spanish american war
Sean Gamble
Professor Kelly
Quiz 2 Research Paper
13 March 2014
If I had been a member of the 1898-1899 US Congress I would have supported both our war with Spain and our annexation of its territories. The Spanish-American War served to end Spain’s colonial power in the western hemisphere. In the time leading up to the war there was three years of turmoil in Cuba, where Cuban revolutionaries were locked in battle with the Spanish in an attempt to gain independence from their mother country (history.state.gov 1). For most of the Cuban revolution the US, particularly due to president McKinley’s distaste for war, had opted to steer clear of involving itself in the conflict (Sparknotes [1] 1). However, with the growing tide of public outcry and the explosion of the USS Maine president McKinley finally buckled and sent his approval for a declaration of war with Spain, which was passed on April 11, 1898 (Sparknotes [1] 1). Had I been a senator in 1898 I would have supported the declaration of war for multiple reasons, including the ones above. I would have also supported our annexation of Puerto Rico, Guam, Cuba and the Philippines In this essay I will explain why.
At 9:40 PM on February 15, 1898 the battleship USS Maine was abruptly demolished in an explosion at Havana harbor, killing 260 officers and crewmembers. Although the exact cause of the blast was never actually determined, and recent evidence suggests that there may not have been an attack on the ship at all, at the time the prevailing theory was that the Spanish had placed a mine in the harbor in an attack on the US (Cavendish 1). This idea was perpetuated by the “yellow press”, a sensationalistic style of journalism led by the papers of William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer. These news outlets pumped out headlines like “USS MAINE BLOWN UP: MANY YOUNG SAILORS DROWN DUE TO SPANISH TREACHERY” (Glazier 1). This further excited an already blood thirsty public, whom had already been fed headlines
Professor Kelly
Quiz 2 Research Paper
13 March 2014
If I had been a member of the 1898-1899 US Congress I would have supported both our war with Spain and our annexation of its territories. The Spanish-American War served to end Spain’s colonial power in the western hemisphere. In the time leading up to the war there was three years of turmoil in Cuba, where Cuban revolutionaries were locked in battle with the Spanish in an attempt to gain independence from their mother country (history.state.gov 1). For most of the Cuban revolution the US, particularly due to president McKinley’s distaste for war, had opted to steer clear of involving itself in the conflict (Sparknotes [1] 1). However, with the growing tide of public outcry and the explosion of the USS Maine president McKinley finally buckled and sent his approval for a declaration of war with Spain, which was passed on April 11, 1898 (Sparknotes [1] 1). Had I been a senator in 1898 I would have supported the declaration of war for multiple reasons, including the ones above. I would have also supported our annexation of Puerto Rico, Guam, Cuba and the Philippines In this essay I will explain why.
At 9:40 PM on February 15, 1898 the battleship USS Maine was abruptly demolished in an explosion at Havana harbor, killing 260 officers and crewmembers. Although the exact cause of the blast was never actually determined, and recent evidence suggests that there may not have been an attack on the ship at all, at the time the prevailing theory was that the Spanish had placed a mine in the harbor in an attack on the US (Cavendish 1). This idea was perpetuated by the “yellow press”, a sensationalistic style of journalism led by the papers of William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer. These news outlets pumped out headlines like “USS MAINE BLOWN UP: MANY YOUNG SAILORS DROWN DUE TO SPANISH TREACHERY” (Glazier 1). This further excited an already blood thirsty public, whom had already been fed headlines