Our War with Spain for Cuba's FreedomWhite, Trumbull
History
Our War with Spain for Cuba's Freedom
White, Trumbull
Cuba -- History; Spain -- Foreign relations -- United States; Spanish-American War, 1898; United States -- Foreign relations -- Spain
The parallels between the Cuban insurrection and that of the
American colonies against Great Britain in 1776, are far more
numerous than has been recognized. The Cuban army has been poorly
clothed and scantily fed at times, and equipped with all sorts of
obsolete weapons of offence. But these things are m> disgrace, and
indeed are the basis of much of the pride that Americans take in
the splendid work which their ancestors did in that other
insurrection, which, having resulted successfully, is now known as
the American Revolution. There have been sneers at the government
of the Cuban republic because its officers have had to move from
place to place at various times, in order to avoid threatened
capture by the Spanish forces. But was there ever a more
peripatetic national government than that of the American colonies
during the Revolution, when the legislature and its officers sat
successively in Philadelphia, Germantown, Princeton, New York and
several other places, driven out of each in turn by the same fear
of capture by British troops?
Finally, it ought to be remembered, though it may not be, that the
colonies maintained an organization exactly similar to that of the
Cuban Junta in New York, for the purpose of securing money and
support from the people and the governments of Europe, to whom
they were accredited. The only country which gave them welcome
encouragement was France. But Benjamin Franklin's position in
Paris as the head of what was virtually the American Junta, was
then and is now an honor to his name and his countrymen. It
enlisted the same aid from France and French citizens that the
Cuban Junta in New York has enlisted from the United States and
American citizens, and there is no reason to form any less
creditable judgment of the latter enterprise than the former.
CHARACTER OF THE WORK OF THE JUNTA.
The Junta is the organization through which Cuba's friends reach
the Cubans in the field. In many places these friends are banded
together and work for the Cuban cause as organizations. In the
United States and Europe there are 300 Cuban revolutionary clubs,
with a membership of more than 50,000. These clubs were the
outcome of a suggestion originating with Jose Marti, and their
organization has been accomplished by the delegation, with whom
they are all in closest touch, to whom they all account, and
through whom they all make contributions in money, clothing,
provisions, arms, and munitions for those who are enduring the
hardships of the war. Before the revolution began these clubs had
$100,000 in bank as a war fund.
These most vital contributions must reach the army in the field,
and it is the business of the delegation to see that they get
there. And they have been getting there under most adverse and
trying circumstances, and amid perils of land and sea where
enemies are watching and where a friendly government has had to
guard against the violation of neutrality laws.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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