Cause Of The Spanish American War

Spanish - American WarTopic: Spanish American WarQuestion: How did the Spanish - American war start?Thesis: Getting treated badly by one another.The causes of the Spanish-American War relates directly to Cuba, and the sinking of the ships such as the U.S.S. Maine. 1In 1895, Cuba was extremely out of control and not organized at all , and was beginning to go against Spain. The American people were very disgusted in the way the cuban citizens were treated and by the way the Spanish treat the Cubans in the beginning of the Spanish - American war. The Cuban’s soon adopted a conception that the more damage that they did to the Cuban mainland, the faster the Spanish would leave Cuba, and the Americans would then help the Cubans to win their independence against the Spain. After they win their independence they would then be free without being mistreated by the Spaniards.The Americans soon came to Cuba in a try to help and assist the Cubans in their fight for freedom.2 The Spanish intervention with Cuba threatened the trade routes that America had near, and with Cuba. By helping the Cuban’s America would be saving itselfs economy because this would be the way to greatness . During this time you must remember that the U.S had a new and 1 https://www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/1898/2 https://amhistory.si.edu/militaryhistory/printable/section.asp?id=7

Cuba “held an economical potential that attracted American business interests and a strategic significance for any Central American canal” (Goldfield, Abbott and Anderson, p 638). Cuban rebellion “erupted again in 1895 in a classic guerrilla war… [and] American economic interests were seriously affected” (book pg638). The Spaniards started confining the locals to concentration camps “where tens of thousands died of starvation and disease” (book pg 638). This gained a lot of publicity throughout America as journalist’s were reporting the harsh treatment, which helped persuade our nation to intervene. Furthermore, this led to growing tension between Spain and

Many historians argue that the U.S. took the moral high ground during the war because they set out to end the suffering of the Cuban people at the hands of Spain, citing the crux of McKinley’s War Message. Although this may be true to some extent, the worst of the rebellion had ended by 1898 as the result of a ceasefire agreement and the departure of General Valeriano Weyler; therefore, American interference was needlessly invasive. Some also point to the Teller Amendment as counter-evidence against the imperialistic nature of the war, but, following the war, the Platt Amendment to the Cuban Constitution transformed Cuba from a truly independent nation into a puppet of the U.S. for enforcing the Monroe Doctrine on Europe’s empires. Moreover, the motive to free an oppressed Cuba fails to explain why the U.S. also took action to remove Spain from the Philippines, where no major rebellion was taking place. Although morality may have played some role, its motivational effect was far outweighed by the imperialism and hysteria factors.

The Spanish American war started in 1898 and was a fight for Cuba’s independence which resulted in 379 American casualties in combat. The Spanish American War was justified because of the Monroe Doctrine, Correspondence between the United States and Spain, and the Platt Amendment, which were all created to protect American morals and freedom.

The Spanish-American War was known as the beginning process to the United States establishing itself as a world super power. This would be the beginning to becoming a strong and powerful Empire. This process to building a powerful Empire is something that America has built up for hundreds of years.

While public tensions before August 1898 were surely high, nothing turned the public against Spain like the tragic blowing up of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor. The lives of 260 American officers and men were lost. The yellow press and American investigators quickly blamed spanish officials in Cuba for the mysterious wreck. Although it is extremely unlikely that the spanish had anything to do with the Maine’s sinking, the War-Mad American public accepted this conclusion out of rage, overwhelmingly persuading President Mckinley to begin the war. McKinley personally did not want to fight a war against Spain, for he had seen enough bloodshed as a General in the Civil War. But the public, encouraged by the Cuban patriotic cause, yellow journalism, and the sinking of the Maine, clamored for a war. Finally, President McKinley yielded and gave the people what they wanted. He believed that the people should rule, even if they don’t know what’s best for themselves. Public pressure was the main reason we went to war with Spain, and the biggest cultivator of public unrest was the blowing up of “The Maine”.

The Spanish-American War in 1898 was a point where American’s demonstrated their power and true colors. America wanted to free the Cubans from Spain, but it was not purely out of the interest of the Cubans. America was in it for the Philippines. Spain had control of the Philippines, and the Philippines were located in close proximity to China. The issue here was that the Philippines was not interested in having the U.S. around and rebelled against the American forces (47) .The U.S. wanted to capitalize on the economic struggles in China and the Philippines was

