Rare and impressive 1898 photo of McKinley and other dignitaries signing the Peace Protocol that officially brought the Spanish-American War to its conclusion, 15.75 x 12.25 on its original 20.6 x 16.25 mount, signed in ink by all 12 men pictured: [Lt. Col.] Montgomery, [French Ambassador to the U.S.] Jules Cambon, [Secretary of the French Embassy Eugène] Thiébaut, [U.S. Adjutant General] H. C. Corbin, [Assistant Secretary of State] J. B. Moore, [Secretary of State] William R. Day (shown signing in the photo), [Second Assistant Secretary of State and, during the war, Acting Secretary of State] Alvey A. Adee, [President] William McKinley, [Secretary to the President] Geo. B. Cortelyou, [Assistant Secretary to the President] O. L. Pruden, [Third Assistant Secretary of State] Tho. W. Cridler, and [Captain] Chas. Loeffler. Increasing unrest in Cuba, which for decades had been struggling for independence from Spain, induced the United States to send the Battleship U.S.S. Maine to Havana Harbor to protect American interests in the region in January 1898. On February 18, the Maine exploded and sunk, resulting in 2698 deaths. Blamed on a Spanish attack (though the true reason for the explosion has remains inconclusive), the explosion galvanized anti-Spanish sentiment in the United States. McKinley, who had long maintained a firm antiwar stance, finally asked for Congress for authority to send American troops to Cuba as an “interventional” measure. A congressional resolution and subsequent ultimatum demanding that Spain withdraw its troops from Cuba led Spain to declare war on the U.S. on April 23, with the U.S. responding in kind on April 25. After nearly five months of fighting, which included an effective American blockade and the active participation of Theodore Roosevelt and his “Rough Riders,” hostilities halted on August 12, and the formal Peace Protocol was signed in Paris on December 10, 1898, to be ratified by the U.S. Senate on February 6 of the following year. Among other provisions in the treaty, Spain ceded control of the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico to the U.S., and Cuba was granted independence, though the United States was granted the right of “intervention”—beginning an era of ever-increasing American hegemony in affairs beyond its own borders. Matted and framed in a period frame to an overall size of 26.5 x 22.5. In very good condition, small areas of scattered emulsion loss at upper and lower right corners (almost entirely confined to background), light dampstaining to lower margin (touching signatures of Montgomery, Cortelyou, Caden, and Day, causing slight spreading to first three), Loeffler’s signature written atop photographer’s pencil signature, and light wear to frame. McKinley’s signature is clear, dark, and completely unaffected. A most remarkable relic from the genesis of America’s emergence as an influential international power! Auction LOA John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and R&R COA. Oversized.
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