The Spanish-American War was a conflict, primarily between Spain and the United States, which lasted from April 21st, 1898 to August 13th, 1898. The issue over which the war was waged was the independence of the Caribbean island of Cuba. Cuba had been attempting to gain independence from Spain since 1868, in the Ten Years’ War, but this longing for freedom was enflamed in the late 1890’s due to poor treatment of Cuba from Spain. When Cuba revolted again, America came to its aid, fighting Spain more or less on Cuba’s behalf. This war was a turning point in American history, because of the events leading up to the conflict, what it stood for, and the aftereffects of the war. The events that caused America’s intervention in the Cuban conflict were, at the time, entirely unique and unheard of. Since its inception, the United States …show more content…
This meant that unless a war directly involved or threatened the US, America would avoid being involved. However, due to several factors, the Spanish-American War was the first of many times in which the United States broke this stance. Many Americans felt sympathy for Cuba’s struggle to gain independence, because such a goal was how America was created. In addition, many American businesses had interests in Cuba, and thus wanted to avoid Spain razing Cuban land. Newspapers took advantage of the American people’s openness to conflict with Spain to publish article after article spreading pro-war propaganda. The New York World and New York
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
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 Spanish-American War was considered short lived and relatively mild in terms of American casualties compared to the many wars that our nation has fought. However, it served as a historical marker that set the imperialistic momentum of our nation. It played a significant role in our nation’s strategic move towards acquiring trade routes and further strengthened our naval power. Throughout my research paper I will touch on what led to the Cuban revolution against Spain, America’s political climate at the time, and why our nation eventually decided to intervene and aid the Cubans in their fight for independence.
America’s support for the ongoing struggle by Cubans and Filipinos against Spanish rule and the explosion of the battleship U.S.S. Maine in Havana Harbor are the major influences that led to the Spanish-American War. The Spanish-American War was a conflict between Spain and the United States in 1898. As Cuba was controlled by territorial expansion by the Spanish, Cubans fight for independence from Spain will arise. Cubans fight for Independence from Spain is what brought the U.S to intervene.
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
War of 1812 and industrialization- The british blockade forced the united states to develop its own industries
The Spanish-American War in 1898 was a point where American’s demonstrated their power and true colors. America wanted to free the Cubans from Spain, but it was not purely out of the interest of the Cubans. America was in it for the Philippines. Spain had control of the Philippines, and the Philippines were located in close proximity to China. The issue here was that the Philippines was not interested in having the U.S. around and rebelled against the American forces (47) .The U.S. wanted to capitalize on the economic struggles in China and the Philippines was
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
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
The Spanish-American War began as a humanitarian effort to free Cuba from Spain’s colonial grasp and ended with the United States itself acquiring territory overseas and fighting a dirty guerrilla war with Filipino nationalists who, like the Cubans, sought independence. Behind the contradiction stood the twin pillars of American foreign policy: The Monroe Doctrine made Spain’s presence in Cuba unacceptable, and U.S. determination to keep open the door to Asia made the Philippines attractive as a stepping-stone to China.
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
I would like to congratulate and acknowledge you for you becoming President of the United States of America. You proved your worthiness and dedication when you made life-risking decisions on the battlefield for the Spanish American War. You volunteered as part of the cavalry and brought upon leadership and encouragement. In the handout, Teddy Roosevelt in His Own Words, you even recite, “...in the great battle of life, no brilliancy of intellect, no perfection of bodily development, will count when weighted in the balance against that assemblage of virtues, active and passive, of moral qualities, which we group together under the name of character;...” I am confident you will lead our country with that same leadership, enthusiasm and encouragement we need after such a cruel war. The Spanish American War as I remember began after we were having some conflict with Spain. The horrific part that made the chain reaction explode was on February 15, 1998. The USS Maine was no more. Yellow Journalism then took place, spreading rumors the Spanish had put a mine on the ship to blow it apart and saying “Remember the Maine!!” That night mixed with all the conflicts of the Spanish began the Spanish American War. I remember being on the field with you and your men, working
"American imperialism in 1898 was not a sudden abandonment of anti-colonial tradition but was a logical extension of commercial expansion, something the US had been doing throughout its history" (SparkNotes: The Spanish American War, 1898-1901,: Effects of the Treaty). President McKinley was not interested in wars of conquest or of territorial aggression. His interest in expansion was "to make the United States first in international commerce and as a means to implement its humanitarian and democratic goals" (Faragher, J., Buhle, M. J., & Armitage, S. H. ,2008, Out of Many, A History of the American People, 6th ed., Vol. 2, p. 561). McKinley would eventually be forced to act in a humanitarian effort for the people of Cuba and to protect
The Spanish-American War began after the United States intervened in the Cuban War of Independence. Initially, the U.S. was looking for Cuban independence. However after a war in which Spain lost, the U.S. started to express interest in other land. “The final treaty provided for Spain's cession of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines to the United States. Spain gave up sovereignty over Cuba, and it accepted $20 million in compensation” (Beede 2013). But even though the U.S. was able to acquire these lands, Spain's cultural influence already took its toll on the Caribbean, especially in Puerto Rico and Cuba where Spanish is spoken and some of the way food is prepared can be traced back to the way it is done in