Commissioners from the United States and Spain met in Paris on October 1, 1898 to produce a treaty that would bring an end to the war after six months of hostilities. The American peace commission consisted of William R. Day, Sen. Cushman K. Davis, Sen. William P. Frye, Sen. George Gray, and the Honorable Whitelaw Reid. The Spanish commission was headed by Don Eugenio Montero Rios, the President of the Senate. Jules Cambon, a French diplomat, also negotiated on Spain's behalf. The American commissioners negotiated in a hostile atmosphere because all Europe, except England, was sympathetic to the Spanish side.
Although the Conference discussed Cuba and debt questions, the major conflict concerned the situation of the Philippines. Admiral Dewey's victory had come as a great surprise and it marked the entrance of the United States into the Pacific. Spanish commissioners argued that Manila had surrendered after the armistice and therefore the Philippines could not be demanded as a war conquest, but they eventually yielded because they had no other choice, and the U.S. ultimately paid Spain 20 million dollars for possession of the Philippines. The islands of Puerto Rico and Guam were also placed under American control, and Spain relinquished its claim to Cuba. The treaty was signed on December 10, 1898.
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By The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Last Updated: Dec 3, 2022 Article History
Table of ContentsTreaty of Paris
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Date:December 10, 1898...(Show more)Participants:Spain United States...(Show more)Key People:Jules Cambon...(Show more)
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Treaty of Paris, (1898), treaty concluding the Spanish-American War. It was signed by representatives of Spain and the United States in Paris on Dec. 10, 1898.
Armistice negotiations conducted in Washington, D.C., ended with the signing of a protocol on Aug. 12, 1898, which, besides ending hostilities, provided that a peace conference be held in Paris by October, that Spain relinquish Cuba and cede Puerto Rico and one of the Mariana Islands to the United States, and that the United States hold Manila until the disposition of the Philippines had been determined.
By the time that the conference opened on October 1, U.S. President William McKinley had finally decided that the United States must take possession of the Philippines. The demand was ultimately accepted with great reluctance by Spain, with the stipulation that the United States should pay Spain $20 million nominally for public buildings and public works in the Philippines. The final treaty also forced Spain to cede all claim to Cuba and to agree to assume the liability for the Cuban debt, estimated at $400 million. As indemnity, Spain ceded Puerto Rico and Guam (in the Marianas) to the United States. (An attempt by the U.S. commissioners to secure Kosrae in the Caroline Islands was successfully blocked by Germany, which had already initiated purchase of the islands.)
The treaty was vigorously opposed in the U.S. Senate as inaugurating a policy of “imperialism” in the Philippines and was approved on Feb. 6, 1899, by only a single vote. Two days earlier, hostilities had begun at Manila between U.S. troops and insurgents led by Emilio Aguinaldo. For more than three years the Filipinos carried on guerrilla warfare against U.S. rule.