The Spanish-American War was the event that placed the United States of America on the world stage. It showed the world the United States militaries might and strength and proved that the United States could back up their beloved Monroe Doctrine. It placed America as an Imperialistic Nation, which was one idea looked down upon by so many of its citizens. This war and its effect on the world had its pros and cons, but one thing is unarguably for certain, this event changed the way America has been viewed by the world. The ultimate cause of the war was the blowing up of the USS Maine and the United States of America became an Imperialistic Nation when it annexed the Hawaiian Islands and Philippines. The first nudge to war with Spain was the Cubans revolt against its Spanish oppressor. The Americans sided with the underdog group of rebel patriots fighting for the independence of Cuba. They sided with the Cubans do to the similarities of their rebellion and the American Revolution. To anger the public and lean them ever closer to war was the brutal tactics of the Spanish General "Butcher" Weyler. He herded Cuban civilians in concentration camps like cattle. These camps were dirty and nasty and was arguably a miniature Holocaust. These events drew the United States of America closer to war.
Equally important to cause of the Spanish-American War was the Business interests of the United States of America. The United States had an investment of over 50 million US Dollars and an
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 had emerged as a modern capitalist nation, and the spirit of nationalism in the country was strong and growing” (Henderson 71). As tensions grew between the Unites States and Mexico, there was a thirst for war. The Unites States declared war with Mexico, because they owned land that Americans desired, resulting in America’s fulfillment of achieving their philosophy of “Manifest Destiny”. The blood boil of both countries caused a lot of bloodshed. The dispute lasted for a long two year battle which was for huge amounts of land. The Americans were victorious and claimed new territories from the conflict.
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.
The United States was not justified in going to war with Spain in 1898. The nation was fighting with clear imperialistic intentions in mind; a majority of people saw the Spanish Empire as an obstacle to fulfilling the Monroe Doctrine and allowing American political and economic command over the entire Western Hemisphere, which made any possible chance to depose them feel necessary for progress. To that extent, many feared Spain would be detrimental to imports and exports because of their presence in the Caribbean Sea, which served as the main trade link between the U.S. and Latin
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.
The Spanish-American War was known as the beginning process to the United States establishing itself as a world super power. This would be the beginning to becoming a strong and powerful Empire. This process to building a powerful Empire is something that America has built up for hundreds of years.
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 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 of 1898 could be seen as the pivotal point in foreign policy as it marks America’s first engagement with a foreign enemy in the dawning age of modern warfare however, one could also argue that the idea had always existed in American politics.
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
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”
One hundred years ago, in 1898, the United States was fighting the Spanish-American War. The victory over Spain made the United States a colonial power. The Spanish colonies of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines, as well as the formerly independent nation of Hawaii, became American possessions.
In 1898 the United States declared war on Spain after the sinking of the Battleship Maine in Havana harbor. Although there were many reasons as to why the war was fought, the main one was the acquisition of territories within South America. The war soon came to be known as “The Splendid Little War” to many because of all the benefits that came from fighting it for the United States, all the while not having many sacrifices in return. During this time period, the United States also went to war with the Philippines, although it is very often forgotten because of how horrible our troops handled the situation of their supposed liberation. Back in the time right before the Spanish-American war, Spain was pretty much conquering as many countries
The Spanish war gave the United States an empire. At the end of the Spanish war the United States took Spanish colonies such as Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and many other islands. The creation of the American Empire leads to the end of the Spanish Empire. The United States wanted to build up the countries so that markets would open up and purchase American goods and to improve the American economy.
The Spanish American war marks historic value not only for the United States and Spain. At this time, Imperialism was high; the idea of taking over smaller countries and forming colonies, to support of a larger empire, thrived. Countries were constantly taken over without any say or understanding. At the same time however, other countries were being liberated to be independent powers. Spain’s thirst for power and the United State’s peace proposal instantly caused tension and war was initiated.