“A Splendid Little War”

–Secretary of State John Hay to Theodore Roosevelt

THE SPANISH-AMERICAN CUBAN

WAR

WILLIAM MCKINLEY(1897-1901)

25th presidentWon Republican

presidential nomination in 1896 (with help of millionaire Mark Hanna)

Defeated William Jennings Bryan

Helped acquire Guam, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, and American Samoa

Six months into his second term, shot by anarchist Leon Czolgosz at the Pan-American Exposition in Buff alo, NY

“YELLOW” JOURNALISM (1896)

Use of extreme sensationalism to attract readers

Derived from an early comic strip character called the “Yellow Kid”

First appeared in Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World

He and William Randolph Hearst (New York Journal) exaggerated stories to attract readers and sell papers

Contributed to U.S. involvement in the Spanish-American War

THE YELLOW KID

HEARST VS. PULITZER

Before and during the Spanish-American War, newspaper publishers William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer engaged in blatant sensationalizing of the news, both to sell newspapers and to infl uence public opinion for war with Spain over Cuba. Intentional sensationalizing the news is now commonly labeled "yellow journalism."

New York WorldNew York Journal

HEARST AND PULITZER

DE LÔME LETTER(FEBRUARY 9, 1898)

Letter written by the Spanish minister to the U.S. to a friend in Cuba

Described President McKinley as “weak” and a “cheap politician”

Stolen and published in The New York World, letter caused DeLôme’s resignation

Used as propaganda—one of the factors turning American public opinion against Spain

ENRIQUE DUPUY DE LOME

U.S.S. MAINE (1898)

The U.S. battleship sent by President McKinley to Cuba in 1898 to protect American interests.

On February 15, the Battleship U.S.S. Maine was blown up by accident when spontaneous combustion in a coal bunker caused a powder magazine to explode

Yellow Journalism exaggerated the story and blamed the Spanish

“YELLOW”JOURNALISM

When his artist correspondent, Frederick Remington, arrived in Cuba to cover the anticipated Spanish-American war only to find there were no visible signs of war and cabled Hearst for permission to come home, Hearst reportedly cabled back, ''You provide the pictures, and I'll provide the war.''

SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR (1898)

Confl ict between U.S. and Spain

Begun over the cause of Cuban independence

Marked the emergence of U.S. as a world power; the beginning of American overseas imperialism

Most of the fighting took place in Spanish possessions of Cuba and Philippines

ROUGH RIDERS (JULY 1, 1898)

First U.S. Volunteer Cavalry Regiment

Col. Leonard Wood originally headed the group of 1,000 cowboys, miners, football players, and others

TR commanded the unit and led them in a successful charge up Kettle Hill near San Juan Hill

Having been forced to leave their horses in Florida, most were on foot

PLATT AMENDMENT (1901)

Agreement between the U.S. and Cuba

Gave U.S. the rights to intervene in Cuban aff airs and to lease naval bases on the island (Guantanamo)

Made (in eff ect) Cuba a U.S. dependency

The U.S. invoked the amendment several times before its repeal in 1934

GEORGE DEWEY/MANILA (1898)

Commodore Perry’s Asiatic Squadron was alerted to possible war with Spain as early as December, 1897

On May 1, 1898, the Spanish fleet in the Philippines was destroyed

Manila surrendered on August 13

Spain agreed to a peace conference to be held in Paris in October 1898

TREATY OF PARIS (1898)

Cuba became independent

United States claimed Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippine Islands

The treaty barely passed the Senate, with only to votes over the two-thirds needed for ratification

FILIPINO INSURRECTION (1899-1902)

Aka known as the Philippine-American War

Filipino nationalists under Emilio Aguinaldo rebelled against the U.S. when they learned the Philippines would not be given independence

Used guerrilla warfareThe U.S. used 70,000 men

to suppress the revolutionaries by June, 1902

A special U.S. commission recommended eventual self-government for the Philippines

ANTI-IMPERIALISTS

Supported the war but NOT the annexation of new territory

Formed the Anti-Imperialist League in 1898

Felt that imperialism went against American democratic values (in our Declaration of Independence)

Especially opposed war in the Philippines

Famous Anti-Imperialists: Mark Twain, Samuel Gompers, Andrew Carnegie

MODEL SCHOOL—PHILIPPINES