America’s Involvement In the Spanish-American War Essay

In the late 19th century the united States began to dramatically reshape their outside policies, and they soon found themselves in a bloody fight that would shape the future of the country for years to come. When the join States was first created George Washington recommended limited impertinent involvement, this all changed in 1823 with the Monroe Doctrine. This enumeration set out the entire western hemisphere as the fall in States sphere of influence. However, at the time the Unites States did not have the index or the navy to back up this demand, until the late 1880s when support for imperialism began to plight off.People began to support imperialism because all other great powers had empires, strategic objectives became important, expanding the overseas market would support the providence, and social Darwinism was applied to nations, which meant that completely the countries with the greatest wealthiness and largest empires would survive. As the 19th century came t o a close, the coupled States saw an chance to put the Monroe Doctrine and a new sense of imperialism into motion. At the time, Cuba was at a lower place release serious change, and was in the middle of a civil contend with Spain.In 1895 a state of war escalated in Cuba to the point that 500, 000 Cubans were put into camps because of the reconcentracion form _or_ system of government.1 This indemnity had disastrous consequences causing nearly 200, 000 slew in the camps to die because of the wish of proper food, sanitary conditions, and medical care.2 The policy generated severe anti-Spanish sentiment in the fall in States. As anger continued to rise among the the Statesn people, short-tempers lastly shattered into a gruesome war. The join States own President McKinley verbalize that he had no desire to go to war with Spain, thus i must ask what were the overwhelming factors that pushed the the Statesn nation into another war?3Historians have suggested numerous backg rounds for the United States to enter into war. M whatever authors, such(prenominal) as Ivan Musicant4 and Frank Friedel5, believe the color fix and their extraordinary stories pushed the American macrocosm to their limits, forcing the McKinley administration to finally intervene in Cuba. However, writers such as Wayne Morgan suggested that the United States pursued a peaceful policy toward Cuba, flacking to force Spain to emend the island, but the Spanish failure to do so evoke American intervention.6The overwhelming causes of the Spanish-American state of war can be attributed to a combination of flipper factors listed in order of importance. The Yellow crush, American frugal interests, McKinleys political agenda, and the sinking of the Maine. With these four factors in mind, the American motives for war will be accurately examined.When the American people saw an opportunity to make property by investing in Cubas sugar plantations, they immediately took usefulness of t he opportunity. However, once they saw their economic interests were endangered by the civil war in Cuba, American people wanted to protect their valuable investments. one and only(a) of the main reasons Cuban Nationalists revolted against Spain was because they feeling the U.S. would likely come to their aid. They had good reason to think this because at the time the United States was investing increasing amounts of coin into Cuban sugar production, $50 million by 1895 and conducted trade with Cuba deserving $100 million annually. The United States to a fault had a strangle feed on the Cuban economy with 87% of all Cuban exports going to the United States in 1890.7 This newly found American-Cuban relationship also had its shun sides it brought with it an increasing concentration on sugar production.As the Cuban diversity continued, more and more sugar plantations were being destroyed, disrupting trade, and seriously hurting the American investments. Not only would Americans be able to protect these investments if they went to war, but they would be able to acquire other Spanish colonies, for example the Philippines, and expand their foreign market. As Massachusetts Senator Henry Cabot Lodge said, Free Cuba would mean a great market for the United States it would mean an opportunity for American working capital it would mean an opportunity for development of that splendid island.8 Freeing the rebellious nation would not only protect the withstanding American investments, but would also allow Americans to spread their influence around the Caribbean nations and capture the foreign market. Americas future as an industrial power depended on foreign markets for American products.One of the major causes of the Spanish-American struggle was the American public opinion, which was extremely negative towards the Spaniards. The articles written by the Yellow Press drastically swayed this public opinion. The Yellow Press was a newspaper war in mod York