Download United States Economic Ties to Cuba By the late 1700s

United States Economic Ties to Cuba
By the late 1700s, sugar had replaced tobacco as Cuba’s
main crop and by the mid 1800s Cuba produced 25 percent
of the world’s sugar. The United States was a natural
market for Cuban sugar; the American public was a heavy
consumer of sugar but the United States did not have a
sugar industry to meet that demand. In 1884, the
international sugar market collapsed and the resulting
loss of revenue drove many Cuban sugar mills into
bankruptcy. Sensing an opportunity, investors from the
United States poured capital back into Cuba purchasing
the sugar mills and garnering a stake in the Cuban
industry. This influx of revenue brought about an
industrial revolution in Cuba’s sugar industry
resulting from modernization of the mills and
improvements in refining techniques.
By the 1880's the United States had become the dominant
trading partner of Cuba. But American capital quickly
fell into ruin with the outbreak of the Cuban
Revolution. To prevent further disintegration of
American capital and to protect Americans residing in
Cuba at the time, businessmen began to call for the
American government to take action.
Sources:
http://www.hpu.edu/CHSS/History/GraduateDegree/MADMSTheses/files/Ann_Marie_Ho
lmes.pdf and http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/cubatimeline.html