Terms & NamesTerms & NamesMAIN IDEAMAIN IDEA

•José Martí•Valeriano Weyler•yellow journalism•U.S.S. Maine

•George Dewey•Rough Riders•San Juan Hill•Treaty of Paris

In 1898, the United Stateswent to war to help Cuba winits independence from Spain.

U.S. involvement in LatinAmerica and Asia increasedgreatly as a result of the warand continues today.

WHY IT MATTERS NOWWHY IT MATTERS NOW

Early in 1896, James Creelman traveled to Cuba as a New YorkWorld reporter, covering the second Cuban war for independ-ence from Spain. While in Havana, he wrote columns about hisobservations of the war. His descriptions of Spanish atrocitiesaroused American sympathy for Cubans.

A PERSONAL VOICE JAMES CREELMAN

“ No man’s life, no man’s property is safe [in Cuba]. Americancitizens are imprisoned or slain without cause. American prop-erty is destroyed on all sides. . . . Wounded soldiers can befound begging in the streets of Havana. . . . The horrors of abarbarous struggle for the extermination of the native popula-tion are witnessed in all parts of the country. Blood on theroadsides, blood in the fields, blood on the doorsteps, blood,blood, blood! . . . Is there no nation wise enough, brave enough to aid this blood-smitten land?”

—New York World, May 17, 1896

Newspapers during that period often exaggerated storieslike Creelman’s to boost their sales as well as to provokeAmerican intervention in Cuba.

Cubans Rebel Against SpainBy the end of the 19th century, Spain—once the most powerful colonial nationon earth—had lost most of its colonies. It retained only the Philippines and theisland of Guam in the Pacific, a few outposts in Africa, and the Caribbean islandsof Cuba and Puerto Rico in the Americas.

AMERICAN INTEREST IN CUBA The United States had long held an interest inCuba, which lies only 90 miles south of Florida. In 1854, diplomats recommend-ed to President Franklin Pierce that the United States buy Cuba from Spain. TheSpanish responded by saying that they would rather see Cuba sunk in the ocean.

One American's Story

The Spanish-American War

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Cuban rebels burnthe town of Jarucoin March 1896.

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But American interest in Cuba continued. When theCubans rebelled against Spain between 1868 and 1878,American sympathies went out to the Cuban people.

The Cuban revolt against Spain was not successful, butin 1886 the Cuban people did force Spain to abolish slavery.After the emancipation of Cuba’s slaves, American capital-ists began investing millions of dollars in large sugar caneplantations on the island.

THE SECOND WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE Anti-Spanishsentiment in Cuba soon erupted into a second war for inde-pendence. José Martí, a Cuban poet and journalist inexile in New York, launched a revolution in 1895. Martíorganized Cuban resistance against Spain, using an activeguerrilla campaign and deliberately destroying property,especially American-owned sugar mills and plantations.Martí counted on provoking U.S. intervention to help therebels achieve Cuba Libre!—a free Cuba.

Public opinion in the United States was split. Manybusiness people wanted the government to support Spain inorder to protect their investments. Other Americans, how-ever, were enthusiastic about the rebel cause. The cry “CubaLibre!” was, after all, similar in sentiment to Patrick Henry’s“Give me liberty or give me death!”

War Fever EscalatesIn 1896, Spain responded to the Cuban revolt by sendingGeneral Valeriano Weyler to Cuba to restore order.Weyler tried to crush the rebellion by herding the entirerural population of central and western Cuba into barbed-wire concentration camps. Here civilians could not give aidto rebels. An estimated 300,000 Cubans filled these camps,where thousands died from hunger and disease.

HEADLINE WARS Weyler’s actions fueled a war overnewspaper circulation that had developed between theAmerican newspaper tycoons William Randolph Hearst andJoseph Pulitzer. To lure readers, Hearst’s New York Journaland Pulitzer’s New York World printed exaggerated accounts—by reporters such asJames Creelman—of “Butcher” Weyler’s brutality. Stories of poisoned wells and ofchildren being thrown to the sharks deepened American sympathy for the rebels.This sensational style of writing, which exaggerates the news to lure and enragereaders, became known as yellow journalism.

Hearst and Pulitzer fanned war fever. When Hearst sent the gifted artistFrederic Remington to Cuba to draw sketches of reporters’ stories, Remingtoninformed the publisher that a war between the United States and Spain seemedvery unlikely. Hearst reportedly replied, “You furnish the pictures and I’ll furnishthe war.”

THE DE LÔME LETTER American sympathy for “Cuba Libre!” grew with eachday’s headlines. When President William McKinley took office in 1897, demandsfor American intervention in Cuba were on the rise. Preferring to avoid war withSpain, McKinley tried diplomatic means to resolve the crisis. At first, his effortsappeared to succeed. Spain recalled General Weyler, modified the policy regard-ing concentration camps, and offered Cuba limited self-government.

America Claims an Empire 347

A

Vocabularyguerrilla: amember of amilitary force thatharasses theenemy

MAIN IDEAMAIN IDEA

A

AnalyzingMotives

Why did JoséMartí encourageCuban rebels todestroy sugar millsand plantations?

A. AnswerMartí hoped toprovoke theUnited Statesinto helpingCuba win inde-pendence fromSpain.

KEY PLAYERKEY PLAYER

JOSÉ MARTÍ1853–1895

The Cuban political activist JoséMartí dedicated his life to achiev-ing independence for Cuba.Expelled from Cuba at the age of16 because of his revolutionaryactivities, Martí earned a mas-ter’s degree and a law degree. Heeventually settled in the UnitedStates.

