Robert Ressetar
The American people where thirsty for blood. The Spanish American war was a war declared by the people of the United States. Americans believed win their hearts we were a world power, now they had to show the world. There were many things and propaganda that led to this war. I believe that the Propoganda that was being circulated throughout the country was probably one of the single biggest factors of the war. Much of the stories that were being published were lies and fabrications. In 1895 a young 32 year old by the name of William Randolph set in motion the propaganda trail. He purchased the New York Morning Journal. Hearst would capitalize on the american people, and sensationalize the very nature of the cuban conflict. Hearst
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Shortly before leaving the port, as the story was told Spanish Police officers boarded the Olivette and searched three young cuban woman. These woman allegedly were carrying notes from the rebels. The journal used a big headline in the paper ”Does Our flag not protect woman?” accompanied with a picture of a fully nude woman being searched by the officers. There was such outrage that Congressman Amos Cummings immediately launched a congressional inquiry. Before that even took place the True story was revealed. The Journal was forced to print a letter stating the true facts of what actually happen. That didn't matter though because the damage was done, with this story and many more like it. One of the weakest presidents of all time President Mckinley was a staunch supporter of peace, He was also, however a voice of the people for the people. That would ultimately be his achilles heel. I believe this was a perfect storm of sorts. Between the propaganda being circulated throughout the United States, and McKinley’s desire to satisfy the American People war was inevitable. In Jan of 1898 There was a riot in a Havana newspaper office. Mckinley ordered the Navy warship Maine to the Havana Harbor. This was
Foreign policy was also a pretty hot topic during his time in office. The Spanish American war is largely seen as almost unavoidable by most historians (Miller) so McKinley’s choice to enter it would have also been made by anyone else in the presidential seat due to public pressure and a need to protect assets. However, the way McKinley chose to act after the war was not unavoidable. After gaining a large amount of territory from spain, McKinley decided to make America an imperial power.
America’s entrance in the Spanish-American War was primarily due to the random explosion of the USS Maine on February 15, 1898, which killed 267 service men aboard. This attack leads to Congress’s vote to go to war against Spain. The United States’ desire to expand military overseas also played a part in the American entrance to this war. Economically speaking, the U.S. wanted Cuban crops to come to America, and not only Spain. “The war enabled the United States to establish its predominance in the Caribbean region and to pursue its strategic and economic interests in Asia” (“Spanish-American War”).
The first reason is the main reason the U.S joined the Spanish-American war is territory and resources. According to a document by Jason Colby, Spain took control of Cuba, the Philippines Islands, and Puerto Rico. The U.S was worried that
Latter President Ulysses S. Grant was another American in opposition to the war with Mexico. In his personal memoirs he wrote “To this day, I regard the Mexican War as one of the most unjust wars ever waged by a stronger nation against a weaker nation . . . in not considering justice in their desire to acquire additional territory.” (Document 3) On the other hand, there were publications like The New-York Daily Tribune would called the war “piratical” and the invasion was a “flagrant outrage” and it was also called “immoral and unwise”.
Spanish-American war of 1896, Cuba was the last remaining colony of Spain in the new world. Cuban sugar cane workers were rebelling because of poverty and bad conditions. William Randolph Hearst, a sensationalist reporter who was investigating the war, sent an artist to Cuba to sketch the action. Unfortunately for him, nothing violent was happening, so Hearst exaggerated the truth. Pressured into war the president sends the Maine to harbor, but it suddenly exploded.
The imperialistic mentality of the American government after the Civil War, led to some degree to the Spanish-American war that would render a great acquisition of land for the United States. However, imperialism would not be the sole factor that led to the war against Spain, but also the sympathy felt by the American government towards Cuba’s efforts in fighting for their independence; additionally, the United States would seek to protect its commercial interests (sugar) in the island. Therefore, after invoking the Spanish to secede from their brutal practices towards Cuban rebels and attain a peaceful end to the situation, the United States arbitrarily sent a navy ship, “The USS Maine” to monitor the area.
US Justified or Not Justified War, bloodshed, trespassing, death, all this was caused by the US going to war for no reason. During this time, many interesting things happened. In 1848 the first baseball diamond was laid out in New York. Another interesting fact was that Mexico was a Catholic country, while America was a mostly Protestant country. This caused a lot of anger among the two countries.
A steady stream of images depicting the Spanish as monsters and the Cuban people as damsels in distress, flooded newspapers. (Insert The War Must be ended here) Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst battled for subscribers by embellishing stories of Spanish led atrocities. This led to the increased sympathy of the American people for the abused Cubans. With the sinking of the Maine on February 15th, 1898, the New York Journal blamed the Spanish without evidence, “Remember the Maine! To hell with Spain!” became the motto.
The causes of the Mexican-American war were the Annexation of Texas, Land Disputes between Mexico and the United States of America and President Polk’s Greed. The country of Mexico was upset and angry with the United States of America because they took the state of Texas away from them. The two continued to dispute over Southern Texas and the land between the rivers Rio Grande and Nueces. President Polk later sent a messenger to offer thirty-million dollars for the SouthWest. Mexico declined the offer and President Polk declared war on Mexico.
In 1494, the Treaty of Tordesillas was established in order to evenly divide unclaimed lands between Portugal and Spain. This led to the Line of Demarcation, in which the non-European world was divided into two zones. Portugal had rights to the eastern hemisphere, and Spain had rights to the western hemisphere. This allowed Spain to colonize areas in the New World. Even though they had this opportunity, they were not able to colonize specific areas in North America due to competition with other European countries.
Mexican American War “... May the boldest fear and the wisest tremble when incurring responsibilities on which may depend on our countries peace and prosperity…” -James K. Polk. What our 11th president meant by this is that we need to maintain good relations to bring success as this is the opposite of what Mexico wanted. In 1845, many Americans believed in manifest destiny which was the belief that the United States was destined to stretch from coast to coast. As this idea scattered through America, citizens of the U.S. spread with it.
This explosion finally made the Americans want to go to war, and so the United States decided to get involved. On April 25, 1898, the United States officially went to war with Spain to help Cuba. Instead of the battles being fast and right away, the United States was hesitant and patient. After multiple articles from Hearst and Pulitzer exposing the horrors in Cuba and the rumors about the explosion of the U.S. Mains, America finally got involved in the Spanish American
The role of the “yellow journalism” play in the shaping the opinions of the American public toward the war was the sympathizer of the Spanish-American War, since the two managed to publish in most of the time "the New York Journal" and "The New”. In fact, yellow journalism was trying to make the most extravagant and interesting headlines and stories that try to draw the attention of citizens to boost sales and give shape public opinion considering the information very unreliable and exaggerated. It is very important in the Spanish-American War as it plays a role in the humiliation of the battleship USS Maine in the port of Havana in 1898 by proving war, however, the cause of the explosion was never determined but there still are speculations.
Essay One: Imperialism Flies circle great black lumps as the moist air ravages the corpses. Dried blood soaked into the ground after faceless soldiers brutally destroyed its owners’ lives. These were the stories in the newspapers, the movies, and the films. Horrified by these crimes against humanity, the American public was spurred into action against the Spanish oppressors. the United States invaded Cuba in 1898 to pursue humanitarian efforts.
Tensions were already high between the United States and Spain but the explosion of the U.S.S. Maine in Cuba’s Havana harbor was the final straw. Journalist were quick to blame Spain for this incident even though there was little evidence pointing toward them as the culprit (2). All of this pushed the United States into war with Spain for Cuba and the Philippines (“Milestones” 1). This was the start of yellow journalism and it still continues to this day but it isn’t exactly in all the same