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Spanish American war caused by imperialist motives
Causes of the spanish american war essay
Causes of the spanish american war essay
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On April 19th, 1898, The United States impulsively waged a war with imperialist Spain that would forever change our country for better and for worse. There are many different factors that led to the war, but in my opinion, one key cause is of much greater importance than the others. As a result of the war, American became known as an imperialistic nation and a world power. How could such a “little” war have such a large impact on American society at the turn of the 20th century? 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. The public was further angered by something called “yellow journalism”. Yellow journalism refers to writers such as Joseph Pullitzer and William Hearst trying to outdo each other with screeching headlines and hair raising “scoops”. Where there were no headlines, the yellow press would exaggerate and fabricate stories to get readers interested in their newspaper. For example, Hearst once wrote about Spanish Customs Offic... ... middle of paper ... ... knew how to get things done and wasn’t afraid to do them. This is surely the attitude of a newly imperialist country. As shown, America’s rapid change as the 19th century came to a close was supported by a various amount of imperialistic beliefs, motives, and incidents that almost jumpstarted the U.S. onto the world stage. Many of these incidents such as the public’s thirst for expansion, the annexation of several faraway lands, and the build-up of U.S. military forces would not have been possible without the Spanish American War. Moreover, the Spanish American war would not have been possible without the American people. Imperialism was a consequence of the American Democratic experiment, giving the people what they want. . Works Cited http://www.course-notes.org/us_history/notes/the_american_pageant_14th_edition_textbook_notes/chapter_27_empire_and_expansion_18
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 marked the end of Spain's colonial empire and the end of its rule in the Americas. Since the early 19th century, Americans had watched the series of revolutions that ended Spanish authority throughout South America, Central America, and Mexico. Many people in the United States, however, were irritated by the fact that the Spanish flag continued to fly in Cuba and Puerto Rico. Spain's brutal ways of putting down Cuban demands for some form of personal liberty aroused feelings of sympathy and anger among Americans (Chidsey).
United States expansionism in the late nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century is both a continuation and a departure of past United States expansionism. Expansionism in the United States has occurred for many reasons. Power (from land), religion, economics, and the ideas of imperialism and manifest destiny are just a few reasons why the U.S. decided to expand time and again throughout the course of its 231 year history. Expansionism has evolved throughout the years as the inhabitants of the country have progressed both socially (the Second Great Awakening, the women's suffrage movement, the populist party and the early 19th and 20th century social reformers) and economically (factories, better farms, more jobs, etc.) Expansion changed from non-interference policies to the democratic control of the government as the United States grew in both size and population. Through the use of the documents and events during two major-expansion time periods (1776-1880) and 1880-1914), I will display both the continuation and departure trends of United States expansionism.
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
Throughout history, the United States of America has always been faced with making vital decisions to benefit as well as protect the country. Whether it was the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor or the stock market crash of 1929, America has constantly been encountered with tough difficulties and political leaders had to step up and generate a constructive resolution for America. In 1898, America was at a crossroad and was faced with a decision whether or not to enduringly annex territories as far away as the Philippines. At this point in time, the United States should grant the Philippines independence and gait away from the dangers of imperialism as well as becoming an empire because it will decrease racism between Americans and Filipinos and it will help America stay true to its moral values.
I think that the start of the Mexican-American War was influenced by many political factors at the time, as well as disputes over land ownership. A primary factor in the cause of the war was that of the annexation of Texas. Texas was considered to be a province by Mexico, but the United States wanted it to become a state. Texas also wished to become a state, as they hoped it would solve some of their financial and military problems. In March of 1845, the United States Congress approved annexation, and the Texas Congress approved it in June. Texas became a state in December, thus angering the Mexican government, who considered it to be stolen.
