The Spanish American war was one of the shortest wars in American history, lasting only 15 weeks, yet it was also a very important war because it won us highly pivotal concessions such as the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and independence for Cuba. But what was the cause of the war? Military strategic interests or maybe public opinion? There are many things that led up to the Spanish American war, but was there one major breaking point? One possible cause for the Spanish American war was public opinion and sympathy for the Cuban people. This was a semi-important cause, and was one of the reasons for the war. In the Americans, it says that the American people felt not only sympathy, but empathy for the Cuban people, as they were being oppressed by a Mother Country, Spain, just as American had been by England a hundred years before. This led the majority of the American public to request intervention in Cuba which is what got the American Army and Navy in Cuba in the first place, which is a very key role in how the Spanish American war started, but not the main reason. Another possible cause is Business interests. I do not believe that this was possibly the least important cause of the Spanish American war. It was not mentioned very often in The American Pageant or The Americans. Also, the limited information on business interests in Cuba said that there were several sugar mills and farms owned by Americans, but they were not in danger of the Spanish, and this only slightly limited their production. A war with Spain would possibly even be worst for business then it was at the time of the second Cuban Revolution. None the less, it was a contributing factor to the war, added more fuel to the fire. Military strategic interests also... ... middle of paper ... ...it eventually won it’s independence and the canal was built, with the consent of the new Panamanian government, which was highly influence by the United States. Basically, America was getting in everyone else’s business, which is a key characteristic of an imperialist county, and why the building of the Panama canal is an imperialistic venture. In my opinion, the Spanish American war changed the United States. The seeds of imperialism were already in America, but afterwords’s they were in full fruit, and still are. The Spanish American war could be considered a great awakening, but not of spirituality, of imperialism. There were many things that led up to the Spanish Amerian war and that helped it along like Yellow Journalism and the Maine disaster, but there was only one outcome, and that was a new imperialistic power that would never let itself be second best.
The Spanish American war had a complex beginning. By the 1890’s, Cuba had unsuccessfully battled Spain for its independence for many years. Due to the US’s economic interests in Cuba, the US government sought to stabilize the situation. The United States and Cuba negotiated an agreement that Cuba would become self-governing on January 1, 1898. But
...States and Columbia over the Panama Canal, a planned "revolt" breaks out in Panama, led by Philipe Baneau-Varilla. This "revolt" gives the United States a reason to bring their military into Latin America, as the troops are sent in to Panama to maintain order. Panama gained their independence from Columbia thanks to the aid of the United States, and they helped the America complete the Panama Canal, which was finished in 1913.
The American’s kept a watchful eye on the war between Spain and the Cuban revolutionaries during the Ten Year War. News of atrocities committed by the Spanish Army caused Americans to sympathize with the Cuban revolutionaries thanks to the coverage in the American press.3
In June of 1895, President Grover Cleveland took a stance of neutrality toward the Cuban conflict, though many American citizens grew concerned that the fight was too close to home. (Spanish-American) By December of the next year, Cleveland declared that the U.S. might be forced to take action if Spain was unable to solve the Cuban crisis alone. (Library of Congress) Spain granted Cuba limited autonomy in January of 1897, but the natives were not satisfied. As the Spanish resorted to ruthless tactics to keep the Cubans in line, their brutality created much sympathy in the United States. Tensions rose between America and Spain. The other shoe dropp...
The Spanish-American war cannot be directly sourced to one cause. Rather it was the result of the combination of events pre-dating the war and the spark that ignited our intervention into this conflict. This paper will trace the reasons behind the United States involvement in this war. The United States partaking in this war, was a signal to the rest of the world that the United States was ready to emerged as a world power. By having one of the best Naval Fleets, by the beginning of the war, the United States sent a messaged to the rest of the world that the US is ready and capable to become more involved in foreign affairs. However, it is important to question the importance of each cause that led up to the United States declaring war with Spain and putting itself between them and Cuba.
Something or someone has to create the spark. For this particular war, in my own opinion, the United States deliberately started this war. When Mexico owned the west coast, they welcomed citizens of the states to come settle there to bump up their population by a hundred or two. This kind gesture quickly backfired on Mexico. Americans settled in their anti-slavery soil with slaves of their own. America ignored all of Mexico’s customs and laws when they chose to settle in their lands. (Background Essay) As an example, this quote from an information text states, “It did not take long for these differences to boil in revolt.” America soon rebelled and refused peace. These differences boiled so hot that Mexico was forced to attack to protect their country. Jesus Velasco-Marquez says, “The annexation of Texas to the United States was inadmissible for both legal and security reasons.” (Doc
The War of 1898 was a war between Spain and the United States of America. It is one of the most misunderstood and misinterpreted wars in American history. There were many circumstances that led up to the battle between Spain and America. The three main causes of the War of 1898 were the worsening economy during this time, nationalism, and imperialism. The Spanish American war was brief and included few battles. In fact, there was never much doubt of its outcome, but the war had major historical significance.
In part one section two Kinzer describes the invasion on Cuba. Kinzer notes Spain’s hard work to solve the Cuban crisis peacefully and “any president with a backbone would have seized this opportunity for an honorable solution. Such a solution, however, would have denied the United States the prizes they sought. They could be won only by conquest. McKinley understood this and on April 11 he asked congress to authorize ‘forcible intervention’ in Cuba” (Kinzer 37). When McKinley authorized ‘forcible intervention’ in Cuba the world knew this was nothing less than a declaration of war. The harsh reality is that Spain was willing to negotiate peacefully with the United States but McKinley had other plans. Kinzer later says that the CIA attempted to depose him but failed miserably. Eighteen months later, the Soviets deployed offensive missiles in Cuba, thus bringing the Soviets and the America to brink of nuclear combat war (Kinzer 90). This was one of the reasons why the Soviets went from being our ally to being our enemy.
