The Spanish American War was caused by many occasions. America strongly supported Cuba and disputed Spain’s actions. The main causes of The Spanish American war was the yellow journalism, the blowing up of “The maine”, and the de lome letter. This essay will be discussing the causes and effects of the Spanish American War. The first cause of the Spanish American War was the yellow journalism. The yellow journalism was written to enrage readers about Valeriano Weyler’s brutality. Some of the things that was said was the children were thrown to the sharks. This caused America’s sympathy for Cuba to grow larger. The second cause was the de lome letter. The de lome letter was written by Enrique Dupuy de Lome. In the letter he criticized
Although there are many reasons why the Spanish-American war took place, the most important was Spain's resentment of Cuba's desire to also become an independent nation. Since Cuba was one of Spain's last territories, they were unwilling to allow independence. As a result, conflict between the two parties erupted. Since Cuba was smaller and less equipped to fight than Spain, their economy took a tumble. Due to the fact that the United States had a great deal of money invested in Cuba's sugar resources, many Americans felt the need to wage war. Additionally, there were separate events that caused anger to American Citizens. One such event was the destruction of a U.S. ship used to protect the American citizens in Cuba. Although the ship's
Intervention in Latin America, mainly Cuba, also led to the Spanish-American War. When the American naval ship, the USS Maine, exploded in the Havana Harbor, President McKinley immediately decided to go to war after being labeled a coward by yellow journalists. This is a prime example of how incidents in Latin American countries forced presidents to act rapidly and without much thought, causing America to form a bold and aggressive foreign policy.
Yellow journalism talked about Cuba, Guam, Puerto Rico, Philippines,etc. This gave motivation for Americans to go to war because they were being fed lies. Accusations of what happened in previous situations, led Americans to want to drive out the Spanish from Cuba, because they wanted to take over Hawaii and the Philippines. America soon ended up going to war with the Philippines and the Caribbeans, before signing the Treaty of Paris, which ended the Spanish-American War. Later on the Americans had an empire that included Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines (Ch 18. section
Political causes are known to be the most affective in starting the war. Due to the short term causes that made history. Without these events the Spanish American war could have been completely changed. Due to the riots that were going on in Havana, Mckinely sent the battleship Maine to protect American lives and property. Soon after it was anchored in the harbor, it exploded, resulting in the deaths of 260 Americans. The American press quickly jumped to blame Spain however there was little evidence found for the explosion. President Mckinely refused to declare war, however many eagerly called for war such as Teddy Roosevelt. This unexpected explosion may seem small, however was a major event in the starting of the Spanish American War. The war message and Teller Amendment was what initially started the war. “In the war message the President rejected the idea that the U.S.A would annex Cuba. “He said this would be criminal aggression and morally wrong”(Allan Hux 295). Congress agreed. “It passed an amendment
Even today Historians are pointing to “Yellow Journalism” as the start of the Spanish American War although there were other factors that led to the war being initiated. Cuba may have never intervened had it not been for the influence of “Yellow Journalist” and the exaggerated headlines being written by them. (http://www.pbs.org/crucible/frames/_journalism.html , n.d.)
The major underlying reasons behind the Spanish-American War were simply extensions of the jingoism and slandering journalism trends in the U.S. during the late 19th century. Although the Spanish
The first reason for the Spanish American War was public opinion. In 1895, American citizens took notice of a Cuban revolt against their corrupt Spanish oppressor. The Cuban insurgents reasoned that if they did enough damage , the US might move in and help the
There were a plethora of important events that took place that prompted the beginning of The Spanish American war. The war was officially started in 1898, bringing joy to the citizens of America and dismay to then president William Mckinley. Before the war, Cuba had been fighting for independence from Spain. The Cuban’s had already lost in the ten year war earlier, which had been fought to gain their independence from Spain. In the state's, newspapers and other media sources were greatly exaggerating the horrors and atrocities being
Nationalism was another major factor in declaring war against Spain. Nationalism emerged in the United States and all of its people seemed to support the war. The “yellow press” printed multiple stories of scandals, including the explosion of the Maine in the Havana harbor. The yellow press printed that the Spanish were responsible for this action, which led to the slogan “Remember the Maine.” Nationalism and pride surged within the United States and war became imminent. The “rough riders,” who were volunteers from the United States, invaded the Santiago harbor in order to drive out Spanish ships. They paved the way for the American army and forced Spain to sign an armistice. After the war was over and the Cubans were free, The Platt Amendment was passed. It provided that Cuba had to state in its own constitution that the US might intervene with troops in Cuba in order to restore order and to provide mutual protection. It also promised to sell or lease naval stations to the US. The doctrine of Manifest Destiny also played a major part in the war. The US wanted to expand its country and spread its Anglo-Saxon culture. Imperialism was also part of this objective.
The Spanish-American war was a conflict between Spain and the US. Causes of the Spanish american war can include: American support for Cuban independence, US wanting to protect their business interests
There were many causes for the Spanish American War. The first long term cause was the Wilson Gordon Tariff. This tariff ultimately decreased tariff rates for may Europeans nations excluding the commonwealth of Spain. This ultimately angered the Spanish and weakened international relationship between the United States and Spain. This tariff also instilled an anti-American feeling in Spain. This would lay down the groundwork for the next cause the “Delome Letter”
The Mexican-American War was the first war Americans fought on foreign soil. (Staff H. C., 2015) James K. Polk, president at the time, thought the United States had a “Manifest Destiny.” The only problem with his philosophy was that Mexico could not disagree more with America. With battles like Monterrey, Sacramento, and the Siege of Veracruz America was able to advance further in the war. The war lasted for 2
On April 1898, The United States declared war against Spain, an empire that was over 400 years old (GLEIJESES, 2003, p 681) Many factors contributed to the Spanish -American War, but in my opinion, no single event is to blame for this war. Although many credit the destruction of the warship “Maine” as the primary cause for this war it is important to mention several previous events that led to a gradual accumulation of a war spirit in American society. Because of the U.S. intervention in Cuba and winning the war, America became a superpower nation that owned a modern NAVY resembling the UK and France. The primary cause that led to the Spanish American War was the public viewpoint towards Spain and the attitudes toward the
Spanish American War leading up to the war is because there had been a lot of what is called yellowing journalism. This is essential while people exaggerate a story to get sales and another incident
Another reason is the perceived undermining of the then U.S President McKinley. The papers had carried a story of the Spanish Minister to the U.S Enrique Dupuy de Lome; who had written a letter describing the President as a weak and moderate politician. This too did not work well with the U.S government. Lastly, the sinking of the U.S.S Maine which was sent to Havana to protect the American citizens that were there undoubtedly