Rights, Race, and Manhood: The Spanish American War and Soldiers’ Quests for First Class American Citizenship

Julie Novkov, University at Albany, SUNY

Abstract

Unlike the Civil War and Reconstruction, the Spanish American War and the Philippine Resistance were not accompanied by significant rights advances for people of color. Rather, rights continued to flow in retrograde, with increased political and cultural repression. Men of color contributed substantially and formally to the war effort, with companies of black and Filipino soldiers serving in combat and many individual Latinos, Native Americans, and Asian men and male descendants of Asians serving as well. Nonetheless, they were unable to leverage service into successful claims to the rights of manhood. This paper explores these dynamics in the context of a broader project about rights advances and retreats in troubled times.