Siege Of Baler Research Paper

The Cumming:

The USS Maine exploded, sank, and killed 260 sailors at Havana Harbor in Cuba. America thought that Spain sunk the ship (they were in control of Cuba at the time), and the USA came up with the slogan “Remember the Maine.” President McKinley said that there was no proof that Spain sunk the ship but the media continued to blame Spain.

Cuba began a struggle for independence from Spain in February of 1895. Spain kept rebellious Cubans in concentration camps, and hundreds of thousands died. American journalists reported what was happening and Americans became enraged at Spain. The Yellow Press exaggerated what was happening in Cuba, which made Americans more man than they probably should have bee. Spain decided to give limited sovereignty to Cuba, but the USA did not agree with this; the USA said Spain should fully withdraw from Cuba. President William McKinley did not want to go to war, but a large portion of America wanted to help the Cubans. On April 24, 1898, Spain declared war on the United States of America. USS Maine

Havana Harbor

President McKinley, who

However, cut off from communications with its own government and military, the defenders of Baler were not aware that the war had actually ended on December 10, 1898, and continued their heroic, if futile, defense against the Philippine forces for 337 days. This is the story of the defense of Baler. On June 28, 1898 Las Morenas received a report that the town's residents had fled into the surrounding jungle and on the afternoon of the 29th Filipino troops bombarded the church with their "Lantaca" cannons made of hollowed out palm tree trunks and strengthened with bands of iron. They used mostly stone shot and caused little damage to the building but they made a tremendous noise when they hit the church's metal roof. Following the noisy cannonade, a flag of truce appeared in the square in front of the