The Spanish American War was a four month conflict between the United States and Spain provoked by many things. Spain, at the time,was controlling Cuba. In 1895, Jose Marti and the inserrectos1 revolted against Spanish rule, leading to General Valeriano Weyler to become the governor of Cuba. General Weyler was harsh with the rebels and non rebels alike and put much of the Cuban population in concentration camps, where the many Cubans died from starvation and disease. Americans felt very sympathetic for the Cubans and the way they were being treated, especially because of “yellow journalism”. Yellow journalism exaggerated the way the Spanish were treating the Cubans and deepened many Americans' hatred for the Spanish. Joseph Pulitzer, owner of the New York World, and William Randolph Hearst, owner of the New York …show more content…
While Spain was controlling Puerto Rico, Puerto Ricans lived in poverty and had a lack of roads and equipment for agriculture, which they depend on for income. Once the United States took control over Puerto Rico, Congress passed the Foraker Act, establishing a civil government in Puerto Rico. The United States decided to govern the Philippines until they are able to govern themselves. President McKinley explained that giving the Philippines back to Spain would be "cowardly and dishonorable", giving the Philippines to France ore Germany would be bad business since they were our commercial rivals in the Orient6, and letting them govern themselves would lead to an anarchy. President McKinley said there is only no other options but to "take them all, and to educate the Filipinos, and uplift and civilize and Christianize them, and by God's grace do the very best we could by them, as our fellow men for whom Christ also died". The United States uplifted and aided the Filipinos. The Philippines was also a perfect place for a coaling station for the US navy throughout the
The Filipino people had helped the US fight the Spanish-American War in hope to gain independence in return. However, instead of gaining independence the Philippines was annexed to the United States on December 10, 1898. When the Filipino’s had found they were going to be ruled over once again they were very unhappy, after all they had helped the US. When Aguinaldo had found out that the Philippines were going to be controlled by the US, he had declared war on the United States.
Change in American government was imperative in expanding the nation. It is ludicrous to believe that as other nations were growing, America would just sit back and watch. Governmental involvement made "the Philippines ours forever" (Document 1). The United States' plan was to take the Philippines, educate, uplift, and civilize them (Document 2). Such a "noble deed" seemed to benefit both the filipinos and americans. During this time, as mentioned in document eight, "we had duties to others and duties to ourselves". Government's changing role made these relationships available to the
was generous to annex the Philippines because the U.S. lead the Philippines to a self-government. “It takes a few weeks of work like this to make one proud that he is an American”(Doc H). This document tells the story of the Philippine- American War coming to the end with America’s victory. Letter written by William Connor shows how the United States military won the war that lead the US to guiding the Philippines to a stronger government. “it cannot rule over vassal states or subjects peoples without bringing in the elements of death into its own constitution…”(Doc I). Document I explains that annexing the Philippines is unconstitutional, but this is not correct because the Philippines was bought by the U.S. and they were owned by U.S. “We could not leave them to themselves- they were unfit for self government- and they soon would have anarchy and misrule over there worse than Spain’s was”(Doc C). The United States saw the Philippine as unfitted for self- government and the Philippines needed the United States to be a parent government, and guide them to a more fit
Another victory through the Treaty of Paris was the possession of the Philippines. Though the Filipino independence leader Emilio Aguinaldo had aided in the defeat of Spain in 1898, USA refused independence to the Islands and a vicious three year war ensued. A civil government was created after the capture of Aguinaldo under William Taft and this showed a drastic change in American foreign policy. They could no longer justify interference with the excuse of the islands being within its sphere of influence but McKinley argued that America had the role to “uplift and civilize and christianize [Filipinos] as our fellow-men for whom Christ also died." McKinley was either unaware or simply chose not to inform the people that, except for some Muslim tribesmen in the south, the Filipinos were Roman Catholics, and, therefore, already Christians. In reality, the annexation of the Philippines was the centerpiece of the "large policy" pushed by the imperialist cabal to enlist the United States in the ranks of the great powers.
The United States, in order to keep growing as a world power, did not have to govern other territories to be prosperous. The U.S. stressed that the Filipinos were incapable of self-government and that the United States had an obligation to civilize them. The United States could've found other means to increase its greatness and power. Means that are morally right and
The greatest cause of the Spanish American War was “Cuba’s heartfelt request for freedom” (pg. 616). America tried not to become embroiled in the conflict, but several events and the usage of propaganda turned the United States against Spain. “Propaganda such as the yellow press further fueled tensions between the two sides. The yellow press displayed negative messages and images which reached large audiences and proved effective in demonizing the enemy and turning others against Spain” (pg. 616). “American sympathy was one of the largest factors that contributed to the decision for war” (pg. 616).
