The Impact Of Yellow Journalism On The Spanish American War

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

Intervention in Latin America, mainly Cuba, also led to the Spanish-American War. When the American naval ship, the USS Maine, exploded in the Havana Harbor, President McKinley immediately decided to go to war after being labeled a coward by yellow journalists. This is a prime example of how incidents in Latin American countries forced presidents to act rapidly and without much thought, causing America to form a bold and aggressive foreign policy.

The United States went to war with Spain in 1898 for three different reasons: social, economic, and political. These causes were stimulated by commercialism and nationalism. Based on these interpretations it is clear that the desire to be a world wide power, and advance commerical interest were primary factors that led to the declaration of war on Spain.

Although “Yellow Journalism was not totally responsible for the Spanish American War, by knowing the definition of “Yellow Journalism”, one would conclude this was exactly the type of journalism that aided in the Spanish American War. The term, “The tongue is a powerful weapon” is true but, stories that were written by Journalist Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst spread like wildfire through word of mouth and greatly aided in America’s involvement in the Spanish American War.

The major underlying reasons behind the Spanish-American War were simply extensions of the jingoism and slandering journalism trends in the U.S. during the late 19th century. Although the Spanish

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.

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”.

Yellow Journalism follows this because that is what William Randolph Hurst and Pulitzer were using to persuade the audience, the idea of overdoing a story so it will make the public feel a certain way and in this case it made the public want to help Cuba.

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

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

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

Nationalism was another major factor in declaring war against Spain. Nationalism emerged in the United States and all of its people seemed to support the war. The “yellow press” printed multiple stories of scandals, including the explosion of the Maine in the Havana harbor. The yellow press printed that the Spanish were responsible for this action, which led to the slogan “Remember the Maine.” Nationalism and pride surged within the United States and war became imminent. The “rough riders,” who were volunteers from the United States, invaded the Santiago harbor in order to drive out Spanish ships. They paved the way for the American army and forced Spain to sign an armistice. After the war was over and the Cubans were free, The Platt Amendment was passed. It provided that Cuba had to state in its own constitution that the US might intervene with troops in Cuba in order to restore order and to provide mutual protection. It also promised to sell or lease naval stations to the US. The doctrine of Manifest Destiny also played a major part in the war. The US wanted to expand its country and spread its Anglo-Saxon culture. Imperialism was also part of this objective.

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 started in April 21, 1898 and ended in August 13, 1898. It was a conflict between the United states and Spain to end Spanish colonial rule in the americas. This war was fought in part because a lot of people wanted Cuba to become independent and also because many Americans wanted their country to get a colonial empire. It also was caused the yellow journalism, the De Lome Letter, and the Cuban Rebellion.

“Hearst's New York Journal published a leaked letter in which the chief Spanish diplomat in Washington… described President McKinley as "weak" and a "petty politician." Hearst publicized the…letter under the screaming headline: "WORST INSULT TO THE UNITED STATES IN ITS HISTORY"” (HIS104 U.S. History Since 1877 30-Jun-2008, OL20).