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Spanish-American War

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    The Spanish-American War took place in 1898, and resulted in the United States of America gaining control over the former colonies of Spain in the Caribbean and Pacific. 

    Background 

    In the 1890s the American newspaper chains of Hearst and Pulitzer had been engaged in a struggle to out do each other in circulation, and one of their most prominent features were tales of great atrocities (some based on fact, some not) which the cruel Spanish masters were inflicting on the hapless native Cubans. Cuban rebels had been fighting for their independence from Spain for some years, and it is a matter of debate as to exactly how close they were to achieving it before the war between Spain and the United States broke out. Some in Washington had been expecting war with Spain for some time; the Navy was known to have plans drawn up for attacking the Spanish in the Philippines over a year before hostilities broke out. 

    The Start of the War 

    On February 15, 1898 the American battleship USS Maine in Havana harbor suffered an explosion and quickly sunk with a loss of 260 men. The American Press proclaimed that this was certainly a despicable act of sabatoge by the fiendish Spaniards, despite the complete lack of evidence that this was the case. (Indeed, expert opinion considered an accidental boiler explosion to be as likely a reason as any for the ship's fate.) The press aroused the public to demand war, with the slogan "Remember the Maine! To hell with Spain!"

    US President William McKinley was favorable inclined to war. Spanish minister Práxedes Mateo Sagasta did much to try to prevent this, including withdrawing the officials in Cuba against whom complaints had been made, and offering the Cubans autonomy short of full independence. American public sentiment, however, would admit to no half measures. On April 11 McKinley went before Congress to ask for authority to send American troops to Cuba for the purpose of ending the civil war there. On April 19 Congress passed joint resolutions proclaiming Cuba "free and independent", demanded Spanish withdrawal, and authorized the President to use such military force as he thought necessary. In response Spain broke off diplomatic relations with the United States. On April 25 US Congress declared that a state of war between the United States and Spain had existed since April 21st. 

    The Philippines 

    The first battle was in the Philippines where on May 1, Commodore George Dewey commanding the USA Pacific fleet in six hours defeated the Spanish squadron, under Admiral Patricio Montojo y Pasarón, in Manila Bay. Meanwhile Philippine nationalists led by Emilio Aguinaldo attacked the Spanish on land, and many of the Spanish troops surrendered. 

    Cuba 

    In Cuba Theodore ("Teddy") Roosevelt became a war hero when he led a charge at the battle of San Juan Hill outside of Santiago as lieutenant colonel of the Rough Riders Regiment on July 1. The Americans were aided in Cuba by the pro-independence rebels lead by General Calixto García. The Spanish Atlantic fleet was trapped in Santiago Bay, and was defeated by the U.S. Navy on July 3. The Spanish ground forces in Santiago surrendered to the U.S.A. on July 17. 

    End of the War 

    With both fleets incapacitated, Spain realized her forces in the Pacific and Caribbean could not be supplied or reinforced, so Spain sued for peace. 

    Hostilities were halted on August 12. The formal Peace Treaty was signed in Paris on December 10, 1898 and was ratified by the United States Senate on February 6, 1899. 

    Aftermath 

    On August 14, 1898, 11,000 ground troops were sent to occupy the Philippines. When US troops began to take the place of the Spanish in control of the country, warfare broke out between US forces and the Filipinos. A long and bloody war was fought (unsuccessfully) to quash the Filipino desire for independence, with thousands of military and civilian casualties.
     
    Imperialism where the United States justified war because it was good for business. In the words of Senator Thurston of Nebraska: "War with Spain would increase the business and earnings of every American railroad, it would increase the output of every American factory, it would stimulate every branch of industry and domestic commerce." It was also the start of a short lived American Empire in which America would be forced to manage the affairs of several small colonies, much like the many Empires of Europe. 

    Congress had passed a resolution in favor of Cuban independence before the war started, and after debate the USA decided to allow this, although American forces occupied Cuba until January 28, 1909. The USA annexed the former Spanish colonies of Puerto Rico, The Philippines, and Guam. The idea of the United States as an imperial power with foreign colonies was hotly debated domestically, with President McKinley and the Pro-Imperialists winning their way over vocal opposition. 

    The Spanish-American War was also where "yellow journalism" got its start. Newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst is reported to have responded to a request by illustrator Frederick Remington to return from a Havana that was quiet, by saying, "Please remain. You furnish the pictures and I'll furnish the war." (Orson Welles deliberately mocked this particular quote in the movie Citizen Kane.) The Hearst papers did much to agitate public sentiment in favor of war before it started. 

    According to data from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, the last surviving U.S. veteran of the conflict, Nathan E. Cook, died on September 10, 1992 at the age of 106. 
     

    This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license. See http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html for details. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Spanish-American_War

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