One of the reasons the U.S. went to war with Spain was because of public opinion. Citizens began to sympathize with the Cubans after seeing the tragic reports presented in the newspaper. Even though most stories through yellow journalism were exaggerated, individuals felt that Cuban's fight for independence was much like their own from Britain. Without the help of France, Americans would most likely not have won their freedom. These feelings only heightened when Valeriano Weyler, a Spanish general, forced Cubans into barb-wired concentration camps, much like the Nazis did with the Jews, in order to stop the rebellion. As a result, American citizens pushed for war.
The Spanish-American War began in 1898 when the United States congress approved President McKinley’s declaration of war on Spain after the explosion of the symbolic U.S.S. Maine in the Havana harbor of Cuba, and the loss of many American lives; the assumption was that Spain purposely blew up the American ship that was there to return Americans from Cuba to the United States. America also declared war on Spain because it was not able to control peace or stability in any of its countries, there were many Americans living in Cuba complaining about the brutal treatment by Spain, and because the United States had a stable economic relationship with Cuba, so it didn’t want Cuba’s economy to be ruined or its association with the country to collapse. However, Spain was already receiving revolts from the countries it possessed and imposed rule over long before the war with the United States began. The significance of this war was that Spain was treating the people in countries such as Cuba and the Philippines very brutally, and America wanted to remain neutral and did not want to join the conflict. However, as time passed and battleships and soldiers were deployed to help regulate conflict in these countries American aid was attacked and these actions angered America and caused for the declaration of war. A few main factors that are believed to have caused the Spanish-American War include: U.S. support and sympathy of Cuban independence, the commercial business interest the U.S. had in Cuba, and the attack of the U.S. battleship, U.S.S. Maine. Interpretations regarding historians and their thoughts on the causes of the Spanish-American War include economic interests, imperialist desires, and sympathy for Cuba and the Philippines. The U.S...
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 immediate origins of the 1898 Spanish-American War began with the Wilson-Gorman Tariff of 1894. The American tariff…put restrictions on sugar imports to the United States; severely hurt the economy of Cuba, which was based on producing and selling sugar” (SparkNotes: The Spanish American War, 1898-1901,: Summery). Spain began imposing unreasonable high taxes on Cuba. Spanish troops ambushed and killed Cuba’s leader, José Martí and appointed General Valeriano Weyler as governor with orders to crush the Cuban rebellion. Weyler instituted concentration camps and forced the Cuban citizens into them so they could not aid the fight for freedom. These innocents starved and died from disease in the unlivable conditions of these camps.
Immediately following the war with Spain, the United States had both the political will to pursue imperial policies and the geopolitical circumstances conducive to doing so. But the way in which these policies would manifest was an open question; was the impulse to actively remake the world in America’s Anglo-Saxon image justified? Hence, there were several models of American imperialism at the turn of the twentieth century. In the Philippines, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Samoa, the United States asserted unwavering political control. In Cuba, and later throughout most of the Caribbean basin, the economic and political domination of customarily sovereign governments became the policy. Ultimately, the United States was able to expand its territory
The Spanish-American war was fought in the year 1898, 33 years after the end of the Civil War in 1865. The threat of Spain upon Cuba blazed the patriotic hearts of the Americans as what appeared to be Spain torturing its territories. There are many causes that can be credited to the condition of these territories, and surprisingly, but not too ironically, it can be clearly traced to that of the American people. The Cubans had been oppressed and under rule by the Spanish for hundreds of years, and had not had their freedom for generations. In the year of 1895, the Cubans were terribly misgoverned, and demanded independence.
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 causes of the Spanish-American War started off with Spain putting down Cuban's rebellion. The United States of America had investments in Cuba and feared that it would be affected. Then, yellow journalism was a hit during these times because it was the use of shocking or exaggerated information. It was not right, however, due to the false and bias information they were getting from rumors. When William McKinley warned Spain about Cuba, it responded by releasing Cuban prisoners and offering Cuba limited self-government. Then, McKinley sent battleship Maine to Havana to protect Americans. On Feb. 15, 1898, the Maine blew up in Havana's harbor and Americans blamed Spain for it. Americans declared war on Spain in April 1898. George Dewey attacked