ABSTRACT
In 1898 the United States emerged from the Spanish-American War as an imperialist world power. Many Irish Americans looked askance at that development, as it appeared that the United States was beginning to emulate the empire-building ways of their old oppressor Britain. Wilson's wartime rhetoric about the need for national self-determination seemingly put him in agreement with the core objective of the Irish. The Dail swiftly issued a Declaration of Independence, reaffirming Ireland's right to sovereignty and echoing Wilson's warning that a failure by the world to grant such legitimate claims would lead to renewed war: We claim for our national independence the recognition and support of every free nation in the world, and we proclaim that independence to be a condition precedent to international peace thereafter. The one thousand Irish Americans in attendance agreed with Cohalan and adopted a petition calling on the president to make a calculated effort to free Ireland—"held in bondage"—from Britain.
