The US Influence In The Spanish-American War

The Spanish-American War and World War1 were one of the most crucial moments in our history as Americans and the reasons we joined were for humanity and for our benefit. The U.S entered the Spanish American War and World War 1 for very similar reasons. They joined from innocent Americans getting killed or from being directly affected from the war, territory and resources, and unfair rules that hurt not just Americans but innocent people. These are the 3 main reasons why the U.S joined both of these wars.

The war began in 1898. There was conflict between Spain and the United States. The war started when Cuba wanted to become an independent country and did not want to be ruled by Spain no more. The Cubans rebelled against Spain and Spain tried to stop the rebellion as fast as they could. The United States got into the when the USS Maine was unexplainably sunk down into the ocean. The ship was sent to protect all the US citizens that were over in Cuba. The ship was sitting in Havana. On April 9 Spain said that they wanted a truce. The United States help Cuba create their own government and got them their independence from Spain that they so desperately wanted. Spain declared war on the United States

This unknown fact of American being neutral or not, ultimately lead to the United States needing to enter World War I. Although the United States President at the time, Woodrow Wilson, explained the reasoning for the U.S. entering WWI was because of Germany’s submarine warfare, the violence toll that Germany took on America relates back to the concealed matter of the nation of the United States actually being neutral throughout the time before war

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

The United States had for years been improving and growing rapidly. Away from the other world powers in Europe, they were able to avoid their conflicts for a long time, but that changed. America got involved in World War One and it affected some of their advancements. U.S imperialism was able to thrive in WWI, with America using the power to expand their empire. American progressivism however, fell between the cracks and disappeared for a long while during and after the war. WWI was not necessarily a distraction from either imperialism or progressivism, but it did affect them substantially.

In World War 1 a lot changed for the United States. One things that changed was their

America had a rapid urbanization which was results of the rapid industrialism. We had vast amount of industries and had the need for more resources. To gain more profit, we needed to look outside our country for business. We needed resources from other land to continue our growth. One country we invested for resources was Cuba. Cuba was our main resource for sugar as it had a large sugar production. The textbook states, “American businesses had more than $50 million invested in Cuban sugar, and the American trade with Cuba, a brisk $100 million a year before the rebellion, had dropped to near zero” (Roark 576). With this much money invested in a country, it’s hard to not get involved when a rebellion is breaking out. The causes of this war may be many, however, one thing remains certain Fredrick Jackson Turner and urbanization was a major

The U.S. declared war on April 6th, 1917, while President Wilson had been attempting to create peace between Germany and Britain; the country had desperately tried to stay neutral with the problems accruing with these two. After the continuous attacks against American ships, and propaganda by German U-boats, Germany kept attempting to get Mexico to declare war on the U.S. and stop American supplies from getting to Britain. For this reason the U.S saw itself being pushed to get involved.

After the sinking of Lusitania, Wilson made a pact with Germany for them to stop sinking civilian ships using their U-boats. Germany agreed with this proposal, and the conflict seemed to die down for a time. However, the Germans broke this agreement and violated the trust of the Americans yet again. German U-boats had started to sink several American merchant ships. These attacks took place all over the North Atlantic and Mediterranean oceans. The attacks were the last straw for Woodrow Wilson. As a result of these incidents, he officially declared war on Germany in April 1917. Directly following this announcement, the United States had to do a lot of preparation to get ready for a battle of this magnitude. This war cost the U.S, as well as many other countries, a lot of lives and millions of dollars. Germany acted as the warmonger in this war. Due to their stubbornness, millions of people had to pay the price with their lives.

War is raging on all fronts. The United States is holding true to its neutrality in World War I. As the war continues, growing suspicions creep into the households of everyday American people. The pressures of Germany are a growing problem for the United States. Germany ultimately forced the U.S. to declare war on them. Germany’s broken policies and the decoded Zimmerman note were the major causes of Woodrow Wilson’s declaration of war.

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. The ship and 250 American lives

The Spanish American War was a big step towards American War power and influenced foreign countries greatly with trade, naval power, and territory.

In 1915, a U-boat torpedoed the Lusitania, the merchant ship that was likely carrying military cargo was shot down and killing 128 Americans citizens. Wilson told Germany to stop, they said they would end attacks on merchant ships, but then again in a different situation, on March 1916 a German attacked a French owned ferry. Woodrow Wilson, demanded that Germany stop attacking passenger ships. Wilson also tried to resolve the problems in settlements but one was never met. In January 1917 Germany announced it would destroy all ships heading to Britain. America was still hoped to avoid war by arming vessels. Germany began sinking American ships immediately. In February 1917, British gave the United States government a decoded telegram from Germany's foreign minister, a man by the name of Zimmerman that had been intercepted on route to the ambassador to Mexico. The Telegram offered Mexico the portions of the Southwest it had lost to the United States if it only joined the Central Power. Wilson tried his best to not join the war but he felt as if he couldn’t find any other option so on April 2nd 1917 he asked congress for a declaration of war and four days later war was

entering World War I. The deal was that Mexico could get back the original Mexican territory that they once had. “We shall propose an allegiance to Mexico, and it is understood that Mexico is to reconquer the lost territory in New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona,”(8). Luckily, the telegram was intercepted and decoded, as a result of this political ruse, the United States saw this as a threat and as Germany declaring war. The tension had finally broke between Germany and the United States and on April 6, 1917 we had decided to join the war, they would enter on the side of the allies against

The United States had a variety of reasons for entering World War I, as stated by argument nine. However, two reasons are the most prominent. For the first, the United States felt as though it was under attack by Germany, despite previously declared neutrality. For the second, the United States was more deeply related to the Allies economically than the Central Powers. However, the two connect through the use of German unrestricted submarine warfare, since it posed a threat to US merchant ships while it was still a neutral party.