American Interests in the Cuban Revolt, 1868-1878 Page: 1

                                
CHAPITER t
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A am glance at a nap of the Western Hemisphere will
disclose the strategic location of th© island of Cuba* iM
on# of th® islands of the Wast Indies, Cuba has always been
*
important as a '•gateway1* to the rait of th© lew WorM* these
islands, of which Cuba holds preeminence, wew th# bases f«t
th© first Spanish settlements in this hemisphere? and since
that time have lost none of their importance derived from
their location, resources, and international trade# Cuba*
located immediately off the southern tip of Florida# has
always been of singular importance and attraction to the
United States, due, not only to its proximity to the 0. S.f
\
but alio to the location of the island in the Caribbean, the
trade between the United States and Cuba, and the resources
for which the island is famous#
As early as 1823# John Quincy Adams noted the Cuban
prize and predictedf
These islands /"Cuba and Puerto Hiq£7#.• are natural
appendages to the Horth American continent, and one
of them, Cuba, almost in sight of our shores, from a
multitude of considerations has become an object of
transcendent importance to the commercial and politi-
cal interests of our Union.*.there 4*9 lavs of politic
oatl as well as of physical gravitation^ and if an
apple severed by the tempest from its native tree cannot
choose but fall to the ground* Cuba, forcibly disjoined
from its own unnatural connection with Spain, and