City bet ween William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer. These writers sensationalized the news and often exaggerated the truth and provoked a demand for intervention in Cuba. The American public utilise these newspapers as their information center for all events that were occurring in Cuba. Hearst and Pulitzer were able to greatly benefit from influencing Americans, increasing their readership from400, 000 in 1897, to over 1 million readers during the Spanish-American War in 1898.9 Whatever Hearst or Pulitzer had to say was accepted by Americans without thought to the informations validity. A good example of the Hearsts ledger exaggerating the truth is an article on the Spanish General Weyler, There is null to prevent his carnal animal brain from running riot with itself in inventing tortures and infamies of blood debauchery.10 Biased information like this would be turn over to the American public day after day, forcing the people to believe that the mail in Cuba required interventio n. On February 8, 1898, Hearst once again added fuel to the clear with the publishing of the de Lme letter.The Spanish Ambassador wrote the letter, which was published in the Journal, to a friend, in which the diplomat called U.S. President William McKinley a weak man and a bidder for the admiration of the crowdbesides being a common politician.11 The letter enraged the American and drove them to a new level of hysteria.12 Although the letter did not have major economical or political impact, besides on McKinleys ego, the social implications were enormous.Hearst and Pulitzer were not the only people who wrote about the conditions in Cuba, there was also E.L. Godkin who was the editor of the hebdomadal Nation. Godkin frequently r out against Hearst and Pulitzer accusing them of gross misrepresentation, deliberate founding and unnecessary recklessness. He said They were firebrands, tossed into the American crowd in an attempt to ignite a war.13 No matter how much Godkin spoke ou t against Hearst and Pulitzer, they continued to dominate the American public with their embellished stories and pro war slants. The American publics humanitarian concerns came into play after construe these articles. They soon believed how terrible the Cuban conditions were and began to plead the government to take rough steps towards Cuban independence.When the U.S. naval ship, the Maine, exploded in Havana Harbor, the American people, and their government were confused about what had happened and who had done it. Many fingers began to point at Spain, but even if Spain had not committed the crime, the suspicion alone by the American people was enough to push the war envelope a bit further. One of the final peaceful solutions to the problems in Cuba, presented by McKinley, was autonomy. This minded(p) the country the right of self-government, however, a large portion of the Cuban people opposed autonomy and soon riots broke out. The battleship Maine simply arrived in Havana for a friendly visit on January 25, 1898 in reaction to pro-Spanish mobs.14 Suddenly, on the evening of February 15, 1898, at 945 PM, the Maine blew up, killing 268 of the crew.15 The volley was an enormous blow not only to the American people, but to the Spanish and Cuban people as well. Immediately Madrid authorities as well as McKinley wanted to know what had happened and began thorough investigations.On bunt 21 the U.S. court determined there were two explosions the first was of a mine under the keel of the Maine, and the second touched off by the initial blast.16 The court however did not fix responsibility for set the mine. The Spanish board of inquiry, however, had a black eye conclusion, which said that the blast had been sparked by spontaneous combustion of coal.17 The American people were not told about the contrary deductions, but instead were heavily influenced by the Yellow Press who dictated the fault of the incident solely on the Spaniards. The public was up in flam es and was in agreement that the U.S. would get their revenge on Spain for taking American lives. The Maine explosion, combined with the anti-autonomy riots in Havana effectively changed the American publics demands from Cuban autonomy to complete independence, which could only be achieved through war.When McKinley was inaugurated as president in 1896 his main political goals were to improve the United States economy and rid of war at all costs. However, McKinley found himself in a tough situation weighing peace against winning the upcoming 1900 choice and the strategic benefits of acquiring Cuba. As McKinley was well aware of, the Yellow Press had misconstrued the situation in Cuba, causing the majority of the American population to sound eager for war. If McKinley expected to win the upcoming election, he would have to forget in to the peoples demands. McKinley also saw the beneficial strategic implications if the U.S. were to acquire Cuba and the Philippines through