The Spanish-American War Unit 4, Ch. 10.2: The Spanish-American War

Cubans Rebel Against Spain: By the end of the 19th century, Spain had lost most of its colonies. It retained only the Philippines, a few outposts in Africa, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the island of Guam. The U.S. had long held an interest in Cuba, since it is so close to FL, and diplomats recommended President Franklin to buy it from Spain. The Spanish responded by saying that they would rather see Cuba sink to the bottom of the ocean than to sell to us.

American Interest in Cuba: Interest in Cuba continued, and when the Cubans rebelled against Spain American sympathies went out to the Cuban people. The Revolt wasn’t successful, but in 1886 the Cuban people did force Spain to abolish slavery. After the emancipation of the Cuban slaves, American capitalists began investing millions in large sugar can plantations on the island.

The 2nd War for Independence: Anti-Spanish sentiment in Cuba soon erupted in a 2nd war for independence. Jose Marti, a Cuban poet and journalist in exile in NY, launched a revolution in 1895. Marti organized Cuban resistance against Spain, using an active guerrilla campaign and deliberately destroying property, especially American-owned sugar mills and plantations. Marti counted on provoking U.S. intervention to help the rebels achieve Cuba Libre! – a free Cuba. Public opinion in the U.S. was split, many business people wanted to support Spain, while other Americans supported the rebel cause.

War Fever Escalates: In 1896, Spain responded to the Cuban revolt by sending General Valeriano Weyler to Cuba to restore order. He tried to crush the rebellion by herding the entire rural population of central and western Cuba in concentration camps so they couldn’t aid the rebels. Thousands died in these camps of disease and starvation.

Headline Wars: Weyler’s actions fueled a war over newspaper circulation that developed between American newspaper tycoons William Randolph Heart and Joseph Pulitzer. To lure readers, their papers printed exaggerated accounts of “Butcher” Weyler’s brutality. Stories of people being tossed to the sharks or poisoned wells deepened American sympathy for the rebels. This style of writing became known as yellow journalism.

The De Lome Letter: When President McKinley took office in 1897, demands for American intervention in Cuba were on the rise. Preferring diplomacy to war, McKinley pushed to resolve the crisis. His efforts seemed to work. General Weyler was recalled, the policy towards concentration camps was modified, and Cuba was granted limited self- government. But then in 1898, a private letter from Enrique Dupuy de Lome, a Spanish minister to the U.S. was stolen by a Cuban rebel and leaked to the New York Journal that criticized the president and called him weak, which heightened tensions.

The USS Maine Explodes: A few days later, American resentment turned to outrage. McKinley had ordered the U.S.S. Maine to Cuba to bring home U.S. citizens in danger from the fighting, and on Feb. 15th the ship blew up in the harbor killing 260 men. Nobody knew why it exploded, but American newspapers claimed that the Spanish were to blame. Hearst’s paper offered a reward of $50,000 for the capture of the Spaniards who supposedly had committed the crime.

War with Spain Erupts: Now there was no holding back the forces that wanted war. “Remember the Maine!” became the rallying cry for U.S. intervention in Cuba. It didn’t matter that Spain’s government had agreed to all U.S. demands. The public favored the war, and so McKinley asked Congress for the authority to use force against Spain. After a week of debate, Congress declared war.

The War in the Philippines: The Spanish thought that the Americans would invade Cuba, but the first battle took place in the Spanish colony of the Philippines. On April 30th, the American fleet in the Pacific opened fire on the Spanish fleet at Manila, the Philippine capital. Within hours, all Spanish ships had been sunk, and troops landed in the Philippines. The Filipinos supported the U.S. because they wanted their freedom, so in the following months the rebels joined American forces and by August they took the islands.

The War in the Caribbean: In the Caribbean, hostilities began with a naval blockade of Cuba. Admiral Sampson sealed up the Spanish fleet in the harbor of Santiago de Cuba. Dewey’s victory at Manila had demonstrated the superiority of U.S. naval forces. In contrast, our army was small and supplemented by an inexperienced and ill-prepared volunteer force. They lacked supplies and effective leaders, and wore uniforms not well suited for the tropical climate.

Rough Riders: Despite these handicaps, American forces landed in Cuba in June 1898 and began to converse on the port city of Santiago. The army of 17,000 included 4 African-American regiments of the regular army and the Rough Riders, a volunteer cavalry under the command of Leonard Wood and Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt, a New Yorker, had given up his job as Assistant Secretary of the Navy to lead the group. He would later become President of the U.S.

The most famous land battle in Cuba took place near Santiago on July 1st. The first part of the battle, on nearby Kettle Hill, featured a dramatic uphill charge led by the Rough Riders and 2 African- American regiments, the 9th and 10th cavalries. Their victory cleared the way for an infantry attack on the strategically important San Juan Hill. Although Roosevelt and his units only played a minor roll in this victory, the newspapers declared him the hero of San Juan Hill. Two days later, the Spanish fleet tried to escape the blockade, but in the following battle the Spanish were destroyed and American troops invaded Puerto Rico on July 25th.

Treaty of Paris: The U.S. and Spain signed an armistice, a cease-fire agreement. The fighting had only lasted 15 weeks. At the peace talks, Spain freed Cuba and turned over Guam and Puerto Rico to the U.S. Spain also sold the Philippines to the U.S. for $20 million.

Debate over the Treaty: People debated on whether the U.S. had the right to annex the Philippines, but imperialism was the real issue. President McKinley made a comment on the issue, stating that we needed to educate and Christianize the Filipinos. But they had been Christian for centuries, so it made little sense. Some people felt like the treaty violated the Declaration of Independence by denying these territories self-government. Some worried about losing jobs, and some felt that we needed to address social issues at home before tackling those elsewhere.