Media In The Spanish American War

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 public was calling for the United States to intervene in the conflict between Spain and Cuba, Cuba was fighting for independence. The United States soon sent the USS Maine to protect American citizens and property. Public outcry reached a new found high when the USS Maine was sunk without any explanation from the Spanish. On April 24th of 1898 Spain officially Declared War on the United States, with the United States following suit a day later on April 25th of 1898. Bits and pieces of the Spanish American war were fought on all of Spain’s strongholds in the Caribbean and Pacific: Guam, The Philippines, Puerto Rico, and most notably Cuba. Of the fighting in Cuba some of the most interesting was by the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry better known as the Rough

In the mid-1800s, Spain ruled the island of Cuba. the United States, at that time, received most of Cuba's exports, and they supported the Cuban independence movement; if Cuba was independent, then the United States would benefit from the country. Soon, the big U.S. presses, such as The New York Journal and The New York World, knew that the event was in the people's feelings. They sensationalized their headlines and graphic features to attract readers, which soon was known as "yellow journalism". The press also knew a lot of the reader's interests, and they exaggerated their news. During the January of 1898, the United States sent the USS Maine, which is a battleship, to Havana, which is the capital of Cuba, in order to halt the riots between

However, in Spain there was a belief of the United States planning the explosion to began a war. With all of the tension between the two countries, about two months after the attack, there was an outbreak of warfare known as the Spanish-American War. The attack on the ship was in February of 1898 and the war began in April of the same year. It ended in August, 1898 when both countries signed the Treaty of Paris guaranteeing Cuban independence, and forcing Spain to sign Guam and Puerto Rico over to the United States.

Political causes are known to be the most affective in starting the war. Due to the short term causes that made history. Without these events the Spanish American war could have been completely changed. Due to the riots that were going on in Havana, Mckinely sent the battleship Maine to protect American lives and property. Soon after it was anchored in the harbor, it exploded, resulting in the deaths of 260 Americans. The American press quickly jumped to blame Spain however there was little evidence found for the explosion. President Mckinely refused to declare war, however many eagerly called for war such as Teddy Roosevelt. This unexpected explosion may seem small, however was a major event in the starting of the Spanish American War. The war message and Teller Amendment was what initially started the war. “In the war message the President rejected the idea that the U.S.A would annex Cuba. “He said this would be criminal aggression and morally wrong”(Allan Hux 295). Congress agreed. “It passed an amendment

Stories writeen about women POW’s, starving women and children, and even executions but, the story written about the battleship Maine being sunk in Havana Harbor and blamed on the Spanish without sufficient evidence, pushed the Americans to demand intervention. (http://www.pbs.org/crucible/frames/_journalism.html , n.d.)

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”.

February 15th, 1898, the USS Maine was hit with a mine as it sat in the Havana Harbor. There is large speculation to whether that is the truth or not. Over the years it is still a topic of debate as of what caused the explosion. Some believe that the Spaniards did it, others believe it was a clumsy mistake of misplaced ammo, others believe it was a spontaneous coal fire that caught a box of ammunition on fire. No matter the cause, the loss of the ship and 260 of her crew was devastating to America at the time and led to strong feelings of dislike towards the Spaniards, leading to the Spanish-American war of 1898. The theories behind the explosion of the USS Maine is mainly focused around two ideas, there are many angles that can be viewed for the cause of this disaster and its fueling of the war that will be examined in this paper.

Yellow Journalism was seen all over the newspapers in the late 19th century and was one of the causes of why McKinley chose to go to war. The San Francisco Call was one of those newspaper spreading rumors and false claims to the people. They mislead many people to support the cause in Cuba, adding to McKinley’s pressure of whether to get involved or not. They printed an article entitled “Proof of the treachery of Gen. Weyler” on April 12th, 1898. This newspaper article claimed that the sinking of the Maine, which caused great controversy over the situation in Cuba, was the work of none other than General Weyler, American’s biggest enemy at the moment. As it was clear, probably at that time and definitely now, the Maine wasn’t destroyed by the Spanish. Like this example and many others, tension rose both in the White House and with the American people because they were fed lies that people wanted to believe. Kagan believes that this “yellow journalism” didn’t really affect McKinley’s decision to intervene in Cuba as he states, “The pressure on the McKinley administration to take some action in Cuba was not manufactured by publishers looking for a war to sell newspapers. It was the product of Cuban reality and American outrage over actual human suffering.” Although he is right

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

Cuba, a Spanish colony, had been in rebellion since 1895. The brutal Spanish response turned American sympathies to the Cuban insurgents. The US Battleship Maine arrived in Havana Harbor in January 1898 with a dual mission to protect American interests and present the Spanish with a show of force. At 9:40 PM on the evening of February 15, an

For instance, in both the Spanish- American War and World War 1, it's evident that the use yellow journalism has been a major cause for war. This can be seen in the Spanish America War where newspaper reporters would 'coat the truth in yellow'. In other words, they would usually exaggerate or bend the truth in order to attract the attention of the public and sell more newspapers (basically for their own self-interest). According to the political cartoon in Document 2, one can see how the Spanish are depicted as some kind of wild brute that had just murdered a group of American sailors from the U.S.S Maine. Furthermore, this kind of reports inflamed the war effort by greatly infuriating the American public. This same concept can be seen in World War 1, where Anti-German propaganda was being used in order to turn the United States against Germany, as the propaganda greatly criticized German militarism and unprovoked invasion in Belgium. To add on, another similarity between the two wars being discussed in here was the sinking of some maritime vessel. For example, the sinking of the Lusitania as a result of Germany's illicit practice of unrestricted submarine warfare was a major factor for the United Sates entry into World War 1. According to Document 3 it states "The waters surrounding Great Britain and Iceland, including the English channel, are hereby declared to be within the war zone, and all enemy merchant vessels found in those waters after the eighteen of February, 1915 will be destroyed.'' This demonstrates how maritime vessels traveling along the English Isles were susceptible to attacks by German submarines, and unfortunately, this was the case for the merchant ship, the Lusitania (where 128 American passengers were killed, thus causing major disruptions among the American people). Moreover, this was the same for the U.S.S Maine during the

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).

In Cuba there were those like americans that wanted to be free from Spain and become their own country. Americans usually sided with revolutionaries, and they decided to help cuba fight against spain. The Maine, an American battleship was sent to to get american citizens if there was any trouble developed. On the way two hundred and sixty americans were killed from an explosion. In 1976, an investigation proved that it was an accident by the internal combustion, a fire that reached some gunpowder. Later on Newyork journal printed a headline that said, “WARSHIP MAINE SPLIT IN TWO BY AN ENEMY’S SECRET INFERNAL MACHINE.” Americans went wild and declared war with spain. Cuba won her freedom and America took Puerto Rico as American Territory.

Though 2016 is a time of new technology and innovation, it is still important to consider the history that has come before. It is relevant to understand propaganda during the Spanish Civil War because by understanding this, we actually understand how propaganda functions in today’s world. To get their point across, companies use propaganda and though most people see propaganda as done in one way, it is actually true that there are many methods used by propagandists. By understanding the propaganda use in the Spanish Civil War, we may be able to better understand the consumer-producer relationship. How do companies today suck in consumers to buy their products? This is a question that bothers many psychologists, but the root to understanding