The Spanish-American War

The Spanish-American war is an interesting topic which we are studying for social studies. We watched a 40 minute documentary posted on Youtube, where we got the bulk of our information along with other side websites used for additional information. This war is to me the most interesting topic we have learned about and shows how territory’s and empires expand.

In the early 16^th century the Spanish empire was expanding quickly. The Spanish had over three quarters of the land in the Americas. From the time of the very early 1600s to 1898 the Spanish empire shrunk and withered until their only remaining colonies in the New World were Cuba and Puerto Rico.

In 1895 the people of Cuba wanted to become free from the Spanish. The people of the United States were all supporters of freedom and independence, and wanted to support the Cuban rebels. Thus, the US president William McKinley sent a new, improved, steel ship named the USS Maine to watch the waters of Cuba and protect the American people living there.

This is a picture of the USS Maine before it exploded

Finally, after months on the waters, when the men were itching for battle they got orders on January 25, 1898, to sail into the Cuban waters and stay docked there. Captain Charles Sigsbee took every precaution and made sure nobody got on or off the ship. One night after the crew had gone to bed Sigsbee sat down to write a letter to his wife. Suddenly he heard a crash and a loud boom, their SHIP WAS SINKING! At 9:48 PM on February 15, 1898 their ship blew up for an unknown reason.

Only 94 of the 350 men survived and most were in horrific shape. That was good news for only one group of people, the Americans in Cuba. They believed that if the USS Maine exploded and the Americans blamed it on the Spanish, then the United States would annihilate the Spanish and they would gain freedom. At that same time, the US had intercepted a letter from a Spanish official calling the USA and their president weak and cowardly. The US demanded an apology at once but never received one. The people of the United States felt insulted and demanded war against the Spanish.

  
William McKinley then wrote a private letter to the governor, who set up a panel of judges to inspect the wreck and decide if the Spanish were responsible for the explosion. On March 28 they released the final report, saying that the Spanish were indeed the ones to blame for the wreck of the USS Maine. People of the United States were furious and were ready to go to war with Spain. The next day, Spain set up its own team of judges and concluded that the ship wreck was an accident caused by the crew members. Newspapers soon discredited the conclusion as a ‘’ fish story’’ due to the lack of information to which the Spanish had access, and sensationalized the event and its aftermath.

This is a picture of the USS Maine when it exploded

McKinley was a very respected president, who served in the Civil war and had seen tons of bloodshed as a young boy. He felt very strongly about keeping his people safe and free and wanted to protect his people from dying. The Americans were very ready for war because the newspaper articles exaggerated what happened, which made people enraged.  Finally, the respected president caved and signed an ultimatum demanding freedom for his people in Cuba and declaring war if that did not happen. Spain refused to let the Cuban people become free and in April of 1898 the Spanish-American war commenced.

This map shows the movements of the Spanish army and the United States army during the war against each other.

Teddy Roosevelt, the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, resigned and became the leader of the first group of cavalry that volunteered to fight. They then named themselves “the rough riders” and were made out of diverse group of men who had occupations that had nothing to do with the navy. These men along with many others charged up hills and valleys, demolishing the Spanish in their way. After only three months of battle the Americans had successfully defeated the Spanish army. Along with their triumphant win the Americans successfully expanded their empire and gained Puerto Rico, parts of Cuba, the Philippines, Guam and Guantanamo bay.

                                                                       76 Years Later

In 1974 the American people, using new and improved technology they found out that there was a spontaneous combustion and there was a flaw in the architecture. The architect had organized the ship so that the magazine of the ship was directly next to coal bunkers and therefore, the ship blew up in a fiery explosion.

Over the years many major History organizations have conducted research and panels of people to find out the cause of the mysterious explosion of the USS Maine.  They have concluded that the most plausible explanation to what caused the catastrophe was, indeed, a spontaneous combustion.

                                                           Conclusion

Sometimes people have ideas that they believe in strongly and they sometimes bend or ignore what all the facts are saying. That is exactly what happened in the Spanish-American War. This led the United States to expand its territory, and caused Spain to lose most of its land.

Time Line of events from 1895-1898

1895: The Cuban people revolted against the Spanish rule and wanted independence.

Early 1898: The USS Maine was sent over to Cuba to protect the American people living there

February 9, 1898: William Randolph Hearst, a newspaper reporter, intercepted a letter that was written by the Spanish and insulted the United States and president McKinley

February 15, 1898: The USS Maine exploded

April 11, 1898: The US congress declares war on the Spanish

May, 1898: The Rough Riders win San Juan hill in Puerto Rico

July 3, 1898: The battle of Santiago in Cuba was when the U.S navy decided that they had successfully defeated the Spanish

July 17, 1898: General William Shafter forces the people of Santiago to surrender

August 13,1898: US troops capture Manilla, ending the war

References:

https://prezi.com/ywcmfuxirhi_/what-caused-the-explosion-of-the-uss-maine/

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-maine-explodes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N21Ihs8_Uqs  (History Channel documentary, 2015)

http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/navalbattles1800s/p/ussmaine.htm

https://www.loc.gov/rr/news/topics/spanishAmWar.html
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/USS_Maine_ACR-1_in_Havana_harbor_before_explosion_1898.jpg