Transcript The Spanish American War

The Spanish
American War
(Unit V Power Point 3)
How a short, four-month
war turned the United
States into a world power
Goals
By the end of this power point
presentation you should be able to:
1. Identify the island of Cuba on a map
2. Name at least two causes for the S-A war
3. Understand the significance of the U.S.S. Maine
4. Explain how the U.S. was able to win the war
5. Explain how the S-A War resulted in the U.S. emerging
as a world power
Cuba – The Country
Cuba is an island nation only 90 miles off the southern tip of Florida. It is about the same size
as Pennsylvania and has about 11 million people living on it today.
Background


By 1898 Cuba and
Puerto Rico were the
only two colonies left in
Spain’s 300-year-old
empire in the Western
Hemisphere
In its heydey (1500 –
1750), the Spanish
government had grown
rich off of its trade in
the Americas. Now it
could barely hold onto
Cuba and Puerto Rico.
Native peoples resent colonialism
and mercantilism


With the American Revolution (1774-81) as an
example, many native peoples in the western
hemisphere wanted to be free of colonial powers.
Native peoples of Cuba and Puerto Rico wanted their
independence from Spain by 1890.
Revolution breaks out
By 1895 Cubans
were openly
rebelling against
their Spanish
masters
 Guerilla warfare
became a popular
method for hitting
back at the Spanish

Cuban guerillas in 1895
Americans become uneasy and
fascinated at the revolution in Cuba


By 1898 the United States had millions of dollars of
capital invested in plantations and farms in Cuba
American investors and entrepreneurs were making lots
of money on tobacco, sugar and fruit in Cuba
U.S. newspapers fed the public’s
fascination with Cuba’s revolution

U.S. newspapers owned by
Joseph Pulitzer and William
Randolph Hearst began to
sensationalize stories about
the Cuban revolution in
order to sell more papers

This sensationalizing of the
news at the expense of the
truth became known as
“yellow journalism”.

The name comes from the
“Yellow Kid” comics that
were printed in papers to
attract attention.
The “Yellow Kid”
“Yellow journalism” convinced the
American public that the U.S. must do
something in Cuba

U.S. reporters
and cartoonists
began to
report on daily
atrocities
committed by
Spanish
officials against
the Cuban
people
A popular political cartoon against Spain in Cuba
BUT…
Yellow Journalism sacrifices truth for
newspaper sales
American Artist Frederick
Remington was sent to
cover the Cuban Rebellion
in 1898. When he wired his
boss, New York Journal
publisher William Randolph
Hearst, that nothing was
going on, Hearst wired back
and stated: “You furnish the
pictures. I’ll furnish the
war”. The result was that
Remington began sending
back sensationalized (and
untrue) accounts of the
Cuban rebellion.
William Randolph Hearst
An Example of “Yellow Journalism”

Remington complied with
Hearst’s request. Hearst’s
“NY Journal” newspaper
published an Remington’s
drawing of Spanish
officials strip-searching a
Cuban girl on board a US
ship in Cuba. This picture
enraged the American
public, even though later
accounts revealed that
this incident never
happened.
This was a drawing by Frederick Remington that was
published in US newspapers and started an uproar
But Yellow Journalism wasn’t the only
cause of the Spanish-American War.

A letter was intercepted
from a Spanish
government official
(Enrique Dupuy De
Lome) and published in
NY newspapers

In the letter De Lome
calls President McKinley
“weak” and accuses him
of “catering to the
rabble”.

This infuriated Americans
Enrique Dupuy Delome
Americans now demand that
President McKinley do something

The American public
demands that
President McKinley
send a strong
message to Spain
that the U.S. does
not like it bloodily
suppressing the
Cuban people
President William McKinley
McKinley decides to send the US
battleship “Maine” to Cuba

McKinley decides
to show off US
power and resolve
and sends the USS
Maine battleship
to Cuba to protect
American citizens
and property and
to send a warning
to Spain
The USS Maine
The Maine enters Havana harbor

The USS Maine entered Havana harbor and
anchored in sight of the Spanish and Cuban
people on January 25, 1898.
The Maine mysteriously blows up


