Thanks to their efforts, the Cuban republic was born free of debt.
The other point was raised by the American commissioners, and was both more important and more complicated, for when the negotiation began the United States had not fully decided what it wanted.

It was necessary first to decide and then to obtain the consent of Spain with regard to the great unsettled question of the disposition of the Philippines.
Dewey's victory came as an overwhelming surprise to the great majority of Americans snugly encased, as they supposed themselves to be, in a separate hemisphere.

Nearly all looked upon it as a military operation only, not likely to lead to later complications.

Many discerning individuals, however, both in this country and abroad, at once saw or feared that occupation would lead to annexation.

Carl Schurz, as early as the 9th of May, wrote McKinley expressing the hope that "we remain true to our promise that this is a war of deliverance and not one of greedy ambition, conquest, self-aggrandizement." In August, Andrew Carnegie wrote in "The North American Review" an article on "Distant Possessions--The Parting of the Ways." Sentiment in favor of retaining the islands, however, grew rapidly in volume and in strength.