On July 25, 1898, United States troops landed at Guánica on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. American forces then moved inland toward Ponce and other strategic points. Spain still exercised sovereignty over Puerto Rico. The Treaty of Paris had not been signed. In fact, it would not be signed for more than four months.

So was Puerto Rico invaded by the United States?

It sounds like a simple question. It isn't.

This article—and the corresponding episode of Chronicles & Cocktails—grew directly out of a debate taking place in the comments beneath several of my YouTube videos. Some viewers have repeatedly argued that the United States did not invade Puerto Rico in 1898. Others insist that "invasion" is precisely the correct term.

Rather than argue from modern politics, ideology, or Puerto Rico's current status, I decided to go back to 1898.

And when we reconstruct the chronology, an important distinction emerges: Puerto Rico was the place invaded, but Spain was the sovereign power being invaded.

That distinction changes the way we can understand the events of 1898.

Puerto Rico Before the United States Arrived

The first thing we have to establish is something that often gets lost in modern discussions.

Puerto Rico was not an independent country in 1898.

Puerto Rico was under Spanish sovereignty. By this point in its history, the island had been part of Spain for more than four centuries, dating to the beginning of Spanish settlement in the early 16th century.

The political arrangement had evolved considerably during those centuries. Most importantly for our story, Spain granted Puerto Rico the Autonomic Charter of 1897, creating an autonomous government on the island while sovereignty remained Spanish.

Puerto Rico therefore possessed a significant degree of self-government when war erupted in 1898.

But it was not sovereign.

Spain was.

That distinction becomes extremely important when we ask who—or what—the United States invaded.

The Spanish-American War

In April 1898, the United States and Spain went to war.

Cuba dominated American public attention, but the conflict extended far beyond Cuba. Spain still possessed territories across the Caribbean and Pacific, and American military planners understood their strategic importance.

Puerto Rico was one of them.

Before American soldiers ever landed on the island, Puerto Rico had already become a theater of war.

On May 12, 1898, an American naval force commanded by Rear Admiral William T. Sampson bombarded San Juan.

The Spanish fortifications surrounding the city—including the defenses associated with El Morro and San Cristóbal—were not tourist attractions in 1898.

They were active military installations.

When we stand today along the walls of Old San Juan looking across the Atlantic, it is easy to forget that these fortifications were constructed for precisely this purpose: defending Spanish territory from an attacking naval power.

And in May 1898, that attack came from the United States.

But the larger military operation was still ahead.

"Miles Off for Puerto Rico"

One of the most interesting pieces of evidence comes from a source published before American troops landed in Puerto Rico.

On July 22, 1898, The New York Times published a front-page report announcing:

"MILES OFF FOR PUERTO RICO."

The report described General Nelson A. Miles heading toward Puerto Rico with a substantial American military force.

This is important because of the date.

July 22.

At that moment:

Spain still possessed Puerto Rico.

There was no Treaty of Paris.

There had been no negotiated transfer of Puerto Rico to the United States.

American troops were being transported toward Spanish territory under military and naval command.

Three days later, they arrived.

July 25, 1898: Guánica

On July 25, 1898, American forces landed at Guánica.

Today there is a monument marking the landing area. Looking at that coastline now, surrounded by fishing boats, Caribbean water and the landscape of southwestern Puerto Rico, it can be difficult to imagine what that morning represented.

But militarily, there was little ambiguity about what was happening.

An armed force belonging to one country had entered territory controlled by another country during an active war.

And the troops weren't simply establishing a temporary camp on the beach.

They began advancing.

The Army Moves Toward Ponce

Another contemporary New York Times front page helps us follow what happened next.

On July 28, 1898, the newspaper reported:

"MILES IS PUSHING ONWARD TO PONCE."

That headline is significant.

The operation had moved beyond simply landing troops. American forces were advancing through Puerto Rican territory and occupying strategic locations.

Ponce soon came under American control.

Other military operations followed as American forces advanced through southern and central Puerto Rico.

There were engagements between American and Spanish forces at locations including Yauco, Coamo and Asomante.

This matters when discussing terminology.

The American presence was not created by a treaty.

The military campaign preceded the treaty.

So What Exactly Is an Invasion?

This is where semantics and history collide.