The Cuban people were in need of dire help, their citizens dying on the streets and in concentration camps. The U.S looked from afar, debating whether it was the right thing to do to get involved in a foreign conflict. Despite the majority of Americans wanting to go to war and defend the rights of the Cuban people, whether it was opinion conceived from yellow journalism, political influences or just a humanitarian responsibility, McKinley did not want any part in this war and he fought barrier after barrier to resolve the matter peacefully. When the extensive negotiations failed with the prideful Spanish, and after the Maine sinking, the De Lôme Letter, and increasing political and social pressure, McKinley finally saw no other way to resolve this matter than by war. Kagan believes that McKinley entered this war on an agenda of helping the Cuban people with their independence from Spain and stopping the brutal concentration camps and cruel policies of Weyler and the Spanish. Although I agree with this, I also believe that a secondary motive of wanting to get involved was because Cuba had many “negro” leaders and people living on the island. Politicians didn’t want colored people taking charge of the country so they deemed them unfit to govern themselves as Kagan puts it “[Cuban people] were unfit for democracy and incapable of establishing a stable and reliable

There were a plethora of important events that took place that prompted the beginning of The Spanish American war. The war was officially started in 1898, bringing joy to the citizens of America and dismay to then president William Mckinley. Before the war, Cuba had been fighting for independence from Spain. The Cuban’s had already lost in the ten year war earlier, which had been fought to gain their independence from Spain. In the state's, newspapers and other media sources were greatly exaggerating the horrors and atrocities being

To protect the interests of the nation, the United States sent the USS Maine into Havana Harbor, but on February 15, 1898, the unthinkable happened. The battleship exploded, killing 260 members of the crew. Without a thorough investigation, the U.S. Naval Court of Inquiry stated the explosion was caused by Spain. Doubt from the public was virtually absent and the United States declared war on Spain, beginning the Spanish-American War. The war resulted in a swift American victory, leading to the addition of multiple territories. Although the explosion is now known to have been caused by an internal fire, it caused American intervention and imperialism in both Latin America and islands in the Pacific

The Spanish American War started in 1898 and lasted about four months. Although the war might have seemed focused on freeing Cuba from Spain and gaining independence for Cuba and the Philippines, it was actually stimulated by nationalism and commercialism. Commercialism was a major factor when declaring war because the United States depended on Cuba and the Philippines for trade and business with other countries, especially in Asia and Latin America. Another major factor for the war was that the United States wanted to spread its Anglo-Saxon culture around the world and emerge as a world-wide power. Other minor motives for the war include the United States coming to the aid of the Cubans in their revolt against Spain and the feeling that

Spain treated Cuban revolutionaries horribly and yellow journalism-exaggerated news articles about the happenings in Cuba- emotionally affected Americans and swayed them in considering to help Cuba. The final draw that convinced the United States to intervene and go to war was the sinking of the military ship, the U.S.S Maine. The Ship exploded in Cuba and blame was put onto Spain. After the war ended, Cuba gained independence and the United States gained the Philippines, Guam and Puerto Rico. The war established that the United States was now a world power and furthered the U.S’s expansion overseas to the Caribbean, Central America and Asia(Document

January 23 of 1898, numbers of Cuban rebellion is growing and more and more Cubans were coming to the United States through Florida. At the same time, European countries were building empires. Thus more and more americans and I feared that the United States will become overpowered by those great nation and become ineffective. Republicans especially feared that if the United States does not start strengthening our military and gain territories overseas we will soon become nobodies in the eyes of the great European nations. I was informed that in Cuba, natives were be being murdered by the spanish governments for expressing their genuine grievances. The spanish government not once tried to calm the rebellions peacefully, instead they slaughtered them by hundredth. The conflict between Cuba and Spain was heating up, the business and citizens of the United States in Cuba were

On April 25, 1898 the United States declared war on Spain following the sinking of the Battleship Maine in Havana harbor on February 15, 1898. The war ended with the signing of

The battleship, USS Marine was stationed in Havana’s harbor to protect American interest in Cuba. An explosion destroyed the vessel on February 15, 1898. “A naval court of inquiry blamed the explosion on a mine, further inflaming public sentiment against Spain” (HIS104 U.S. History Since 1877 30-Jun-2008, OL20). Again, the press stirred up the public with stories and headlines of a Spanish conspiracy. American now demanded revenge for the deaths of 266 sailors (Faragher, J., 2008, Out of Many). President McKinley demanded that Spanish government end brutality of the Cuban people, engage in armistice, and promise the eventual independence of Cuba. Upon Spain’s refusal, McKinley asked for a declaration of war. (HIS104 U.S. History, Lecture, 30-Jun-2008, OL20). “In order to assure the world that it was fighting only for the good of Cuba and not for colonial gain, the US passed the Teller Amendment, which promised to make Cuba independent after the war was over” (SparkNotes: The Spanish American War, 1898-1901: Summary).