The American people sided more towards the Cubans then with Spain within during the war. There was a big difference between the Cubans and the Spanish people. The Cubans were very poor people who did have much, while the Spanish controlled everything and had everything. This upsetted many people from the poor to the rich, and the Spanish just wanted to do what was right. The War with Spain was ultimately suppose to help the other people and the government. And this War with Spain started to include the Blacks which was gonna end up making things more peaceful and an “era of good feelings”. All Spain wanted was a perfect sound of unity among the people around them without the issues of racism, etc. (document 1) As a step to fix this, the American government try to adopt a policy of neutrality to help with this issue. The Americans reached out for help, but got little in return. McKinley just wanted to help the Philippines. They were unfit for self-government as I said above, and soon as time went on, they would have an “anarchy” and would soon be misruled for so many things. According to Document 3, McKinley just wanted the Philippines to be involved in the church and one night after speaking to God, he figured it all out. He decided that all he could do was to educate them and to provide them with everything he possibly could. (document 3) A lot of the Americans were starting to believe that all the people were ready to start accepting peace and neutrality, that was still yet to come in the years to follow. (document 4) The Spanish-American War had a big effect on a lot of things throughout the 19th and 20th
The Spanish-American War emerged out of Cuban resistance to Spanish rule, which had been a conflict for a long time coming. In 1895, the Cubans rose up again, and the rebellion had a violent effect on both sides. The Cubans destroyed the island, causing the Spaniards to leave. The revolt of 1895 was reported more fully than ever before, which helped create the impression that the Spaniards were the only ones committing all of the violent acts.
Although there are many reasons why the Spanish-American war took place, the most important was Spain's resentment of Cuba's desire to also become an independent nation. Since Cuba was one of Spain's last territories, they were unwilling to allow independence. As a result, conflict between the two parties erupted. Since Cuba was smaller and less equipped to fight than Spain, their economy took a tumble. Due to the fact that the United States had a great deal of money invested in Cuba's sugar resources, many Americans felt the need to wage war. Additionally, there were separate events that caused anger to American Citizens. One such event was the destruction of a U.S. ship used to protect the American citizens in Cuba. Although the ship's
The bald red, white, and blue eagle of American Democracy is coming for you Phillipines, run while you can! Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States, was so infatuated with the idea of democracy, and he wanted every country to have a little taste of American freedom! After America's victory in the Spanish American War, George Dewey and his 11,000 American troops marched into manila and were unsure whether to liberate or occupy the filipino people. Thinking the they were here to help, the Filipino rebels trusted the Americans, but were soon betrayed as Dewey decided to occupy the land. The United States had three choices to determine what they wanted to do with the Philippines: Give it back to Spain, Give the filipino people their freedom, or to annex the whole country itself. With much debate ranging from artists, influential citizens, and government officials, the US ultimately decided it would annex! The United States should not have annexed the Philippines but rather should have given them their independence. While others may think the annexation of the Philippines would have benefited them, what the Philippines really needed was
America’s support for the ongoing struggle by Cubans and Filipinos against Spanish rule and the explosion of the battleship U.S.S. Maine in Havana Harbor are the major influences that led to the Spanish-American War. The Spanish-American War was a conflict between Spain and the United States in 1898. As Cuba was controlled by territorial expansion by the Spanish, Cubans fight for independence from Spain will arise. Cubans fight for Independence from Spain is what brought the U.S to intervene.
The first reason for the Spanish American War was public opinion. In 1895, American citizens took notice of a Cuban revolt against their corrupt Spanish oppressor. The Cuban insurgents reasoned that if they did enough damage , the US might move in and help the
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
William Mckinley was the president that actually annexed the Philippines. He had a belief that the Filipinos needed the governing of America to become civil because they could not govern themselves and the the U.S had a christian motive to “help” and lift the Filipinos. (Doc 3) Many of these ideas were reflected in the “March of the Flag” speech, in which they advocated that the united states had the permission
After the war ended in 1902, United States was on a mission to repair the damages that the Philippines had endured; they wanted to win back the trust of its people. President McKinley created laws that gave the Philippines some of the same provisions as America regarding government structure. According to Sonia M. Zaide, an expert Filipino historian, the Philippines was on its way to rebuilding itself: