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Although commonly referred to as the Spanish–American War, the War of 1898 had less to do with relations between Spain and the United States than with Spain’s control of Cuba in the Caribbean and its possessions in the Pacific (most notably, the Philippines).
Spanish imperial power had dominated Central and South America since the late 15th century. However, by 1890, Cuba and Puerto Rico were the only Spanish colonies that had not acquired their independence. On several occasions prior to 1898, Cuban independence fighters in the Cuba Libre movement attempted unsuccessfully to end Spanish control of the island.
In 1895, violence spread across the island as Cubans once again revolted for independence. Spanish forces under the command of General Valeriano Weyler attempted to suppress the uprising by implementing a “reconcentration” policy, in which Spanish troops forced Cubans from the countryside to relocate to militarily controlled camps in urban areas.
Many Americans were sympathetic toward the cause of Cuba Libre. The movement established offices in Florida and New York to cultivate support, often by using the rhetoric that Americans had used during the American Revolution.
The Cuban independence movement also captured the attention of American businessmen. A number of Americans owned or invested in sugar plantations on the island. American shippers worried that an outbreak of violence would affect sugar exports. In 1897, the United States was the destination for 87% of Cuba’s exports.
A number of young men in the United States viewed the violence in Cuba as an opportunity for the nation to use its growing military strength and international influence. By 1896, a group of American politicians and military leaders—many of whom were too young to have participated in the Civil War—assumed key positions in the government and military.
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After campaigning on behalf of William McKinley during the election of 1896, Theodore Roosevelt of New York secured an appointment as assistant secretary of the Navy. He used his position to advocate the expansion of the U.S. Navy and its use to assert American interests abroad.Roosevelt and other American men were eager to prove their patriotism and masculinity in battle and saw the conflict in Cuba as an opportunity for the United States to exhibit its might on a global stage.
The press, particularly publications that engaged in yellow journalism, played a key role in inflaming American nationalism and sensationalizing the violence that was occurring in Cuba.
In the late 1890s, newspapers like the New York Journal, owned by William Randolph Hearst, and the New York World, published by Joseph Pulitzer, competed for readers using sensationalized headlines, images, and stories for dramatic effect.
By providing readers with exaggerated stories and images, yellow journalists exploited the violence in Cuba to gain readers and increase sales. They took advantage of an atmosphere in which reformers (who sympathized with the Cuba Libre movement), businessmen concerned with their Cuban investments, and young men (like Theodore Roosevelt) eager to display their masculinity pressured the government to intervene on Cuba’s behalf.
As sensationalist news stories, the concerns of businessmen, and other factors contributed to growing public support for intervention, President William McKinley (following his victory in the 1896 election) considered what to do.
McKinley commanded a new and growing—but untested—navy. He was not interested in Cuban independence but was concerned with protecting American commercial interests on the island and in the region. For a time, McKinley publicly admonished Spain for its actions in Cuba and searched for diplomatic solutions that would end the violence and stabilize the island.
McKinley’s reluctance to involve the United States in a military conflict with Spain vanished in February 1898. He had ordered one of the Navy’s newest battleships, the U.S.S. Maine, to drop anchor off the coast of Havana, Cuba. The mission of the Maine was to observe the conflict and, if necessary, evacuate American citizens. Just days after it arrived, an explosion destroyed the Maine on February 15, killing over 250 American sailors.
Immediately after the disaster, yellow journalists reported that the explosion was the result of a Spanish attack and urged all Americans to support retaliation. The front page of the New York Journal (pictured left) proclaimed that the “Destruction of the War Ship Maine was the Work of an Enemy” and offered a $50,000 reward to whoever found the perpetrator of the “Maine Outrage.”
Although there was no evidence to support these claims, the phrase “Remember the Maine, to hell with Spain” swept across the presses, and the American public joined businessmen in calling on the president and Congress to declare war.
Recent examinations of the evidence have led many historians to conclude that the explosion that destroyed the Maine was probably an accident: the result of storing gunpowder too close to the ship’s boilers.
