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Section I (Introduction): Many weeks after sailing from Spain in search of land and gold for the royal crown, on October of 1492, Christopher Columbus finally reached land marking a 400 years of Spanish rule on the island that is now Cuba, one of the reasons why Spanish rule over Cuba ended at the root of the Spanish-American War of 1898. ... Used as an ideal place to grow sugar, tobacco, and coffee, Cuba was a huge site for Spanish wealth (Gay and Gay 14). During the 1800’s Latin American territories had begun to seek their independence from Spain, however, Cuba remained as a Spanish colony. ... Led by Máximo Gómez and Antonio Maceo, these revolts lacked the proper funding and weaponry and were eventually crushed by Spanish forces during the Ten Years’ War (Collins 7-8).
After the Cuban defeat in the Ten Years’ War, thousands of Cubans fled to the United States were there was already a large population of Cubans (Golay 2). ... Martí spent several years building support for another revolution against Spanish rule in Cuba (3). In 1895, Martí returned to Cuba and launched another rebellion against the Spanish forces, accompanied by an army of 20,000 and several American citizens. Within a few weeks of the outbreak, a Spanish cavalry patrol ambushed and killed José Marí, nearly collapsing the newly formed Cuba Libre movement (Golay 3). In order to stop this new revolt and prevent future uprisings, the Spanish sent the army commander, General Valeriano Weyler y Nicolau, known as the “Butcher”, to crush the rebellion. ... American historian William J. ... By the end of 1897, the American government became very aware of the events in Cuba and American citizens urged the government to help the Cubans (5-6). ...
McKinley wanted to avoid sending American soldiers into a foreign war. ... The next day, American citizens woke as the read “yellowism” in the headlines of the New York Journal and the New York World. ... American citizens were infuriated by such an attack and called for military action. On April 25, 1898, President McKinley addressed the members of the United States Congress and officially declared war on Spain (Gay and Gay 29).
Theodore Roosevelt, assistant secretary of the Navy at the time, became the most outspoken supporter for the United States’ involvement in the war. Over a period of four months, the United States would travel 9,000 miles around the world under the command of Commodore George Dewey and fight a war on the Spanish colony of the Philippines (Collins 12-16). Like the Cubans, the Filipinos were also rebelling against their Spanish rulers. As Dewey launched a maritime war, Roosevelt launched an attack on Cuba. A few months after the war had ended, the United Sates had secured a treaty with Spain which gave them not only Cuba, but Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines (Gay and Gay 59-57).
The Spanish-American War marked the beginning of the United States’ role as one of the most powerful countries in the world. “No longer a British colony and no longer divided by the Civil War, the United States had become one of the most powerful countries in the world” (Collins 29). The Spanish-American War was not just a war waged to protect American interests on the island of Cuba, but was mainly conducted as a foundation of the American Imperialism growing in the United States—fueled by supporters of Manifest Destiny and the “yellow journalism” of Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst. Their intense competition for readers by producing ever-more-sensational accounts of Cuba’s struggle for independence would be a factor that encouraged the American public for a declaration of war. The Spanish-American War would finally commence as a response to the sinking of the USS Maine and its “Remember the Maine” battle cry for war.
Section II (American Imperialism): The “divine right” known as Manifest Destiny that developed in the 1840’s was now used to justify American purpose not just on the United States, but on the outside of the American border.
Approximate Word count = 3351
Approximate Pages = 13.4
(250 words per page double spaced)
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