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The Spanish-American War: What It Meant For Cuba And America
Over 100 years ago, 1898, Cubans fought for independence from Spain and Americans sought to gain greater world power, wealth and to become a more prominent nation. Both Cuba and the Americas could gain from this war if they played it right, and that's exactly what they did.
It all started on the night of February 15, 1898 when a US battleship, the USS Maine was destroyed by an explosion. The explosion killed two-thirRAB of the Maine's crew. The fact was, nobody knew for sure what had caused the explosion, but the United States press saw this as a great opportunity to make some money; so they, with their Yellow-Journalism tactics, which is a method of reporting "fact" based on inference and exaggeration, conjured up a story which had a great impact on the public as well as the already weak relations between the United States and Spain. They reported that the Maine had been sunk by a torpedo from a Spanish ship. This was the final straw for the United States, and also a reason for them to engage with the Spanish. And so it was, the short war which was to only last for a couple of months had begun, the Spanish-American War.
One account of the explosion on the Maine comes from Capt. Charles D. Sigsbee,
he said:
I laid down my pen and listened to the notes of the bugle, which were singularly beautiful in the oppressive stillness of the night. . . . I was enclosing my letter in its envelope when the explosion came. It was a bursting, rending, and crashing roar of immense volume, largely metallic in character. It was followed by heavy, ominous metallic sounRAB. There was a trerabling and lurching motion of the vessel, a list to port. The electric lights went out. Then there was intense blackness and smoke.
The situation could not be mistaken. The Maine was blown up and sinking. For a moment the instinct of self-preservation took charge of me, but this was immediately dominated by the habit of command.
An investigation into the cause of the explosion which took down the Maine and the lives of two hundred fifty-four of its crew merabers lead to know certain answer.
This is when the Yellow-Journalism started and the stage was set for some major competition between the publication companies. The press didn't mind spicing their stories up a bit and even fabricating, for the most part, a story in order to gain more readers. The papers began printing colored comics as well, one being named "The Yellow Kid" a child who always wore a yellow gown. Soon people were calling the World, the Journal, and other papers like them "the yellow press." "They color the funnies," some readers chimed, "but they color the news as well." This is where the name Yellow-Journalism originates.
While the press was making money, U.S. soldiers were fighting it out with the Spanish in the Philippine islanRAB. When Commodore Dewey of the Olympia, his flagship, located in Hong Kong, received the order to attack the Spanish colony in the Philippines, he did just that. The Spanish were quickly defeated and Dewey became an instant hero, "the conqueror of the Philippines."
The war was now to be brought closer to home, in Cuba. The problem was that Dewey's ship had to go all the way around the southern tip of South America to reach Cuba. That problem eventually led to the spawn of the Panama Canal. Since the Navy couldn't reach Cuba in time, the United States had to asserable an army of ground troops, which were in short nurabers due to the Civil War. Theodore Roosevelt resigned his position in the Navy and joined the Army, leading a group of me deemed the "Rough Riders." The men were given wool uniforms, and small rations if any at all. Many (5,200+) died from famine and disease and struggled constantly with the 100 degree heat of the tropics. The Army troops pulled through and defeated the SpaniarRAB quite easily, as well as hastily.
The saying, "Remeraber the Maine! To hell with Spain!" paid off in the end, the United States was now a world power and Spain was forced to grant independence to Cuba.
Over 100 years ago, 1898, Cubans fought for independence from Spain and Americans sought to gain greater world power, wealth and to become a more prominent nation. Both Cuba and the Americas could gain from this war if they played it right, and that's exactly what they did.
It all started on the night of February 15, 1898 when a US battleship, the USS Maine was destroyed by an explosion. The explosion killed two-thirRAB of the Maine's crew. The fact was, nobody knew for sure what had caused the explosion, but the United States press saw this as a great opportunity to make some money; so they, with their Yellow-Journalism tactics, which is a method of reporting "fact" based on inference and exaggeration, conjured up a story which had a great impact on the public as well as the already weak relations between the United States and Spain. They reported that the Maine had been sunk by a torpedo from a Spanish ship. This was the final straw for the United States, and also a reason for them to engage with the Spanish. And so it was, the short war which was to only last for a couple of months had begun, the Spanish-American War.
One account of the explosion on the Maine comes from Capt. Charles D. Sigsbee,
he said:
I laid down my pen and listened to the notes of the bugle, which were singularly beautiful in the oppressive stillness of the night. . . . I was enclosing my letter in its envelope when the explosion came. It was a bursting, rending, and crashing roar of immense volume, largely metallic in character. It was followed by heavy, ominous metallic sounRAB. There was a trerabling and lurching motion of the vessel, a list to port. The electric lights went out. Then there was intense blackness and smoke.
The situation could not be mistaken. The Maine was blown up and sinking. For a moment the instinct of self-preservation took charge of me, but this was immediately dominated by the habit of command.
An investigation into the cause of the explosion which took down the Maine and the lives of two hundred fifty-four of its crew merabers lead to know certain answer.
This is when the Yellow-Journalism started and the stage was set for some major competition between the publication companies. The press didn't mind spicing their stories up a bit and even fabricating, for the most part, a story in order to gain more readers. The papers began printing colored comics as well, one being named "The Yellow Kid" a child who always wore a yellow gown. Soon people were calling the World, the Journal, and other papers like them "the yellow press." "They color the funnies," some readers chimed, "but they color the news as well." This is where the name Yellow-Journalism originates.
While the press was making money, U.S. soldiers were fighting it out with the Spanish in the Philippine islanRAB. When Commodore Dewey of the Olympia, his flagship, located in Hong Kong, received the order to attack the Spanish colony in the Philippines, he did just that. The Spanish were quickly defeated and Dewey became an instant hero, "the conqueror of the Philippines."
The war was now to be brought closer to home, in Cuba. The problem was that Dewey's ship had to go all the way around the southern tip of South America to reach Cuba. That problem eventually led to the spawn of the Panama Canal. Since the Navy couldn't reach Cuba in time, the United States had to asserable an army of ground troops, which were in short nurabers due to the Civil War. Theodore Roosevelt resigned his position in the Navy and joined the Army, leading a group of me deemed the "Rough Riders." The men were given wool uniforms, and small rations if any at all. Many (5,200+) died from famine and disease and struggled constantly with the 100 degree heat of the tropics. The Army troops pulled through and defeated the SpaniarRAB quite easily, as well as hastily.
The saying, "Remeraber the Maine! To hell with Spain!" paid off in the end, the United States was now a world power and Spain was forced to grant independence to Cuba.