ePub Witness for Freedom: African American Voices on Race; Slavery; and Emancipation by From Brand: The University of North Carolina Press in History

Description

A century after the Cuban war for independence was fought; Louis Perez examines the meaning of the war of 1898 as represented in one hundred years of American historical writing. Offering both a critique of the conventional historiography and an alternate history of the war informed by Cuban sources; Perez explores the assumptions that have shaped our understanding of the "Spanish-American War--a construct; he argues; that denies the Cubans' participation in their own struggle for liberation from Spanish rule.Perez examines historical accounts of the destruction of the battleship Maine; the representation of public opinion as a precipitant of war; and the treatment of the military campaign in Cuba. Equally important; he shows how historical narratives have helped sustain notions of America's national purpose and policy; many of which were first articulated in 1898. Cuba insinuated itself into one of the most important chapters of U.S. history; and what happened on the island in the final decade of the nineteenth century--and the way in which what happened was subsequently represented--has had far-reaching implications; many of which continue to resonate today.