Clarified territorial ambiguities from the 1898 Treaty of Paris and was later incorporated into the 1935 Philippine Constitution.
Key Facts
- Date signed
- November 7, 1900
- Date in effect
- March 23, 1901
- Parties
- Spain and the United States
- Clarifies
- Article III of the 1898 Treaty of Paris
- Later incorporated in
- 1935 Constitution of the Philippines, Article 1
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The 1898 Treaty of Paris, which ended the Spanish-American War, left ambiguities in Article III regarding the precise territories Spain relinquished to the United States, creating potential grounds for diplomatic misunderstanding between the two nations.
On November 7, 1900, Spain and the United States signed the Treaty of Washington in Washington, D.C., specifically to clarify which territories were ceded under the earlier Treaty of Paris. The treaty entered into force on March 23, 1901, upon exchange of ratifications.
The treaty resolved interpretive disputes over the territorial scope of the 1898 agreement. Both treaties were subsequently cited in the first article of the 1935 Constitution of the Philippines, where they defined the extent of Philippine national territory.
Political Outcome
Ambiguities in Article III of the 1898 Treaty of Paris were formally clarified, confirming the scope of territories transferred from Spain to the United States.
Territorial scope of Spanish cession to the US remained ambiguous following the 1898 Treaty of Paris
Specific territories relinquished by Spain to the United States formally defined and agreed upon