In late March, in a final attempt to avoid war, McKinley called on Spain to end its reconcentration policy and to formally recognize Cuban independence. Spain refused. As a result, McKinley requested a declaration of war from Congress. On April 19, 1898, Congress officially recognized Cuban independence and authorized McKinley to use military force to remove the Spanish presence from the island.
To the surprise of the Spanish, who viewed the war as a conflict over Cuba, American military strategists prepared to fight a war for the empire. President McKinley and his advisers used the War of 1898 to further U.S. power and influence in the Pacific as well as in the Caribbean.
Before leaving his post to volunteer as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Cavalry, Assistant Secretary Theodore Roosevelt (with the president’s approval) ordered the Navy to attack the Spanish fleet in the Philippines, which was under Spanish control. On May 1, 1898, Admiral George Dewey led the U.S. fleet in a decisive victory over the Spanish in Manila Bay, sinking all of the Spanish ships while taking almost no American losses. Within a month, the U.S. Army landed troops in the Philippines and, in August, they captured Manila.
American victory in Cuba did not come as easily. In June 1898, 17,000 American troops landed in Cuba. In early July, fierce battles ensued near the Spanish stronghold of Santiago. It was at this point that Theodore Roosevelt led his Rough Riders, an all-volunteer cavalry unit made up of Ivy League college graduates, Western cowboys, and other adventure seekers, in a charge up Kettle Hill (next to San Juan Hill), which enabled American forces to surround Santiago.
Although the charge by the Rough Riders is among the best-known episodes of the War of 1898, the actions of approximately 2,500 African American soldiers, who fought in segregated units, played a key role in the American victory at Santiago. The Rough Riders charged up Kettle Hill thinking it was San Juan Hill. By the time they realized their mistake, they discovered that the all-Black regiments had beaten them to the top of San Juan Hill.
As U.S. forces took control of the hills surrounding Santiago, the Spanish fleet tried to escape but ran into an American blockade that resulted in its total destruction: Every Spanish vessel was sunk. Without naval support, Spain was unable to prevent the United States from taking the nearby island of Puerto Rico.
The fighting between Spain and the United States ended by the end of July. In December, both nations signed a treaty that recognized the territorial gains that the U.S. forces made during the conflict. As the map below shows, American victory in the War of 1898 marked the culmination of the efforts on behalf of American imperialism that were begun by Secretary of State Seward in the 1860s.
The press glorified the American victory in the War of 1898.
The cartoon on the right, from the Philadelphia Press, celebrated the reach of the new American empire, which stretched from Puerto Rico to the Philippines. Only a century earlier, the nation’s boundaries spanned only from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River.
Although the United States was not unified in its support of the American empire, its proponents relied on the ideology and rhetoric of “the White man’s burden” to justify the acquisition of the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and the other new territories.
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President McKinley and his advisers relied on cultural stereotypes and racism to argue against granting independence to the Philippines. William Howard Taft, the first American governor-general of the Philippines, referred to Filipinos as “our little brown brothers.”EXAMPLE
The Foraker Act of 1900 established Puerto Rico as an American territory with its own civil government, but Puerto Ricans did not receive American citizenship until 1917.Cubans also found that their independence was not complete after the war.
During the debate over whether to declare war on Spain, Congress passed the Teller Amendment.
While the Teller Amendment prohibited the United States from acquiring Cuba, a subsequent amendment—the Platt Amendment—gave the U.S. government significant oversight of Cuban affairs.
The Platt Amendment empowered the United States to build a naval base at Guantanamo Bay (on the southern tip of the island) and prohibited Cuba from making treaties with other countries that might threaten its independence. Even though Cuba had won independence on paper, the United States controlled its foreign policy and economic agreements.
As control of the empire was being secured, a number of Americans expressed their opposition and, in 1898, formed the Anti-Imperialist League.
The League opposed American imperialism for many reasons, including the following:
Source: This tutorial curated and/or authored by Matthew Pearce, Ph.D with content adapted from Openstax “U.S. History”. access for free at openstax.org/details/books/us-history LICENSE: CREATIVE COMMONS ATTRIBUTION 4.0 INTERNATIONAL