Document A: Reconcentration Camps By the late 1800s, the Spanish were losing control of Cuba. Concerned about insurrection in the countryside, they moved rural Cubans to “reconcentration” camps where the Spanish claimed they would be better able to protect them. U.S. Consul-General Fitzhugh Lee forwarded the following account of the conditions of the camps to the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State on November 27, 1897. Lee said the author of the note was “a man of integrity and character.” [W]e will relate to you what we saw with our own eyes: Four hundred and sixty women and children thrown on the ground, heaped pell-mell as animals, some in a dying condition, others sick and others dead. . . . There is still alive the only living witness, a young girl of 18 years, whom we found seemingly lifeless on the ground; on her right-hand side was the body of a young mother, cold and rigid, but with her young child still alive clinging to her dead breast; on her left-hand side was also the corpse of a dead woman holding her son in a dead embrace. . . . The circumstances are the following: complete accumulation of bodies dead and alive, so that it was impossible to take one step without walking over them; the greatest want of cleanliness, want of light, air, and water; the food lacking in quality and quantity what was necessary to sustain life. . . . From all this we deduct that the number of deaths among the reconcentrados has amounted to 77 per cent. Source: Unsigned note that was included in a telegram sent by Fitzhugh Lee, U.S. Consul-General in Cuba, to the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State November 27, 1897.Document B: March of the Flag The following is an excerpt from Albert J. Beveridge’s speech, delivered September 16, 1898. Beveridge gave this speech while he was campaigning to become a senator for Indiana. The speech helped him win the election and made him one of the leading advocates of American expansion. Fellow citizens, it is a noble land that God has given us; a land that can feed and clothe the world;. . . . It is a mighty people that he has planted on this soil . . . It is a glorious history our God has bestowed upon his chosen people; . . .a history of soldiers who carried the flag across the blazing deserts and through the ranks of hostile mountains, even to the gates of sunset. . . . The Opposition tells us that we ought not to govern a people without their consent. I answer: The rule of liberty that all just government derives its authority from the consent of the governed, applies only to those who are capable of self-government. I answer, We govern the Indians without their consent, we govern our territories without their consent, we govern our children without their consent. They ask us how we will govern these new possessions. I answer: If England can govern foreign lands, so can America. If Germany can govern foreign lands, so can America. . . . What does all this mean for every one of us? It means opportunity for all the glorious young manhood of the republic, the most virile, ambitious, impatient, militant manhood the world has ever seen. It means that the resources and the commerce of these immensely rich dominions will be increased. . . . In Cuba, alone, there are 15,000,000 acres of forest unacquainted with the axe. There are exhaustless mines of iron. . . . There are millions of acres yet unexplored. . . . It means new employment and better wages for every laboring man in the Union. . . . Ah! as our commerce spreads, the flag of liberty will circle the globe. . . . Benighted peoples will know that the voice of Liberty is speaking, at last, for them; that civilization is dawning, at last, for them. . . . Fellow Americans, we are God’s chosen people. . . . Source: Albert J. Beveridge’s Senate campaign speech, September 16, 1898.1. Use and cite evidence from the documents to answer the question, Why did the United States invade Cuba in 1898?

Question

Document A: Reconcentration Camps By the late 1800s, the Spanish were losing control of Cuba. Concerned about  insurrection in the countryside, they moved rural Cubans to “reconcentration”  camps where the Spanish claimed they would be better able to protect them.  U.S. Consul-General Fitzhugh Lee forwarded the following account of the  conditions of the camps to the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State on November  27, 1897. Lee said the author of the note was “a man of integrity and character.” [W]e will relate to you what we saw with our own eyes: Four hundred and sixty women and children thrown on the ground, heaped  pell-mell as animals, some in a dying condition, others sick and others  dead. . . . There is still alive the only living witness, a young girl of 18 years, whom we  found seemingly lifeless on the ground; on her right-hand side was the  body of a young mother, cold and rigid, but with her young child still alive  clinging to her dead breast; on her left-hand side was also the corpse of a  dead woman holding her son in a dead embrace. . . .  The circumstances are the following: complete accumulation of bodies  dead and alive, so that it was impossible to take one step without walking  over them; the greatest want of cleanliness, want of light, air, and water;  the food lacking in quality and quantity what was necessary to sustain life. .  . . From all this we deduct that the number of deaths among the  reconcentrados has amounted to 77 per cent.  Source: Unsigned note that was included in a telegram sent by Fitzhugh  Lee, U.S. Consul-General in Cuba, to the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State  November 27, 1897.Document B: March of the Flag The following is an excerpt from Albert J. Beveridge’s speech, delivered September  16, 1898. Beveridge gave this speech while he was campaigning to become a  senator for Indiana. The speech helped him win the election and made him one of  the leading advocates of American expansion. Fellow citizens, it is a noble land that God has given us; a land that can feed and clothe  the world;. . . . It is a mighty people that he has planted on this soil . . . It is a glorious  history our God has bestowed upon his chosen people; . . .a history of soldiers who  carried the flag across the blazing deserts and through the ranks of hostile mountains,  even to the gates of sunset. . . .  The Opposition tells us that we ought not to govern a people without their consent. I  answer: The rule of liberty that all just government derives its authority from the consent  of the governed, applies only to those who are capable of self-government. I answer,  We govern the Indians without their consent, we govern our territories without their  consent, we govern our children without their consent.  They ask us how we will govern these new possessions. I answer: If England can  govern foreign lands, so can America. If Germany can govern foreign lands, so can  America. . . .  What does all this mean for every one of us? It means opportunity for all the glorious  young manhood of the republic, the most virile, ambitious, impatient, militant manhood  the world has ever seen. It means that the resources and the commerce of these  immensely rich dominions will be increased. . . .  In Cuba, alone, there are 15,000,000 acres of forest unacquainted with the axe. There  are exhaustless mines of iron. . . . There are millions of acres yet unexplored. . . . It  means new employment and better wages for every laboring man in the Union. . . .  Ah! as our commerce spreads, the flag of liberty will circle the globe. . . . Benighted peoples will know that the voice of Liberty is speaking, at last, for them; that civilization  is dawning, at last, for them. . . .  Fellow Americans, we are God’s chosen people. . . .  Source: Albert J. Beveridge’s Senate campaign speech, September 16, 1898.1. Use and cite evidence from  the documents to answer the question, Why did the United States invade Cuba in 1898?

Accepted Answer

Cuba is a Republic nation located in the Southern part of the USA. It is an archipelago surrounded…