As early as 1818, Americans, as well as the British, were buying interests in Cuban sugar and establishing themselves as merchants on the island. The many who owned sugar plantations included William Stewart, owner of La Carolina, near Cienfuegos, and J.S. Baker, owner of San José plantation. Throughout the 19th century, these American interests exercised significant influence over economic policy and were behind the efforts to secure annexation by the United States prior to the American Civil War. The United States intervention of 1898-1902 stimulated further settlement. There were 9,555 US-born people in Cuba in 1919. The special status of the Island of Pines was a particular encouragement, although most Americans there left when it was returned to Cuban sovereignty. Otherwise, the influence of Americans in Cuba continued, evinced by their support for Summer Welles’ mediación in 1933 and his opposition to the nationalism of Grau San Martín. The 1940s, and 1950s, showed a gradual decline in the role of American commercial interests. The 1953 census recorded 6,503 Americans. Following the Revolution of 1959 and its expropriation of American investments, most Americans returned to the United States. Cuba’s two English-language newspapers, the Havana Post, and the Times of Havana, had to cease publication.
From the early 1800s, Cuba’s tropical climate led to many Americans moving there for health reasons – during the winters, or permanently. By the end of the century, as communications improved, tourism became important. Especially after the railroad reached Key West (in 1912), Americans began to arrive in some numbers as holiday makers, attracted in part by Cuba’s nightlife, beauty, and proximity.
Since 1959 Cuba has served as a refuge for American fugitives from justice such as Robert Vesco and Frank Terpil.
