1. The Spanish American War
1898
Why did the US go to war
against Spain in 1898, and
why was the outcome
significant?

2. By the late 1800’s, Spain was no longer
a world power. Its empire only now
consisted of the Philippines, Cuba and
Puerto Rico.

3. In Cuba its sugarcane plantations
generated lots of money for Spain and
produced almost 1/3 of the entire
world’s sugar.

4. In 1868, Cuban declared its independence from
Spain and launched a guerrilla war against her.
The US business leaders were interested in
what was happening in Cuba because
American businesses had invested money in
the Cuban economy.

5. • Most Americans were supportive
of the Cuban rebels—they
compared their struggle with the
American patriots during the
Revolutionary war. Some even
smuggled guns into Cuba.

6. Yellow Journalism
But it was the newspaper reports that led most
Americans to support the rebels. William
Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer owned
big newspapers in the US. They competed
against each other to sell papers. Each created
outrageous stories of the Spanish misrule. This
kind of sensational reporting, in which writers’
exaggerated or even made up stories to
attract readers became know as yellow
journalism.

9. There is no doubt that the Cuban people indeed
suffered horribly. General Valeriano Weyler’s
harsh policies quickly earned him the
nickname El Carricero (the butcher). To
prevent the rebels from engaging in guerrilla
warfare, he herded hundreds of thousands of
rural men, women, and children into re-
concentration camps, where ten of thousands
died of starvation and disease.

14. President
Mckinley
wanted to
remain neutral.
But 2 incidents
increased
tensions
between the US
and Spain,

15. 1.The De Lome Letter
A letter written by Enrique
De Lome, the Spanish
ambassador to
Washington, To a friend in
Cuba. In it he criticized
President McKinley calling
him “weak and catering to
the rabble and besides, a
low politician”. This
intensified anti –Spanish
feelings in the US.

16. 2. The U.S.S.Maine Incident
After a major riot had broken out in the streets
of Havana, President McKinley sent the
battleship U.S.S.Maine to Cuba in case
Americans had to be evacuated. For two
weeks the Maine sat in Havana harbor. Then
after a tremendous explosion rocked the
battleship, the ship sank, killing more than
260 sailors.

17. “Remember the Maine”

18. Under great public pressure
McKinley asked Congress
to declare war on Spain.

19. A “Splendid Little War”
•The war lasted only 4
months. It began in the
Philippines and ended in
Cuba and Puerto Rico.

20. • In the Philippines Emilio Aguinaldo led the
rebel forces to fight the Spanish on his own. At
first, Aguinaldo believed the Americans were
his allies, but when American troops arrived in
the islands he became suspicious. The
Americans quickly seized the Philippine capital
of Manila from the Spanish but refused to
allow Aguinaldo’s forces into the city. Soon
hostilities between the Filipinos and the
Americans began to grow.

21. Meanwhile fighting had begun in Cuba.
Theodore Roosevelt quit his assistant
secretary of the navy job so that he could join
the fighting. He helped form the Rough
Riders—a mixture of cowboys, miners, college
athletes and law officers. Their most famous
battle was the battle of San Juan Hill

22. •The Spanish surrender
soon after a few major
defeats. Leaders met to
discuss the terms of a
peace treaty.

23. Treaty of Paris
• 1. Cuba would become a “free
nation”—under the Platt
amendment the US would have
assess to naval and military bases in
Cuba and the right to intervene to
protect Cuban independence and
keep order—a protectorate

24. • 2. US would annex Puerto Rico & Guam
• In 1917 the US made PR citizens of the
US
• In 1947 the right to elect a governor.
• The debate over whether to grant PR
statehood, allow it to become an
independent country or continue it as a
commonwealth of the US continues
today.

25. • 3. What to do about the Philippines?? Remain
true to its republican ideals or become an
imperial power??
• Anti-Imperialists-Many Americans felt uneasy
about forcing colonial rule on others—Mark
Twain and Andrew Carnegie

26. • When I next realized that the Philippines had dropped into our laps I
confess I did not know what to do with them. I sought counsel from all
also. I walked the floor of the White House night after night until midnight;
and I am not ashamed to tell you, gentlemen, that I went down on my
knees and prayed Almighty God for light and guidance more than one
night. And one night late it came to me this way—I don’t know how it
was, but it came: (1) That we could not give them back to Spain—that
would be cowardly and dishonorable; (2) that we could not turn them
over to France and Germany—our commercial rivals in the Orient—that
would be bad business and discreditable; (3) that we could not leave them
to themselves—they were unfit for self-government—and they would
soon have anarchy and misrule over there worse than Spain’s was; and (4)
that there was nothing left for us to do but to take them all, and to
educate the Filipinos, and uplift and civilize and Christianize them, and by
God’s grace do the very best we could by them, as our fellow-men for
whom Christ also died. And then I went to bed, and went to sleep, and
slept soundly, and the next morning I sent for the chief engineer of the
War Department (our map-maker), and I told him to put the Philippines on
the map of the United States (pointing to a large map on the wall of his
office), and there they are, and there they will stay while I am President!

27. The Philippine War
• The US quickly learned that controlling its new
empire would not be easy. Aguinaldo called the
American decision to annex his homeland a
“violent and aggressive seizure”. He ordered his
troops to attack the American solders in the
Philippines.
• The Philippine War lasted about 4 years. The US
troops captured Aguinaldo and he called his
guerrillas to surrender.
• Slowly we gave the Philippines more and more
control over their country and finally granted
them their independence in 1947.