The Pursuit of Pacification: Banditry and the United States' Occupation of Cuba, 1889–1902

Abstract

On 1 January, 1899, the noon ceremony in Havana was brief but solemn. The Spanish flag was lowered, the United States flag raised. Officers of both countries exchanged formal salutes and informal salutations, whereupon the official ceremony came to an end. After nearly a century of covetous preoccupation with the island, the Unites States assumed formal possession of Cuba.