war. The United States would gain massive sea power by setting up naval bases, and Cuba would be the key to the future security of a U.S. canal in the Caribbean. With this political agenda in McKinleys mind, he came up with two peaceful courses of action onward he would have to declare war.McKinleys first course of action was a proposal to buy Cuba for $30 million, but Spain quickly jilted this offer.18 Next, on March 29, 1898, Ambassador Stewart Woodford presented the final United States proposal on Cuba, requiring Spain to abandon the reconcentracion policy, proclaim an immediate armistice, and finally accede to Cubas independence.19 The Spanish government offered to withdraw the reconcentracion policy and to grant a cease-fire at the insurgents request, but refused to grant Cuba its independence.20 The American people were furious with the news, but McKinley, succeeding(a) through with his ultimatum asking Congress, on April 11, 1898, for permission to intervene directly in Cuba. The r equest was passed once the Teller Amendment, an agreement made disclaiming any tendency of annexing Cuba, was adopted.21 The United States had finally entered a war that McKinley had feared, while the American people had been pushing for it all along.There were many factors that created the atmosphere necessary for the Spanish-American War to occur. No one event in itself was enough. But rather, it was the culmination of a sequence of events that created an atmosphere leading to war. The contributing factors that led to the Spanish-American War were economic interests, McKinleys political agenda, and the sinking of the Maine. The major factor that eventually pushed the United States into war was the Yellow Press and its influence on the American people. The Yellow Press conveyed the facts to the American people in a negative manner, prompting the American people to plead for Cuban intervention through any means necessary. However, historian Wayne Morgan suggests, war would have co me without the Yellow Press.22 Once the nine-month war had ended, with only three months of fighting, the war cerebrate with the Treaty of Paris, 1898. This treaty gave the United States the colonies of Guam and Puerto Rico, along with the Philippines in return for $20 million.23 Although the Cubans did receive independence from Spain, in 1902 the U.S. created the Platt Amendment, which put Cuban foreign policy under U.S. control and all Cuban economic decisions under hooked to U.S. approval.24 Life for Cubans was better, but they still did not have complete independence.Because the United States received the new colonies from Spain, they began to accomplish their imperialistic goals, and increase their national billet to compete with the other world powers. President McKinley had tried his best to avoid a war, but the American public left him no choice, that McKinley succeeded in winning the 1900 elections.25 The Spanish-American War provided the United States with both opportu nities and challenges. In 1899, when the United States occupied its new empire, Assistant Secretary of State John crop out Moore observed that the nation had become a world powerWhere in one case we had only commercial interests, we now have territorial and political interests as well. 261 Michael Golay, America At War The Spanish-American War. (New York Facts on File, Inc., 1995), 5.2 The Spanish American War, 1898, <http//dhsaphistory.tripod.com /SpanishAmericanWar.html>May 2, 2007.3 Golay, America At War, 13.4 Ivan Musicant, pudding stone By Default The Spanish-American War and the Dawn of the American Century.(New York Henry and Company, Inc., 1998), 81-83.5 Frank Burt Freidel, The Splendid Little War. (Toronto Little, Brown and Company Limited, 1958), 5-8.6 Wayne Morgan, Americas Road To Empire The War With Spain and Overseas Expansion. (New YorkJohn Wiley and Sons, 1968), ix-x.7 The Spanish American War, May 2, 2007.8 Golay, America At War, 14.9 The Spanish American War , May 2, 2007.10 Golay, America At War, 7.11 Irving Werstein, 1898 The Spanish-American War. (New York Cooper lusty Publishers, 1966) 10.12 Musicant, Empire By Default, 152.13 Golay, America At War, 12.14 Freidel, The Splendid Little War, 8.15 Albert Nofi, The Spanish-American War, 1898. (Conshohocken Combined Books, Inc. 1996), 4216 Nofi, The Spanish-American War, 43.17 Causes of the Spanish American War.<http//www.publicbookshelf.com/public_html/The_Great_Republic_By_the_Master_Historians_Vol_IV/causesof_c.html> May 2, 2007.18 Causes of the Spanish American War, May 2, 2007.19 Nofi, The Spanish-American War, 44.20 The Spanish American War, May 2, 2007.21 David Goldfield et al, The American Journey A level of The United States. (Toronto Prentice-HallCanada Inc., 2002), 427.22 Morgan, Americas Road To Empire, 14.23 The Spanish American War, May 2, 2007.24 Goldfield, The American Journey, 430.25 Goldfield, The American Journey, Appendix A-1526 Goldfield, The American Journey, 4 27.