Shortly after the war ended on August 12, 1898, German representatives quickly made it clear to American representatives in Paris that if the US was not going to take the islands of Spanish Micronesia as a result of the war, then Germany would like to buy them from Spain. Spanish representatives admitted to the American representatives that they were, in fact, negotiating a deal with the Germany, the outcome of which would depend on what concessions America demanded.
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Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, junior member of the Republican-controlled Senate Foreign Relations committee, advised McKinley against taking only one island in the Marianas group, which he said “would open the door to many troubles. Because Germany, the European power most critical of American foreign policy, was casting longing looks at the Marianas, Lodge held that, “We want no German neighbors there,” (Garraty, p. 198; Farrell, 1994, p. 282).
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When the Senate Foreign Relations committee met to hear testimony on the treaty, Commander R. B. Bradford represented the US Navy. He recommended taking not only the Marianas, but all the Caroline Islands in Micronesia as well. He used the annexation of Hawaii as an example: “Suppose we had but one, and the others were possessed of excellent harbors . . . [S]uppose also the others were in the hands of a commercial rival, with a different form of government and not over[ly] friendly. Under these circumstances we should lose all the advantages of isolation,” (Treaty of Peace, 1899, p. 477). In other words, it was in the best interest of America to have a unified Marianas—and a unified Micronesia—under American rule, if possible.
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On February 6, 1899, despite Bradford’s testimony and Senator Lodge’s warnings, the Senate voted 57 to 27 in favor of ratification of the Treaty of Peace, one vote more than the necessary two-thirds majority. The president signed the treaty and Spain subsequently ceded Guam, Puerto Rico and the Philippines to the US in return for US$20 million. When Germany discovered the US was willing to give up the Northern Marianas as well as the Caroline Islands, they paid Spain some US $4.2 million dollars for the lot.
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Could the President have faced down the Kaiser militarily? German historian Gerd Hardach, has stated, “If the US government had changed [its] mind and claimed all of the Marianas, the German government would certainly have acquiesced, as they did not have a strong motive,” (G. Hardach, personal communication, March 22, 1993; Farrell, 1994, p. 293.)
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Besides the less-than-subtle military pressures applied by Germany, historian Wayne Morgan (1965, p. 191) has offered another reason. In his opinion, President 418 ! ・ 2nd Marianas History Conference 2013