Why didn't the United States annex Cuba or Bahamas or similar along with Florida?

by Nocornersinacircle

The Bahamas especially are so close and similar to the Florida keys and Cuba was Spanish and surely ripe for the picking.

Why didn't America take it?

Anoraklibrarian

America was cede florida by treaty after American settlers had penetrated this Spanish territory in the early 19th century. It was never densely settled by the Spanish nor was it a particularly profitable area within the large and weak Spanish empire. By contrast, Cuba was extraordinarily profitable and comparatively densely settled. That is not to say that there was not consistent talk of seizing Cuba throughout the 19th century (especially by slaveholders who wanted to expand the terrain open to slavery in the USA) but it would have required a war to seize. The same is true for the Bahamas which were British territories and would have required a war in order to seize. We didn't really win The War of 1812, and the British naval blockade of the USA during that war was economically disastrous. A repeat of that conflict in order to take a small amount of territory at a time when the west was still open to settlement did not make a lot of sense.