Spanish American War

Learning Target: Identify the Causes and Effects of the Spanish American

War US History – Unit 2

Spanish American War

Causes of Spanish American War• American Sympathy towards

Cuban Fight for Freedom against Spanish Rule– “Butcher” Weyler forced 300,000

Cuban Rebels into concentration camps

• Monroe Doctrine – chance to get Spain out of Western Hemisphere

• Economic Interests – sugar plantations

• Yellow Journalism – American Press got American’s behind going to war

• Spark: Sinking of the USS Maine

Yellow Journalism

A type of journalism that distorts and exaggerates the news to create sensations and attract readers

William Randolph Hearst vs Joseph Pulitzer.New York Journal New York World

1.What is most noticeable about the example? 2. How is this media making people feel? 3. How would this influence or change peoples mind?

Characteristics of Yellow Journalism

Characteristics of Yellow Journalism:• Headlines in huge print, often of minor news • Many pictures, or imaginary drawings• use of faked interviews, misleading headlines,

and false information from so-called experts • dramatic sympathy with the "underdog" against

the system. • Emotional words and symbols; scare tactics

Does Yellow JournalismStill Exist?

Important Events

• Sinking of the USS Maine– 266 US Servicemen are killed– Blamed on a Spanish mine

• Admiral Dewey – Surprise attack on the Spanish Fleet in Manila Harbor– All Spanish Ships are Sunk

• Spanish Defeated in Battle of San Juan Hill– T. Roosevelt led the “Rough Riders” to victory

• Spain signs Treat of Paris Ending the War

Effects of the Spanish American War

• US becomes an Imperialist Power

• Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines become colonies of the US

• Cuba gains its independence from Spain, but becomes a US Protectorate– US will “protect” and partially control Cuba

• Philippine rebels wanting independence declare war on US

What really happened to the Battleship Maine?

Which of the following is not a cause of the Spanish American War

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1. Monroe Doctrine

2. Desire for economic opportunity

3. Sympathy for the Spanish

4. Sinking of the Battleship Maine

5. Yellow Journalism

Which of the following is not an effect of the Spanish American War?

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1. US became an imperialistic power

2. Cuba became a US Protectorate

3. Filipino rebels declared war on the US

4. Spain’s colonies were free

Which of the following defines Yellow Journalism

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1. Factual, Unbiased news

2. Distorted or Exaggerated news

3. A type of news that no longer exists today

4. Proven news written by experts

Assignment

• From some event in Ch. 7.4 or the Spanish American War video clip, design the front page of a newspaper in the “sensational” style of Hearst and Pulitzer. Use a blank 8 ½ by 11 inch piece of paper – include headlines (both large and small) and include some pictures.

• Ideas: Purchase of Alaska from Russia, Mexican American War, “Butcher Weyler’s” treatment of Cubans, Annexation of Hawaii