Transcript Spanish American War

Spanish American War
Deal or No Deal
US Interest in Cuba
William L. Marcy,
US Secretary of State (1853-1857)
“Our minister at Madrid, during the
Administration of President Polk, was
instructed to ascertain if Spain was
disposed to transfer Cuba to the United
States for a liberal pecuniary
July 23, 1853
consideration.”
James Buchanan,
15th President (1857-1861)
“I reiterate [my] recommendation ... in favor
of the acquisition of Cuba from Spain by fair
purchase. I firmly believe that such an
acquisition would contribute essentially to
the well-being and prosperity of both
countries in all future time.”
State of the Union
December 3, 1860
Timeline Activity
Argued for:
• Building the Panama
Canal
• Obtaining bases in the
Caribbean
• Building maritime
commerce
• Building a navy to
protect commerce and
prevent blockade
• Obtaining overseas
colonies for refueling
and repair
Jose Marti (1853-1895)
Exiled Cuban Nationalist
• Published newspaper La Patria Libre
(Free Fatherland) in 1869
• Arrested and sentenced to six year hard labor;
released and exiled from Cuba
• Founded the Cuban Revolutionary Party
• Killed in a skirmish in Cuba
William Randolph Hearst
Publisher, New York Journal
& San Francisco Examiner
• Didn't mind fabricating stories - goal was
1 million subscribers.
– “You furnish the pictures, I'll furnish the war”
• Published pictures showing how Spanish
saboteurs had fastened an underwater
mine to the Maine
Joseph Pulitzer (1847-1911)
Publisher, New York World &
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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At thirty-six, purchased the New York World
Sent divers to investigate the wreck of the Maine
Battled for readers with William Randolph Hearst
Endowed the school of journalism at Columbia
University in New York City
Annexation of Hawaii
General Valeriano Weyler y Nicolau
Governor & Commander-in-Chief,
Spanish Army in Cuba
“The Butcher”
• Relocated (herded) more than 300,000
rebels into "reconcentration camps,
• Bad and inadequate food and lack of
sanitation killed thousands of peasants
– ~50,000 in Havana province alone
– Cuban émigrés publicized Weyler's inhumanity
and won the sympathy in the U.S.
Theodore Roosevelt
Assistant Secretary of the Navy
• The Naval War of 1812, set the
standard for studies on naval strategy and was
required reading at the Naval Academy
• Befriended Alfred Thayer Mahan
"the liveliest spot in Washington...is the Navy
Department. The decks are cleared for action.
Acting Secretary Roosevelt....has the whole
Navy bordering on a war footing.”
New York Sun
DeLome Letter
• Written by the Spanish Ambassador to
the United States
• Criticized President McKinley:
– “weak and a bidder for the admiration of the
crowd”
– “a would-be politician”
• Published in the New York Journal helped generate public support for a war
with Spain
Sinking of the Maine
"You may fire when your are ready, Gridley"
Commodore George Dewey sank the entire
Spanish squadron in six hours in Manila Bay,
the Philippines Islands.
Rough Riders
Platt Amendment
• Approved May 22, 1903
• U.S. - Cuba Treaty: attempted to
protect Cuba's independence from
foreign intervention
• Permitted extensive U.S. involvement
in Cuban international and domestic
affairs to enforce Cuban
independence
Roosevelt Corollary to the
Monroe Doctrine
• All that this country desires is to see the
neighboring countries stable, orderly and
prosperous....Chronic wrongdoing, or an
impotence which results in a general
loosening of the ties of civilized society, may
in America, as elsewhere, ultimately require
intervention...[and] force the United States,
however reluctantly, in flagrant cases of such
wrongdoing or impotence, to the exercise of
an internal police power.
“Speak softly and carry a big stick”
Bibliography
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http://www.spanamwar.com
http://www.ourdocuments.gov
http://www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/
http://www.historyofcuba.com/
http://www.smplanet.com/imperialism/remember.html
http://www.zpub.com/cpp/saw.html
http://millercenter.org/scripps/archive/speeches
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc
http://thebsreport.wordpress.com/2009/06/12/quoteof-the-day-theodore-roosevelt/
Spanish American War
Deal or No Deal