The Spanish American War Essay

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

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.

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 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 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

The Spanish-American War began as a humanitarian effort to free Cuba from Spain’s colonial grasp and ended with the United States itself acquiring territory overseas and fighting a dirty guerrilla war with Filipino nationalists who, like the Cubans, sought independence. Behind the contradiction stood the twin pillars of American foreign policy: The Monroe Doctrine made Spain’s presence in Cuba unacceptable, and U.S. determination to keep open the door to Asia made the Philippines attractive as a stepping-stone to China.

Nevertheless the replies at this time of the Madrid government to President McKinley 's demands concerning the pacification of Cuba, notwithstanding the Spanish offer to arbitrate the Maine trouble, led the authorities at Washington to believe that pacification could not be attained without the armed intervention of the United States. The President 's message to Congress . . . . stated the entire issue, rightly considering the Maine disaster a subordinate matter, stated that the only hope of relief and repose from a condition which can no longer be endured is the enforced pacification of Cuba. In the name of humanity, in the name of civilization, in behalf of endangered American interests, which give us the right and the duty to speak and act, the war in Cuba must stop.” “Outbreak Of The War With Spain”, America, Vol.10, Pg.120.

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.

Assess the importance of TWO of the following in the US decision to declare war against Spain in 1898: yellow journalism, sinking of the Maine, US business interests, Cuban revolution

The Spanish-American War was a war focused on control over Cuba. As previously stated, Spain touted a powerful navy, victory would cause the entire world to notice and give the United States a seat at the international table. Americans took notice of Spanish brutality to Cuban uprisings attempting to gain freedom and were sympathetic to the Cuban people. Fighting for our independence was fresh on the minds of Americans who began to support Cuban freedom from Spain. Dispatching the USS Maine off the coast of Cuba proved to be a fateful strategic move made by President McKinley because just days after on February 15th 1898 the ship was destroyed, killing over 250 sailors. Although believed to be an accident, yellow journalists ran with the story of war receiving overwhelming support from the public. War was declared in April of 1898 and just after

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

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.

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).