Spanish American War Essay

580 Words3 Pages

The Cubans wanted independence from Spain because they believe that they were under control of an imperial master, also foreign affairs such as the Wilson-Gorman Tarriff sent Cuban economy spiraling into turmoil. The Wilson-Gorman Tarriff Act put restrictions on sugar imports to the United States to meet the congressional demands for free sugar. Sadly, this hurt Cubans because they relied heavily on producing and selling sugar to the United States. The on rising violence of the Cuban rebellion between Spain and Cuba during 1898 lead to president McKinley trying to get Spain to agree to a diplomatic solution but ended up requesting American intervention when the situation worsened. This called for naval intervention so the government sent over …show more content…

According to history.com “U.S. Congress soon afterward issued resolutions that declared Cuba’s right to independence, demanded the withdrawal of Spain’s armed forces from the island, and authorized the President’s use of force to secure that withdrawal while renouncing any U.S. design for annexing Cuba.” McKinley then set up a naval blockade on Cuba and started requesting American volunteers for their military. This decision caused the Spanish to declare war with America which we now call it the Spanish-American War of 1898. The war started out on May 1, 1898 when Commodore Dewey and his naval squad went into the Philippine Islands at Manila Bay to successfully gain control of the sea when they defeated the Spanish naval force that was trying to defend the Philippine Islands. The victory of the defeat triggered McKinley’s want for acquiring the Philippines land as a trophy for the war, leading to tension between the Americans and Filipinos. During this time though the American government had turned to a legislative resolution for a strategy of annexation, and with a little persuasion to Congress, the required votes were obtained and Hawaii was annexed in July

Open Document