President Mckinley's Interest In War Against Spain

Intervention in Latin America, mainly Cuba, also led to the Spanish-American War. When the American naval ship, the USS Maine, exploded in the Havana Harbor, President McKinley immediately decided to go to war after being labeled a coward by yellow journalists. This is a prime example of how incidents in Latin American countries forced presidents to act rapidly and without much thought, causing America to form a bold and aggressive foreign policy.

During the 1890’s, the United States began building and advancing their economy, as well as focusing more independently on becoming an even more powerful nation. Not only did the Americans begin to create a stronger national military and navy, they also began to look overseas towards the Pacific Ocean for resources and territories; this is when America began to look less like a national power and more like an imperial power. There were many reasons as to why the United States began to expand between 1880-1929, two of which include the military opportunities countries abroad had to offer, such as Pearl Harbor, as well as the domestic and political objectives the U.S. felt obligated to fulfill. Although, there were many important reasons for the United States to began to expand, the most significant reason for the expansionist foreign policy was the economic resources and opportunities other foreign countries had to offer the U.S.

Political causes are known to be the most affective in starting the war. Due to the short term causes that made history. Without these events the Spanish American war could have been completely changed. Due to the riots that were going on in Havana, Mckinely sent the battleship Maine to protect American lives and property. Soon after it was anchored in the harbor, it exploded, resulting in the deaths of 260 Americans. The American press quickly jumped to blame Spain however there was little evidence found for the explosion. President Mckinely refused to declare war, however many eagerly called for war such as Teddy Roosevelt. This unexpected explosion may seem small, however was a major event in the starting of the Spanish American War. The war message and Teller Amendment was what initially started the war. “In the war message the President rejected the idea that the U.S.A would annex Cuba. “He said this would be criminal aggression and morally wrong”(Allan Hux 295). Congress agreed. “It passed an amendment

The United States was not justified in going to war with Spain in 1898. The nation was fighting with clear imperialistic intentions in mind; a majority of people saw the Spanish Empire as an obstacle to fulfilling the Monroe Doctrine and allowing American political and economic command over the entire Western Hemisphere, which made any possible chance to depose them feel necessary for progress. To that extent, many feared Spain would be detrimental to imports and exports because of their presence in the Caribbean Sea, which served as the main trade link between the U.S. and Latin

The Spanish American war started in 1898 and was a fight for Cuba’s independence which resulted in 379 American casualties in combat. The Spanish American War was justified because of the Monroe Doctrine, Correspondence between the United States and Spain, and the Platt Amendment, which were all created to protect American morals and freedom.

The first reason for the Spanish American War was public opinion. In 1895, American citizens took notice of a Cuban revolt against their corrupt Spanish oppressor. The Cuban insurgents reasoned that if they did enough damage , the US might move in and help the

acquisition of territories in the western Pacific and Latin America. They declared war on Spain following the sinking of the Battleship Maine in Havana harbor on February 15, 1898. As a result Spain lost its control over the remains of its overseas empire. This war increase the idea of imperialist by gaining more power, crops, and land. Some could say that WWI was a war on imperialism, I would have to agree. The Europeans in the late 19th century increase to safeguard their access to markets and by return seizing military control on underdeveloped countries. To this day some would say the United States is still imperialistic but in a more economical way than the 19th century. Some would argue that the war on Iraq was to protect the oil supply the American economy depends on. Others world argue that we control a certain territories a specific level of power to give an influence

The Spanish American War started in 1898 and lasted about four months. Although the war might have seemed focused on freeing Cuba from Spain and gaining independence for Cuba and the Philippines, it was actually stimulated by nationalism and commercialism. Commercialism was a major factor when declaring war because the United States depended on Cuba and the Philippines for trade and business with other countries, especially in Asia and Latin America. Another major factor for the war was that the United States wanted to spread its Anglo-Saxon culture around the world and emerge as a world-wide power. Other minor motives for the war include the United States coming to the aid of the Cubans in their revolt against Spain and the feeling that

     While all of these political jobs we¹re going on for Theodore Roosevelt there were some serious problems going on down in Cuba. At that time Cuba was owned by Spain, and at the end of the 1890¹s people in the united states started reading horrible stories in the newspapers about how the Spaniards were treating the people down in Cuba. The united states decided to stay neutral until February 15, 1898 when the ³USS Maine,² a battleship that was docked in Havana exploded, killing over 250 soldiers and marines. about two months later the united states declared war on Spain, starting the Spanish-american .

At the end of the nineteenth century an elite group containing Christian missionaries, intellectuals, business leaders, commercial farmers, and navy careerists, lobbied the White House, Congress, and the State and War departments for the United States to be more active abroad. In the 1880’s, Congress started a program to modernize the United States’ navy. With the improved navy, the country had what it took to turn into an imperial power.

There were many causes for the Spanish American War. The first long term cause was the Wilson Gordon Tariff. This tariff ultimately decreased tariff rates for may Europeans nations excluding the commonwealth of Spain. This ultimately angered the Spanish and weakened international relationship between the United States and Spain. This tariff also instilled an anti-American feeling in Spain. This would lay down the groundwork for the next cause the “Delome Letter”

The excuse for entering the war was the rebellion by the Cubans against Spanish rule and the explosion of an American battleship U.S.S. Maine. The Spanish colonies in mainland North and South America became independent in the early 1800s, but Cuba and Puerto Rico remained Spanish. Many Americans in the U.S. sympathized with Cuba, which began in 1895, and also, maybe more importantly, U.S. citizens

President McKinley was in office at the time of the Spanish-American War. Much of his backing in the presidential election came from big business owners that had a vested trade interest in Cuba. These companies owned by these big business monopolies were dealing with unionization of workers and strikes, such as The Great Railway Strike of 1877 that halted progress in their production. Many American companies looked abroad to expand leading to more capital, international trading partners, and cheap labor. This led to a heavy investment in Cuba. In 1895 Cuba was experiencing a revolution that worried some investors about how the war would affect their trade. They also saw this as an opportunity to expand farther and increase their trading network and influence

Now I will be discussing the economic reasons for the war. Sugar was an abundant resource in cuba many cuban were slaves that worked in sugar plantation. annexed the independent state of Hawaii during the conflict. Thus, the war enabled

To get an idea of what truly happened, the background of this war must be stated. At this time Cuba was trying to gain independence form Spain. Spain was trying to so anything in their power to control this. So the decided to hire General Valeriano Weyler to do all of their dirty work for them. He had a past that was very violent when it came to wars. He decided to establish a system called the reconcentrado. This was a system where they decided to take all the Cubans that lived in the country side and put them in camps where they did not have a possibility to join the revolution. With all of these things happening in Cuba, President Cleveland and President McKinley wanted to stay neutral. Also during this time, the United States was still thinking about the idea of Manifest Destiny and American Imperialism. Since land has already been claimed by the United States from coast to coast, they have to search elsewhere for expanding the country.