The Spanish-American War
Cuban's Struggle for Independence
There were hundreds of thousands of slave in Cuba. Most were for sugar production. There were many newspapers that reported on this. To get more viewers you guys stretched the truth. Now this did get more viewers but all you guys did was lie. These stories had some lies that were just built on a small truth. This made people believe these stories and people started to sympathize for the Cubans trying to gain their independence. These stories were not to keep America informed but entertained. These stories contain small amount of truth which makes them part fictional. The Cubans had two rebels and the had guerrilla warfare with against Spanish forces which led the Spanish to put the Cubans in concentration camps where they starved.
American Call for War with Spain
American anger toward Spain had called down little but then two events happened that made Americans hate Spain. De Lome had sent a letter but it was intercepted and sent to the Journal for publication. In the letter he called President McKinley weak and catering to the rabble and a low politician. This angered many Americans because he had insulted their president and then De Lome resigned but the damage had been down. Since the Cubans were rioting the USS Maine was sent down to Cuba. After two days an explosion destroyed the ship and killed over 200 sailors. The newspapers reported that Spain was the reason of this and many American were furious at them. Spain went to far and needs to be punished they have insulted our president and killed our soldiers.
Little War with Spain
This war only lasted a few months but 5,500 Americans died from it. At the beginning of this war the fighting took place in the Philippians but later moved to Cuba. The army consisted of volunteer troops know as the Rough Riders. It also consisted of African Americans. There was a ridge called San Juan Hill that was an important vantage point and the Americans had taken control of it. The war was over quickly as the US had destroyed the Spaniards very quickly. This victory marked the first overseas war that we had won.
In the cartoon Democrat William Jennings Bryan argued that the islands should be independent. President McKinley and the Republicans declared that American control was needed to keep law and order.The treaty of Paris ended the war but needed to be ratified by 2/3 of the senate. The anti-imperialist league opposed the establishment of U.S. colonies. The Platt Amendment gave it okay for america to interfere with Cuba.