Transcript United States

11th United States History
Unit One: “From Isolation
to Expansion”
Note Packet 1, part 3
Coach Styles
Unit One: “From Isolation to Expansion”—NP Three
• What was the first
European country to
establish colonies in
America?
• SPAIN
• Following the 1492
expedition of
Christopher Columbus,
Spain worked to build a
vast empire in the “New
World” and acquired
colonial possessions all
across the Western
Hemisphere.
Unit One: “From Isolation to Expansion”—NP Three
Unit One: “From Isolation to Expansion”—NP Three
• By the 1890s, Spain maintained only remnants of
what was once a vast empire in the “New World.”
• One of these remnants was Cuba—an island nation
less than 100 miles off the coast of Florida.
• The Cubans had been resisting Spanish rule since
1868 when they began their struggle for
independence.
• After 10 years and promises of reform, the Spanish
were able to bring down the Cuban uprising.
• Many Americans sympathized with the Cubans
during this 10 year struggle, but the United States
did not intervene.
Unit One: “From Isolation to Expansion”—NP Three
• The situation in Cuba was somewhat better for a
few years—mainly due to a prosperous economy
spurred on by Cuba’s major export crop…
• Sugar
• In 1890, Congress passed the McKinley Tariff Act.
• This allowed sugar from Cuba to enter the United
States duty-free (tax-free).
• Both the United States and Cuba prospered under
this act, with trade revenues totaling more than
$100 million per year.
• However…
Unit One: “From Isolation to Expansion”—NP Three
• Continuing Spanish misrule, plus an economic crisis,
plunged Cuba into another revolution and by 1895,
Cuba was again in a state of turmoil.
• Most Cubans worked for extremely low wages for
wealthy landowners and were exploited by the Spanish
government.
• In 1894, the Wilson-Gorman Tariff was passed by
Congress which imposed high taxes on Cuban sugar
entering the United States.
• Sugar piled up in Cuban warehouses and thousands of
Cubans lost their jobs.
• Bands of Cuban revolutionists swept the countryside—
killing, burning, and waging guerilla warfare against the
Spanish.
Unit One: “From Isolation to Expansion”—NP Three
Unit One: “From Isolation to Expansion”—NP Three
• Cuban revolutionists
deliberately devastated
the island in an attempt
to force the Spanish to
leave and to convince
the United States to
intervene.
• Spain appointed General
Valeriano Weyler,
nicknamed “The
Butcher” by the
American press, as
commander of Spanish
forces in Cuba.
Unit One: “From Isolation to Expansion”—NP Three
• Weyler forced Cuban civilians
into hastily prepared
concentration camps, where
they died by the thousands—
victims of malnutrition and
disease.
• What the Cuban
insurrectionists didn’t destroy,
the Spanish did.
• Atrocities were being
committed by both sides.
• The Spanish had used these
same tactics in earlier Cuban
uprisings, with little concern of
the United States.
Unit One: “From Isolation to Expansion”—NP Three
• The primary difference between earlier Cuban struggles
with Spain and this one of the 1890s was…
• The Cuban revolt of 1895 was covered fully and
dramatically by the American press.
• The Cuban revolutionists did everything possible to win
American sympathies and support by waging a vigorous
propaganda campaign.
• Propaganda (def): The spreading of ideas or information
for the purpose of helping or hurting a particular cause.
• As months passed, the American press realized that the
events in Cuba supplied exciting newspaper stories.
• As American newspapers in competition with each other
tried to provide the most interesting stories, more and
more Americans expressed their sympathies for the Cuban
revolutionists—recalling America’s own efforts to win
independence from Britain during the American
Revolution.
Unit One: “From Isolation to Expansion”—NP Three
• Two rival New York publishers were especially active
in supporting the Cuban revolutionists:
1. William Randolph Hearst of the New York Journal
2. Joseph Pulitzer of the New York World
Unit One: “From Isolation to Expansion”—NP Three
• These papers specialized in sensational
news—and when the news didn’t actually
exist, the editors were not above creating it.
• Penny press
• Yellow Journalism (def): Sensationalized
press, not always based on fact, created for
the sole purpose of increasing newspaper
sales.
• The Cuban insurrectionists had found the
ally they needed.
•
End video with “You furnish the pictures, I’ll furnish the war.”
Unit One: “From Isolation to Expansion”—NP Three
• The American public was
outraged by the Spanish atrocities
reported by the press and urged
the U.S. government to intervene.
• This mounting storm of outrage,
however, did not persuade
President Grover Cleveland (who
maintained a neutral position) to
take action.
• Things would change, however…
• March 4, 1897: William McKinley
was inaugurated as the 25th
President of the United States.
Grover Cleveland
William McKinley
Unit One: “From Isolation to Expansion”—NP Three
• President McKinley took a somewhat stronger position, but
still wanted to give the Spanish time to find a solution to
the uprising on their own.
• For nearly a year, President McKinley managed to maintain
the official policy of neutrality, but in early 1898, several
key events forced his hand.
• Two dramatic events occurring in February of 1898 that
propelled the United States into conflict with Spain:
1. de Lome letter:
• Depuy de Lome was the Spanish Ambassador to the
United States.
• A Cuban spy stole a private letter written by de Lome,
which referred to President McKinley as “a weak man
without backbone, a ‘bidder’ for the crowd, and a ‘wouldbe’ politician.”
Unit One: “From Isolation to Expansion”—NP Three
• This letter infuriated Americans, who felt de Lome’s views
represented the views and attitudes of all Spaniards.
• Then, soon afterwards and with the anger over the de
Lome letter still fresh in the minds of Americans, a major
event pushed America over the brink and into war with
Spain:
2) Explosion of the U.S. battleship Maine:
• The U.S.S. Maine was sent to Cuba to protect
American lives and property during the Cuban
uprising.
• On February 15, the battleship blew up in Havana
Harbor, killing 260 American sailors.
Unit One: “From Isolation to Expansion”—NP Three
Unit One: “From Isolation to Expansion”—NP Three
• War hysteria swept the nation.
• March 27, 1898: The United States sent Spain an
ultimatum (def): A final demand of which rejection will
result in direct forceful action.
• The U.S. demanded that Spain:
1. Cease all fighting in Cuba and grant an armistice to the
revolutionists.
• Armistice (def): Cease fire (End of fighting)
2. Negotiate with the Cubans for self-government or
independence.
3. Abolish all concentration camps
• Negotiations broke down and on April 20, 1898, the
United States declared war on Spain.
Unit One: “From Isolation to Expansion”—NP Three
• “Remember the Maine!” became the national
battle cry for American revenge against the Spanish.