Spanish American War Causes

However, in Spain there was a belief of the United States planning the explosion to began a war. With all of the tension between the two countries, about two months after the attack, there was an outbreak of warfare known as the Spanish-American War. The attack on the ship was in February of 1898 and the war began in April of the same year. It ended in August, 1898 when both countries signed the Treaty of Paris guaranteeing Cuban independence, and forcing Spain to sign Guam and Puerto Rico over to the United States.

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

The Spanish American war started in 1898 and was a fight for Cuba’s independence which resulted in 379 American casualties in combat. The Spanish American War was justified because of the Monroe Doctrine, Correspondence between the United States and Spain, and the Platt Amendment, which were all created to protect American morals and freedom.

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

The building of the First Transcontinental Railroad was a key symbol of the Industrial Revolution beginning in the United States. The railroad crossed the middle of the country and connected the eastern portion to the west. The building began in Sacramento, California and continued all the way to Council Bluffs, Iowa, resulting in 1,776 miles of new rails that were a staple for both the transportation of people and goods. Less lives were lost on the hazardous trails through the Rocky Mountains and thus the West Coast experienced an increase in population. The railroad greatly impacted the nation, as it united the people and also allowed for the improvement of the speed of shipment and price of goods throughout the nation. With the constant

War of 1812 and industrialization- The british blockade forced the united states to develop its own industries

“War should never be entered upon until every agency of peace has failed; peace is preferable to war in almost every contingency.” (War Message 1898) Those are the words of President McKinley in his inaugural address, on March 4th, 1897. McKinley wasn’t a man of war and certainly didn’t share the same views as Teddy Roosevelt did; even though he was the one who declared war against Cuba, he was led to that decision from the immense pressure from every corner of the U.S. Kagan believes that the Spanish American War took place because American egos were hitting the stratosphere and therefore believed that the U.S were better than most countries and should go and fix less developed ones. Another view Kagan had was that the primary reason for

The Spanish American War started in 1898 and lasted about four months. Although the war might have seemed focused on freeing Cuba from Spain and gaining independence for Cuba and the Philippines, it was actually stimulated by nationalism and commercialism. Commercialism was a major factor when declaring war because the United States depended on Cuba and the Philippines for trade and business with other countries, especially in Asia and Latin America. Another major factor for the war was that the United States wanted to spread its Anglo-Saxon culture around the world and emerge as a world-wide power. Other minor motives for the war include the United States coming to the aid of the Cubans in their revolt against Spain and the feeling that

The quote "A Splendid little war" by Secretary of State John Hay summarizes the Spanish American War in 1898. While this war could be seen as an act of aggression by the 20th century standards this war was beneficial to the United States of America while being deviating to the Kingdom of Spain for many reasons.

One hundred years ago, in 1898, the United States was fighting the Spanish-American War. The victory over Spain made the United States a colonial power. The Spanish colonies of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines, as well as the formerly independent nation of Hawaii, became American possessions.

What was the Spanish-American war? The Spanish-American war was a short time period war that left a huge impact in America. They had no idea what it would led it or never thought that it would killing more than 500 lives. In Chapter twenty in the text book “Out of the Many “and the article “American Manhood and Declaring war on Spain”, discusses about the main parts of events that led to the Spanish-American war. The United States became involved with many foreign affairs in the late nineteen centuries.

America was slowly making its rise from a second tier power to a first tier power by the time of the Spanish-American War in 1898. The war began when Cuba was attempting to gain freedom from the rule of Spain and America was called on to intervene. When the USS Maine, a United States battleship that was sent into the Cuban harbour of Havana to protect American citizens and property after a riot had occurred, had been sunk America’s public heavily demanded the United States government to get involved officially. After Spain made efforts towards a truce along with speeding up the the process to grant Cuba confined independence, America stepped in announced Cuba’s right to freedom from Spain and requested for Spain to remove its armed forces from Cuban territory. In response, Spain issued a war against the United States in April of 1898. Because Spain had not fully prepared its army or navy for obscure battle with the powerful U.S. armed forces, America easily gained victory in leisurely-fought battles against Spain. In July of 1898 the war was being drawn to a close; America’s military sunk and burned all of the Spanish battleships in the harbor of Santiago, thus forcing Spanish forces to surrender. Following the war, the Treaty of Paris was signed in December of 1898, allowing for Spain to reclaim Cuba, but granting ownership

The Mexican-American war, also known as the Mexican war happened between 1846 and 1848 with the participants being United States of America and Mexico. Texas, previously a Mexican state, was the primary cause of the war. A series of disagreements had occurred between Texans and the Mexican government leading to Texas declaration of its independence in 1836. Later, Texas decided to join the United States as the 28th state and this infuriated Mexico. Additionally, border disagreements came up with Mexico claiming the border was at Nueces River while Texas claimed it was at Rio Grande River. James K. Polk, the president, sent his army to protect the border which ended up in shooting between Mexican and American troops. It is after this that

The war initially began in 1895 with the rebellion of Cubans under Spanish control. Accordingly, Spain sent forces to dispel this rebellion, but in vain. Early in the year of 1898, the ship USS Maine was sent to Cuba, and sunk on February 15 of that same year. About a week prior to the USS Maine’s sinking, a letter, written by Enrique Dupuy de Lôme, and famously called the De Lôme Letter2, was released by U.S. newspapers. The letter slandered U.S. President William McKinley, the incumbent at the time, as well as his methods of dealing with both foreign and domestic affairs. Indeed, many, including McKinley, saw this letter as a large sign of disrespect, especially when coming from the Spanish ambassador to the United States. This, coupled with the sinking of the USS Maine, raised the concern of a possible war with Spain. And, as such, Spain declared war on America on April 24, 1898, with the United States following with a declaration of their own the very next day. McKinley’s first decision was not to go into war, but he was forced into it through the pressures of the Democratic Party and his inability to provide sufficient answers concerning the sinking of the USS Maine3. While the declaration of war itself is not always viewed as imperialistic, the actions prior to this were quite imperialistic themselves. It seemed as if the U.S. declared war in response to Spain, whereas in reality if Americans hadn't

Before the most devastating and bloodiest war in history of mankind, World War II, the Spanish Civil War took place which is considered by many historians to have helped lead to World War II. The civil war itself was an rebellion of military officer’s against the elected government of Spain. This conflict eventually led to another fascist dictator in Europe in the 1930’s an already extremely tense time. The Spanish Civil War was an important conflict due to it's unique causes, importance in Europe, and the amount of foreign aid that came.