In conventional military terminology, an invasion involves armed forces entering territory controlled by another sovereign power with the purpose of establishing military control.

By that definition, the Puerto Rico Campaign possesses the fundamental characteristics of an invasion.

American forces came from outside the territory.

They arrived aboard military transports.

They were supported by naval forces.

They landed in territory under Spanish sovereignty.

They advanced inland.

They fought Spanish forces.

And they occupied territory.

But there is another distinction worth making.

Did the United States Invade Puerto Rico—or Spain?

This may be the most important question in the entire discussion.

If someone says:

"The United States invaded Puerto Rico,"

that statement is geographically and militarily understandable. Puerto Rico was where American troops landed and conducted the campaign.

But there was no sovereign Republic of Puerto Rico being invaded.

The sovereign state at war with the United States was Spain.

That allows us to formulate the event more precisely:

The United States invaded Spanish territory in Puerto Rico—or, put another way, the United States invaded Spain on Puerto Rican soil.

That does not mean that Puerto Rico wasn't invaded geographically.

It means we are distinguishing between territory and sovereignty.

Spain was the belligerent sovereign power.

Puerto Rico was the territory where the invasion occurred.

Puerto Ricans were the people living through it.

All three statements can exist simultaneously.

And Then Came the Treaty of Paris

This is perhaps the most important chronological fact in the entire debate.

The American landing at Guánica occurred on:

July 25, 1898.

The Treaty of Paris was signed on:

December 10, 1898.

Those events were separated by more than four months.

By the time diplomats negotiated Puerto Rico's future in Paris, American troops had already landed, fought a military campaign and established control over the island.

Article II of the Treaty of Paris subsequently provided that:

Spain ceded Puerto Rico to the United States.

The treaty therefore formalized the transfer of sovereignty resulting from the war.

It did not precede the American military operation.

It followed it.

That chronology is fundamental.

The Gin Rickey: A Drink From Washington in 1898

And this brings us to the cocktail.

For this episode I wanted something connected not simply to Puerto Rico, but to the political world in which these decisions were being made.

The Rickey emerged in Washington, D.C., and by the 1890s had become closely associated with the capital's political and drinking culture.

Unlike many sweeter drinks of the period, the Rickey was remarkably simple: spirit, fresh lime and carbonated water.

The Gin Rickey would become its most famous incarnation.

That makes it particularly appropriate for this story.

While American politicians, journalists and officials in Washington were debating war, empire and America's growing role beyond the continental United States, the Rickey belonged to the drinking culture surrounding them.

For Chronicles & Cocktails, however, we're giving it a Puerto Rican connection.

I'm making mine with Jalda Gin from Puerto Rico, fresh lime and club soda.

Washington history in the glass.

Puerto Rico in the bottle.

And a cocktail from the same historical world we're examining.

Salud.

So, Did the United States Invade Puerto Rico?

After looking at the chronology, contemporary reporting and the political status of Puerto Rico in 1898, my conclusion is this:

Yes, an invasion occurred in Puerto Rico.

But the most historically precise formulation is more nuanced:

In 1898, the United States invaded Spain on Puerto Rican soil.

Puerto Rico was not an independent sovereign state being invaded by another sovereign state.

Spain was the sovereign belligerent.

Puerto Rico was Spanish territory.

And American military forces entered that territory during an active war, defeated or displaced Spanish military authority, occupied the island, and only afterward did a treaty formally transfer sovereignty.

Calling it an invasion is therefore not inherently anti-American, anti-Spanish, nationalist, colonialist, statehood-oriented, independence-oriented or anything else.

It is military terminology.

What people choose to conclude politically from that history is another question entirely.

And that is precisely why this subject is worth discussing.

Watch the Full Chronicles & Cocktails Episode

In the full episode of Chronicles & Cocktails, we examine the contemporary newspaper reports, visit the places connected to the story, follow the chronology of the Puerto Rico Campaign, and make the Gin Rickey while discussing the political culture of Washington during the Spanish-American War.

And I want to hear your argument:

Was Puerto Rico invaded by the United States?

Or is the more accurate statement that the United States invaded Spain in Puerto Rico?

Leave your reasoning—not just your answer—in the comments.

Watch this video on YouTube

Did the United States Invade Puerto Rico in 1898? The Evidence, the War, and the Treaty