Spanish American War : The Spanish 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 first cause of the Spanish American War was the yellow journalism. The yellow journalism was written to enrage readers about Valeriano Weyler’s brutality. Some of the things that was said was the children were thrown to the sharks. This caused America’s sympathy for Cuba to grow larger.

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

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.

On the other hand, there were also business and military interests than partly led to the war as well. In 1895, the US had an investment

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

The Spanish-American War in 1898 represented what many historians describe as a shift in American foreign policy. The war, perhaps more appropriately called the Spanish-Cuban-American War, occurred in 1898 due to tensions between the Cuban colony and Spain. When War broke out between Spain and Cuba in 1895, Americans rallied behind the idea of Cuba’s right to self-determination and the sentiment of “Cuba Libre!” After the unexplained sinking of the USS Maine, which was sent to Havana harbor to protect American business interests in Cuba, President McKinley asked Congress to declare war against Spain. The war lasted from April to August 1898 and ended with the Spanish defeat at the 1898 Treaty of Paris, largely due to the Cuban efforts before the United States entered the war. The United States had been, until this point in history, a relatively isolated nation in contrast to the imperialist European powers. Following the defeat of the Spanish, the United States annexed Puerto Rico and the Philippines and demanded the passing of the Platt Amendment to the Cuban Constitution to insure American political oversight of Cuban foreign policy. The 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry, henceforth referred to as the Rough Riders, was the volunteer regiment for which former Assistant Secretary of the Navy and future President Theodore Roosevelt served as Lieutenant Colonel. The Rough Riders were one of the volunteer regiments called

There were many causes for the Spanish American War. The first long term cause was the Wilson Gordon Tariff. This tariff ultimately decreased tariff rates for may Europeans nations excluding the commonwealth of Spain. This ultimately angered the Spanish and weakened international relationship between the United States and Spain. This tariff also instilled an anti-American feeling in Spain. This would lay down the groundwork for the next cause the “Delome Letter”

The Spanish-American war of 1898, although short in duration, effected policy in the United States for years to come. As part of the Treaty of Paris, the United States acquired Puerto Rico and the Pacific island of Guam while Spain granted independence to Cuba (Divine 694). The United States demanded the Philippines as a condition of peace and quickly attempted to annex the islands (Pearson 19). This led to the Philippine-American War which lasted three years and claimed many lives on both sides.

On May 15, Theodore Roosevelt began training the famous Rough Riders for battles in Cuba, which brought him the fame that made him vice president in 1901 and then president on September 13 . In Washington, President McKinley received the news of the great battle. However, the battle of Manila did not end the war. 100 miles off the US coast is where Spanish held Cuba, by a substantial army, and hostile to American interests there. No naval force could impose on Cuba, and in order to force the Spanish out, a full scale invasion would have to be mounted.

What was the Spanish-American war? The Spanish-American war was a short time period war that left a huge impact in America. They had no idea what it would led it or never thought that it would killing more than 500 lives. In Chapter twenty in the text book “Out of the Many “and the article “American Manhood and Declaring war on Spain”, discusses about the main parts of events that led to the Spanish-American war. The United States became involved with many foreign affairs in the late nineteen centuries.

The war initially began in 1895 with the rebellion of Cubans under Spanish control. Accordingly, Spain sent forces to dispel this rebellion, but in vain. Early in the year of 1898, the ship USS Maine was sent to Cuba, and sunk on February 15 of that same year. About a week prior to the USS Maine’s sinking, a letter, written by Enrique Dupuy de Lôme, and famously called the De Lôme Letter2, was released by U.S. newspapers. The letter slandered U.S. President William McKinley, the incumbent at the time, as well as his methods of dealing with both foreign and domestic affairs. Indeed, many, including McKinley, saw this letter as a large sign of disrespect, especially when coming from the Spanish ambassador to the United States. This, coupled with the sinking of the USS Maine, raised the concern of a possible war with Spain. And, as such, Spain declared war on America on April 24, 1898, with the United States following with a declaration of their own the very next day. McKinley’s first decision was not to go into war, but he was forced into it through the pressures of the Democratic Party and his inability to provide sufficient answers concerning the sinking of the USS Maine3. While the declaration of war itself is not always viewed as imperialistic, the actions prior to this were quite imperialistic themselves. It seemed as if the U.S. declared war in response to Spain, whereas in reality if Americans hadn't

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).