Problems with Spain - Plain Local Schools
Download
Report
Transcript Problems with Spain - Plain Local Schools
PROBLEMS WITH
SPAIN
Today’s objectives
1) Explain why the United States was interested in Cuba
Discuss how the sinking of the U.S.S. Maine affected the relations
between the United States and Spain
HOW DID AMERICA GO TO WAR WITH
SPAIN?
2 pieces of the Spanish empire remain near the United States: Cuba and
Puerto Rico
Many Americans were living in Cuba at the time
Many American businesses held important sugarcane industries
These people felt that the United States should help the Cubans
become free of Spanish control
DID THE US WANT TO GO TO WAR WITH
SPAIN?
President McKinley did not want to go to war with Spain
He offered to buy the island of Cuba, Spain refused
In January of 1898, he sent the battleship USS Maine to Cuba to protect
American interests and property.
The fighting continued…….
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE MAINE?
The Maine docked in the harbor of Havanna, Cuba
In the middle of the night on Feb. 15, 1898 the ship exploded
The explosion killed 260 American sailors
The sinking of the Maine shocked the nation
Newspapers blamed the Spanish government (yellow journalism- writing
that prints sensational, exaggerated stories)
How did it blow up? Spain? Cuban Rebels? Accident?
WHAT HAPPENED NEXT?
McKinley demanded that Spain stop the fighting in Cuba
Teddy Roosevelt sent Admiral Dewey and his fleet to the Philippine
Islands with orders to attack their main harbor if war broke out
On April 9, 1898, Spain promised that it would stop its fighting in Cuba
They did not want to go to war with the US, but many Americans did
“Remember the Maine” became the new slogan on America
HOW DID MCKINLEY RESPOND?
He was criticized for not punishing Spain for the soldiers we lost
He asked Congress on 4/11/1898 for permission to use military force
to stop the war
Want to help Cuba gain independence, not control it. (Spain knew about
it)
Spain declared war first, then the US