Tocqueville’s Prophecy: The United States and the Caribbean, 1850–1871

Abstract

In the middle of the nineteenth century, the islands of the Caribbean were at the crossroads of two great questions: How should people be governed in an age in which empires and nations coincided? And how would racial differences affect society and politics in an era of emancipation? One might imagine that, given its proximity and power, the USA would have an enormous bearing on these questions, and that the American Civil War would transform the racial and political landscape of the Caribbean. In fact, when the USA went in search of territory and influence after 1865, the results were modest. Not a single West Indian harbor was annexed to the USA in the 30 years after Appomattox. Slavery survived until 1873 in Puerto Rico and 1886 in Cuba; Spanish rule endured until 1898, in spite of Cuba’s cherished status among American expansionists.¹