CAUSES OF SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR (1898)

•Once very powerful, Spain was a world power on the decline•Cuba had been taken over by US companies(mid1800s)•1894, Tariff causes Cuban economy to crash•1895, Marti organizes rebellion•Use of guerilla tactics drives Spanish Army loco (ha-ha I used Spanish)

Gorilla vs. Guerilla Warfare

•Spain responds to guerilla tactics by sending General “Butcher” Weyler to suppress Marti•Cubans placed in concentration camps.

US Reaction

•Hearst and Pulitzer use “yellow journalism” to sway US public opinion against Spain

Hearst’s New York Journal

•US sympathy for Cuban rebels grows

•McKinley tries diplomatic means to resolve the crisis

•Feb 1898, Cuban rebels intercept a letter written by de Lome. He criticizes McKinley as a weak leader.

•Many Americans agreed with criticism•Many outraged that a mid level official was so critical of the US President•Including TR (“McKinley has the backbone of a chocolate éclair”);

Search for Missing Bride Continues

Bride Missing! Groom’s Family Blames History of Mental Illness

1.How do these headlines differ?2.Consider the wording and how a reader might respond to each article.

Explosion of the USS MaineHavana Harbor, 1898

10

“Awake United States!”

This song was rushed into print between the sinking of the Maine on February 15, 1898, and the declaration of war on April 25, 1898.

Eagle soar on high, and sound the battle cry!

And how proudly sailed the warship Maine, a Nation’s pride, without a stain!

A wreck she lies, her sailors slain.By two-faced butchers, paid by Spain!

Eagle soar on high,And sound the battle cry

Wave the starry flag!In mud it shall not drag!

Spark that starts war

•Feb. 15 1898- USS Maine explodes killing 260 of 350 crewman and causing the ship to sink in Havana.•With no proof at all, US yellow journalists blame Spain and offer $50,000 reward for capture of Spanish agents

•1976 study shows that an internal explosion in the coal room caused secondary explosions in engine room and ammunition room that caused the ship to sink. It was not some Super Spanish Sailor dude who attached a bomb to the hull of the ship.