on January 28, 2025
William McKinley making a campaign speech in 1896.

Why Trump Admires President McKinley, the Original ‘Tariff Man’

President Donald Trump says McKinley made the United States prosperous through tariffs. Historians say that’s an incomplete understanding of the 25th president.
by Andrew Jeong via Retropolis on January 27, 2025
Imperial Daiquiri

The Imperial Daiquiri: A Brief History of American Empire in One Cocktail

From the Spanish-American War to modern cocktail bars, the daiquiri has a long legacy entangled with US imperialism in the Caribbean.
by Ian Seavey via Perspectives on History on June 14, 2023
Illustration of Spanish slaves unloading ice.

Cuba & the US: Necessary Mirrors

Exponentially more enslaved Africans were forced to the lands that now make up Latin America rather than the United States. Where is their story?
by Geraldo Cadava via Public Books on April 13, 2022
Drawing of Smedley Butler in front of a map background.

The Marine Who Turned Against U.S. Empire

What turned Smedley Butler into a critic of American foreign policy?
by Patrick Iber via The New Republic on January 11, 2022
Two bunches of bananas with Chiquita labels.

When the United Fruit Company Tried to Buy Guatemala

How a sitting, elected national government found itself in the position of having to buy its own country.
by Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò via The Nation on December 7, 2021
School room in rural Cidra, Puerto Rico

On Language and Colony

A linguistic trajectory of Puerto Rico's identity as the world’s oldest colony.
by Bianca P. Napoleoni Gregory via Library of Congress on September 21, 2020
Political cartoon of Uncle Sam as a teacher of children representing different ethnicities. European immigrants read studiously, new Caribbean and Pacific colonies resist, and Chinese, American Indian and African American children want to learn but are excluded.

The Long Shadow of White Supremacy in U.S. Foreign Policy

How to hide an empire, from the Spanish-American war to CIA-sponsored Latin American coups.
by Alex Langer via Erstwhile: A History Blog on April 29, 2020

How the United States Reinvented Empire

Americans tend to see their country as a nation-state, not an imperial power.
by Patrick Iber via The New Republic on February 12, 2019
Aerial view of a fortress in Puerto Rico.

Telling the History of the U.S. Through Its Territories

“How to Hide an Empire,” explores America far beyond the borders of the Lower 48.
by Daniel Immerwahr, Anna Diamond via Smithsonian on January 1, 2019

Why It’s Fair to Compare the Detention of Migrants to Concentration Camps

Not every concentration camp is Auschwitz. The term is much older.
by Jonathan M. Katz via Slate on June 20, 2018
Puerto Rican flag in tatters near smoking buildings.

Top Ten Origins: Puerto Rico and the United States

Outlining America's complex relationship and shared history with Puerto Rico and questions about sovereignty.
by Amanda Lawson via Origins on April 6, 2018
partner

Most Countries Have Given up Their Colonies. Why Hasn’t America? 

Because politicians prioritize military might over individual rights.
by David Vine via Made By History on September 28, 2017

Puerto Rico Syllabus

Essential tools for critical thinking about the Puerto Rican debt crisis.
by Marisol LeBrón, Yarimar Bonilla, Sarah Molinari via Puerto Rico Syllabus on September 27, 2017
Political cartoon depicting American colonies celebrating July 4th.

American Consumer Empire in Puerto Rico

Puerto Ricans were forced to become “Porto Ricans” – adopting Anglo customs while subsidizing American profits.
by William Horne via The Activist History Review on July 14, 2017

The Last Colony

A brief history of Puerto Rico's status and relationship to the United States.
by Juan Agustin Marquez via YouTube on December 29, 2015

What Was the Confederate Flag Doing in Cuba, Vietnam, and Iraq?

The Confederate flag’s military tenure continued long after the Civil War ended.
by Greg Grandin via The Nation on July 7, 2015
A torn border fence is bent into the shape of the Americas.

What America Can Learn From the Americas

Greg Grandin’s sweeping history of the new world shows how immutably intertwined the United States is with Latin America.
by Patrick Iber via The New Republic on April 7, 2025
Donald Trump at a formal event.

Trump’s Imperial Fantasy: To Be Polk, McKinley, and Putin—All at Once

Trampling rights, imposing tariffs, gobbling up others’ territories. Trump is imitating his role models to a T.
by Thom Hartmann via The New Republic on March 17, 2025
The Puerto Rican flag outside the Governor's residence in San Juan.
partner

The Catch-22 of Puerto Rico's Status Referendum

When Puerto Ricans go to the polls, they can express their choice for several status options for the island.
by Christina D. Ponsa-Kraus via Made By History on October 11, 2024
William McKinley

Trump Is Right About McKinley

“The most underrated president” was a model of successful governance in a world in flux.
by Sean Durns via The American Conservative on August 1, 2024
partner

No Place to Make a Vote of Thanks

On the long tradition of Black third-party activism.
by Marc Blanc via HNN on April 23, 2024
Robert E. Lee.

Disqualifying Trump via Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment

A bad history.
by William Hogeland via Hogeland's Bad History on September 16, 2023
Political cartoon showing Uncle Sam reaching out to pull a child representing Cuba into a carriage with children representing American colonies.

Annexation Nation

Since 1823, when the Monroe Doctrine was first introduced to the world, the US has regarded Cuba as key to its designs for Latin America.
by Rebecca Bodenheimer via JSTOR Daily on July 1, 2023
The North American Trust Company building in Havana, Cuba.

The Imperial Fed

Colonial currencies and the pan-American origins of the dollar system.
by Nic Johnson via Phenomenal World on March 30, 2023
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