Hi I'm doing my report on the Spanish American War. In the following pages I will be giving information on how and why the war started, major battles, and the results of the war. I will also include stories from people on the battleship Maine.
The scene is set; America is the great power in the western hemisphere. Post Spanish-American War, America is faced with a dilemma of annexing the Philippines. In the winter of 1899 following the annexation of the Philippines, America had a problem. Filipinos had been fighting for independence from Spain and did not want to be seceded (83). Despite the Filipino objection, the United States displayed their assertion on the land. In conflict, both the Filipinos and American had many meetings with death. There were consequences and repercussions from invoking the American power on this foreign land. The American victory in the Spanish-American War helped propel the nation. Thesis: Although met with conflict from the natives, the
As one of America's great white fleet ships lay on the bay of Havana Cuba, people started questioning the reason of the explosion. After a couple of days, the Press was informed of the tragic accident, that could have been an attack on the United States. Once the Press was involve there was no doubt it was in accident as the Yellow Press claimed it was an attack. The sinking of the U.S.S. Maine not only claimed one of the Great White Fleet, it also caused over 250 casualties. Although the tragedy of the maine could have sparked the war, there was more reasons why the U.S. declared war. America disapproved of spain and everything they were doing in territories controlled by Spain. Not only was Spain destroying the territories that they controlled, they contravene the Monroe Doctrine. It wasn’t always the bad things that caused the United States to invade Cuba, they also wanted to help them and even govern Cuba to an extent.
History is not a collection of unrelated events, but it is instead an account of various causes and their effects. World War II was not an isolated event. It was a product of numerous events in Europe which included the Spanish Civil War. Spain prior to World War II was an area of crucial political and strategic importance. By analyzing the events of the Spanish Civil War, the events of World War II can be understood in greater detail. Hitler’s confident foreign policy, the quick surrender of France, the forging of unlikely alliances, and the diverse ideological state present in Europe can be understood more comprehensively by looking at the Spanish Civil War. The events of the Spanish Civil War changed the political atmosphere of Europe; these events influenced the beginning of World War II.
For 113 days during the summer of 1898, the United States was at war with Spain. Neither the president of the United States, nor his cabinet, nor the the queen of Spain, nor her ministers wanted the war wanted the war. It happened eventhough they made their best efforts to prevent it. It happened because of ambition, miscalculation, and stupidity; and it happened because of kindness, wit, and resourcefulness. It also happened because some were indifferent to the suffering of the world’s wretched and others were not (O’Toole 17). By winning the war the United States proved the the rest of the world and to itself that it could and would fight against foreign nations. For many years, world power had been concentrated in the countries in Europe. Nations such as Great Britain, France, Germany, and Spain had the most influence in global affairs. But a shift in power was gradually taking place as the United States matured. The young nation gained wealth and strength. Its population grew immensely, and many people believed it would become a major world power (Bachrach, 11) Spain was one of the many European countries that had territory in the United States. Spain controlled mostly some islands off the coast of Central America. The most important of these were Cuba and Puerto Rico. The United States was led to believe that the Spanish mosgoverned and abused the people of these islands. In fact, Spain did overtax and mistreat the Cubans, who rebelled in 1868 and again in 1895. Thus, the American people felt sympathetic toward the Cuban independence movement. In addition, Spain had frequently interfered with trade between its colonies and the United States. Even though the United States had been a trading partner with Cuba since the seventeenth century, Spain sometimes tried to completely stop their trade with Cuba. In Spain doing so, this sometimes caused damage to U.S. commercial interests. The United States highly disagreed with Spain’s right to interfere with this trade relationship. (Bachrach, 12) The United States was also concerned that other trading and commercial interests were threatened by the number of ships and soldiers Spain kept in the area. If the United States had to fight a war with Canada or Mexico, these Spanish forces could quickly mobilize against the United States.
The Mexican-American war determined the destiny of the United States of America, it determined whether or not it would become a world power and it established the size of the United States of America. Perhaps the war was inevitable due to the idea of Manifest Destiny - Americans thought they had the divine right to extend their territory. The Mexican-American War started mainly because of the annexation of the Republic of Texas (established in 1836 after breaking away from Mexico). The United States and Mexico still had conflicts on what the borders of Texas was, the United States claimed that the Texas border with Mexico was the Rio Grande, but the Mexicans said that it was the Nueces River, so the land in between were disputed and claimed by both the United States and Mexico.
The first reason for the Spanish American War was public opinion. In 1895, American citizens took notice of a Cuban revolt against their corrupt Spanish oppressor. The Cuban insurgents reasoned that if they did enough damage , the US might move in and help the Cubans win their independence. Not only did Americans sympathize with the Cubans upon seeing tragic reports in the newspaper, but they also empathized in that the US once fought for their own independence from Britain. If France didn’t intervene, the Americans probably would not have won their freedom. As if this did not rally enough hate for the Spanish among the American Public, fuel was added to the flame by the Spanish General (“Butcher”) Weyler. He attempted to crush the rebellion by herding Cubans into barbed-wire concentration camps. In turn, the American public was outraged.