The 1899 Cuban Marriage Law Controversy: Church, State and Empire in the Crucible of Nation

In this essay, a battle over canon and civil marriage that took place during the first U.S. occupation of Cuba, 1899–1902, is examined. The controversy surrounded the publication of a marriage law that declared that henceforth only civil marriages would be recognized by the state. The debate is discussed from the point of view of three key sets of actors: the Cuban nationalists who championed the law, the outraged Catholic prelates who opposed it, and the U.S. military administrators who ultimately decided the outcome of the controversy.