Shortly after, the naval ship was visited by a Spanish ship in sheer hope of maybe loosening the tension between American and Spain. On February 15, 1898, an explosion ripped the ship to shreds and sank to the bottom of the Cuban waters and also causing 260 deaths on board. Witnesses say that the fire started on board U.S.S. Maine. America planned on retrieving Cuba from Spain peacefully but this attack was the opening call for war.
The studies’ results were that the ship was ignited and sunk by a coal bunker fire next to ammunition magazines and not caused by Spanish mines. The U.S.S Maine stood in the Havana Harbor until 1911. It was then opened and based on what was found many investigators have new theories of what may have caused the explosion of the Maine. The remaining’s of the ship now lies deep down in the sea, but the memories of those men who lost their lives, still stand
The Spanish-American War was a short conflict in 1898 between the United States and Spain that took place in both the Carribean and South Pacific Oceans. The Americans were provoked into the conflict by stories of Spanish brutality in Cuba. The final event that prompted the United States into war was the sinking of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor.1 The onset of this war is one of the earliest examples of the American government intervening in a foreign conflict in order to preserve the well being of an oppressed population. As the United States was still a fledgling country, at least in respect to the well establish Spanish, the political, strategic, economic implication of the Spanish-American War would further shape American policies for years to come. Politically, the Spanish-American War was an enormous test for United State’s policies.
Outnumbered and poor, the revolutionaries tried to disrupt the Cuban economy by burning sugarcane plantations. The Spanish retaliated harshly, executing suspected rebels and herding peasants into camps where thousands succumbed to disease and starvation. These brutal measures provided stirring copy for American journalists, who invariably sympathized with the Cuban underdogs. Still, the public might have paid little attention to the conflict had it not coincided with a newspaper circulation war in New York. At the end of the nineteenth century, more than half a dozen newspapers competed in the influential New York market.
Cuba, a Spanish colony, had been in rebellion since 1895. The brutal Spanish response turned American sympathies to the Cuban insurgents. The US Battleship Maine arrived in Havanna Harbor in January 1898 with a dual mission to protect American interests and present the Spanish with a show of force. At 9:40 PM on the evening of February 15, an explosion ripped the forward hull quickly sending the ship to the bottom of the harbor, killing two hundred sixty-six of the 345 crew members. Investigations started immediately.
They were printing stories just to boost their sells of papers. These prompt the president to send a warship to the Havana harbor, which was eventually blown up killing 260 navy servicemen. Which the yellow press automatically blamed the Spanish authorities. “Even though Spain had no rational motive for provoking the United States, and no evidence of Spanish guilt has ever come to light, the incident was instantly seized upon to inflame passions for war,” stated Ries and Weber. The United States insisted on making Spain pay for the demise of the
Jose Cervantes Period 6 SPANISH AND AMERICAN WAR Although some historians believe that the Spanish and American war was not a turning point in American foreign policy, it is more correct to say that it is a turning point due to the following causes in this time. Before the Spanish and American war the US was neutralizing following the Farewell Address and Monroe Doctrine. These policies helped keep the US safe by not intervening in any foreign countries that are in battle or war also, if intervening with them it’ll put the people in danger not knowing how powerful the other countries could be. America had notice that the USS Maine was exploded mysteriously, the Yellow journalist
On October 16, 1891, outside the True Blue Saloon in Valparaiso, Chile, a brawl between a former Chilean sailor and American servicemen on shore leave set off a riot that killed two American sailors wounded seventeen and had forty eight arrested. The sailors involved in the trouble were from the U.S.S. Baltimore. The U.S.S. Baltimore was sent to Valparaiso under the command of Captain Winfield Scott Schley to protect American interest in the port during the Chilean Civil war. The incident created a diplomatic crisis that lasted for months and nearly caused war between the two countries, until an agreement was reached in early 1892.
However, I feel as though to do something great, you must venture somewhat into the unknown. The United States before that time, had tried to stay away from other countries and their efforts. But after America had expanded its borders and fulfilled their supposed "Manifest Destiny", it was time to look forward. Because of a population increase and other residual factors, there was the need to expand abroad in order to maintain industrial efficiency and prosperity. This was an unknown to America at the time, but I feel as though it is usually better to proactive instead of reactive.
History 1302 12 September 2012 Consequences of the Spanish American war When examining the consequences of any situation if find myself struggling with the question of whether a consequence is good or bad, and which of the two offers more credence. My instinct in writing this paper is that Mr. Findley might expect simply the negative effects of the Spanish American war, the popular beliefs. But I’m not always in grievance with the popular belief, hence a lot of friction experienced in my life, but it’s who I am, and I hope that some credence to the following essay will be given. So could imperialism be viewed as a consequence, could it be said that Americas first steps in becoming recognized as a world power under the title of American