DS as president, one page, 7.75 x 10.25, August 19, 1898. President McKinley directs the Secretary of State to cause the Seal of the United States to be affixed to “the commissions and full powers of Major General J. F. Wade, U. S. V., Rear Admiral William T. Sampson, U. S. N., and Major General M. C. Butler, U. S. V., as United States Commissioners to arrange and carry out the details of the immediate evacuation by Spain of Cuba and the adjacent islands.” Signed boldly at the conclusion by William McKinley. In fine condition, with slightly irregular very faint toning.
This fascinating document, which observes commissions approved by McKinley to assist in the evacuation of Spanish forces from Cuba, is dated a week after peace protocols were signed in Washington, D.C. on August 12, 1898, recognizing a truce between the United States and Spain and ushering in the end of the nearly four-month-long Spanish-American War. The war officially concluded four months later, when the U.S. and Spanish governments signed the Treaty of Paris on December 10, 1898. Apart from guaranteeing the independence of Cuba, the treaty also forced Spain to cede Guam and Puerto Rico to the United States, with Spain also agreeing to sell the Philippines to the United States for the sum of $20 million. The U.S. Senate ratified the treaty on February 6, 1899, by a margin of only one vote.
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