Historians differ over the meaning of the Platt amendment for Cuban independence. Their views upon this subject have relevance not only for other historians but for those who may be interested in the use of power by the United States in world affairs. The historical literature of the Platt amendment depicts the clash between the security and self-determination interests of the United States and Cuba, and provides an instructive phase of the continuing Cuban question that has intermittently agitated public opinion from the days of Thomas Jefferson to those of Fidel Castro.