On February 15,
1898, the USS Maine
mysteriously blew up
in Havana Harbor
Many people claimed
it was an accident,
but the US
newspapers blamed
Spain for the
explosion
Artist’s rendition of the USS Maine
exploding
US Newspapers have a field day

Many American
newspapers,
without any
evidence or
investigation,
automatically
blame the Spanish
for the explosion
of the USS Maine.
It was “Yellow
Journalism” at its
worst.
“Remember the Maine”
President McKinley
is now under intense
pressure to declare
war on Spain
 On April 25, 1898,
President McKinley
asked Congress to
declare war on
Spain

A picture of the wreckage of the Maine as it lies
sunk in the shallow waters of Havana Harbor.
Note the water washing over decks that had
previously been 30 feet above water.
War fever grips the U.S.
EVERYBODY wants to
get into the fight
against the Spanish
 Assistant Secretary of
the Navy Theodore
Roosevelt senses an
opportunity and creates
his own army unit to go
fight in Cuba
 TR calls the unit the
“Rough Riders”

A picture of TR (in middle) with his “Rough Riders”
The US Navy is first to score
a victory in the war

Sensing that war was
imminent, Roosevelt (as
Asst Sec of Navy)
cabled Commodore
George Dewey in the
Pacific and ordered him
to prepare to attack the
Spanish fleet in the
Philippines if war breaks
out. Roosevelt did this
before he left his Navy
job to fight the Spanish
Commodore George Dewey
Dewey defeats Spanish Fleet
in Philippines

May 1, 1898 – The
US Navy’s Asiatic
squadron,
commanded by
Dewey, sailed into
Manila Harbor in the
Philippines at dawn
and attacked the
anchored Spanish
fleet
A romanticized painting of Dewey defeating the Spanish
The Spanish Fleet was
destroyed
By noon, the entire
Spanish fleet had
been destroyed in
the Philippines with
the loss of only one
American life
 Spain’s control of
the Philippines was
slipping fast

A Spanish naval wreck in Manila Bay. Note that it is
upside down with the propeller sticking out of the
water to the left
Yellow Journalism continues

US newspapers,
especially the New
York newspapers,
continued to scream
fantastic headlines
in an attempt to sell
more and more
newspapers
On the other side of the world,
the war was heating up in Cuba
US troops were now beginning to sail to Cuba and Puerto
Rico to fight the Spanish – though they were poorly prepared
 The most famous battle was LTC Teddy Roosevelt’s “Rough
Riders” charging up San Juan Hill

A glamorized
account of
Teddy
Roosevelt
charging up
Kettle Hill –
which reporters
changed to
“San Juan
Hill” to make it
sound more
Spanish.
The war was over quickly.

By December 1898 the US and Spain had signed a
peace treaty ending the Spanish American War
As
illustrated
on this
map, there
were very
few battles
that were
fought in
the Spanish
American
War
Results of the Spanish American War
As a result of the Spanish American War:
1.
2.
3.
4.
The US now became a world power
Spain ceased to be a great power
The US gained “colonies” in the Philippines
and in Cuba and Puerto Rico
US dominance in the western hemisphere
was complete
The decision now must be made

President McKinley
now must decide as
to whether or not he
wants to keep the
Philippines and Cuba
as colonies or grant
them their
independence
A political cartoon showing the difficult choice President
McKinley must make in deciding whether to annex the
Philippines. Note that Lady Justice is pulling back a curtain to
show Filipino war dead.
US Assumes the “White Man’s Burden”

Urged on by an open letter (poem) by British poet Rudyard
Kipling, President McKinley decides to annex the Philippines to
“civilize” the Filipino people.
US soldiers in the Philippines firing on Filipino insurgents
The Philippines
The Philippines are a series of islands off the coast of China that are so valuable because of their location
next to it. They have many deep water harbors perfect for naval bases.
The Father of “Benevolent Imperialism”
British poet Rudyard Kipling
was born and raised in the
British colony of India.
After leaving India to be
schooled in England,
Kipling became convinced
that it was the
responsibility of White,
Anglo-Saxon Protestant
countries like England and
the United States to
“civilize” countries in Africa
and Asia. He believed that,
to do this, civilized nations
had to take over the
uncivilized nations and help
them.
British Poet Rudyard Kipling