page_title: Cuba–United States relations
section_title: Pre-1800
hierarchical_section_title: Cuba–United States relations / Historical background / Pre-1800
caption_attribution_description: "MAP OF FLORIDA. Engraved map by en:Jacques le Moyne de Morgues, published by en:Theodor de Bry in Brevis Narratio . . . Frankfort, 1591"
context_page_description: Cuba–United States relations are bilateral relations between the Republic of Cuba and the United States of America. Cuba and the United States restored diplomatic relations on 20 July 2015, relations which had been severed in 1961 during the Cold War. U.S. diplomatic representation in Cuba is handled by the United States Embassy in Havana, and there is a similar Cuban Embassy in Washington, D.C. The United States, however, continues to maintain its commercial, economic, and financial embargo, making it illegal for U.S. corporations to do business with Cuba.
  The hold of the Spanish Empire on possessions in the Americas was reduced in the 1820s as a result of the Spanish American wars of independence; only Cuba and Puerto Rico remained under Spanish rule until the Spanish–American War that resulted from the Cuban War of Independence. Under the Treaty of Paris, Cuba became a U.S. protectorate from 1898–1902; the U.S. gained a position of economic and political dominance over the island, which persisted after it became formally independent in 1902.
  Following the Cuban Revolution of 1959, bilateral relations deteriorated substantially.
context_section_description: Relations between the Spanish colony of Cuba and polities on the North American mainland first established themselves in the early 18th century through illicit commercial contracts by the European colonies of the New World, trading to elude colonial taxes. As both legal and illegal trade increased, Cuba became a comparatively prosperous trading partner in the region, and a center of tobacco and sugar production. During this period Cuban merchants increasingly traveled to North American ports, establishing trade contracts that endured for many years.
  The British occupation of Havana in 1762 opened up trade with the colonies in North and South America, and the American Revolution in 1776 provided additional trade opportunities. Spain opened Cuban ports to North American commerce officially in November 1776 and the island became increasingly dependent on that trade.
caption: Detail of 1591 map of Florida and Cuba
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