Wary of the U.S. role in theCuban struggle against theSpanish, Martí warned, “I knowthe Monster, because I have livedin its lair.” His fears of U.S. impe-rialism turned out to have beenwell-founded. U.S. troops occu-pied Cuba on and off from 1906until 1922.

Martí died fighting for Cubanindependence in 1895. He isrevered today in Cuba as a heroand martyr.

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In February 1898, however, the New York Journal published a private letterwritten by Enrique Dupuy de Lôme, the Spanish minister to the United States. ACuban rebel had stolen the letter from a Havana post office and leaked it to thenewspaper, which was thirsty for scandal. The de Lôme letter criticized PresidentMcKinley, calling him “weak” and “a bidder for the admiration of the crowd.”The embarrassed Spanish government apologized, and the minister resigned. Still,Americans were angry over the insult to their president.

THE U.S.S. MAINE EXPLODES Only a few days after the publication of thede Lôme letter, American resentment toward Spain turned to outrage. Early in1898, President McKinley had ordered the U.S.S. Maine to Cuba to bringhome American citizens in danger from the fighting and to protect Americanproperty. On February 15, 1898, the ship blew up in the harbor of Havana. Morethan 260 men were killed.

To this day, no one really knows why the ship exploded. In 1898, however,American newspapers claimed the Spanish had blown up the ship. The Journal’sheadline read “The warship Maine was split in two by an enemy’s secret infernalmachine.” Hearst’s paper offered a reward of $50,000 for the capture of theSpaniards who supposedly had committed the outrage.

War with Spain EruptsNow there was no holding back the forces that wanted war. “Remember theMaine!” became the rallying cry for U.S. intervention in Cuba. It made no differ-ence that the Spanish government agreed, on April 9, to almost everything theUnited States demanded, including a six-month cease-fire.

B

When the U.S.S. Maine exploded in the harbor of Havana, newspapers like the New YorkJournal were quick to place the blame on Spain.

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B. AnswerPublication ofthe de Lôme let-ter, which criti-cized PresidentMcKinley, andthe explosion ofthe U.S.S.Maine, whichmany Americansblamed onSpain.

MAIN IDEAMAIN IDEA

BSummarizing

What eventsincreased thetension betweenthe United Statesand Spain?

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Dewey

Apr. 25–May 1, 1898

PACIFICOCEAN

SouthChina

Sea

SulaSea

20˚N

10˚N

120˚E

Hong Kong

Manila

Luzon

Mindoro

Panay

NegrosPalawan

Mindanao

Samar

PhilippineIslands

U.S. Forces

Battle

0

0 100 200 kilometers

100 200 miles

N

S

EW

Despite the Spanish concessions, public opinion favored war. On April 11,McKinley asked Congress for authority to use force against Spain. After a week ofdebate, Congress agreed, and on April 20 the United States declared war.

THE WAR IN THE PHILIPPINES The Spanish thought the Americans wouldinvade Cuba. But the first battle of the war took place in a Spanish colony on theother side of the world—the Philippine Islands.

On April 30, the American fleet in the Pacific steamed to the Philippines. Thenext morning, Commodore George Dewey gave the command to open fire onthe Spanish fleet at Manila, the Philippine capital. Within hours, Dewey’s menhad destroyed every Spanish ship there. Dewey’s victory allowed U.S. troops toland in the Philippines.

Dewey had the support of the Filipinos who, like the Cubans, also wantedfreedom from Spain. Over the next two months, 11,000 Americans joined forceswith Filipino rebels led by Emilio Aguinaldo. In August, Spanish troops in Manilasurrendered to the United States.

THE WAR IN THE CARIBBEAN In the Caribbean, hostilities began with a navalblockade of Cuba. Admiral William T. Sampson effectively sealed up the Spanishfleet in the harbor of Santiago de Cuba.

Dewey’s victory at Manila had demonstrated the superiority of United Statesnaval forces. In contrast, the army maintained only a small professional force,supplemented by a larger inexperienced and ill-prepared volunteer force. About

America Claims an Empire 349

Santiago

Sh a fter June 22–July 1, 1898

Miles July 25–Aug. 13, 1898

CerveraM

ay, 1898

Schley

Sampson

Havana

Tampa

PUERTORICO

FLORIDA

Caribbean Sea

ATLANTICOCEAN

DOMINICANREPUBLIC

BAHAMAS(Br.)

HAITI

JAMAICA(Br.)

CUBA

15°N

Tropic of Cancer

N

S

EW

U.S. Forces

U.S. Naval Blockade

Spanish Forces

Battle

0

0 100 300 kilometers

100 300 miles

GEOGRAPHY SKILLBUILDER1. Location Where does Cuba lie in relation to the United States?2. Location Look at the location of the Philippines. How does the

map help explain why Spain was surprised by the American attackin the Philippines?

C

War in the Caribbean War in the Philippines

The Spanish-American War, 1898

SkillbuilderAnswer1. Cuba liesclose to theUnited States, tothe south ofFlorida.2. ThePhilippines lie in the Pacific,hundreds ofmiles away fromthe UnitedStates. Spainwould not beexpecting U.S.forces to comefrom Hong Kong.

MAIN IDEAMAIN IDEA

C

AnalyzingEvents

How did theSpanish try toavoid war with theUnited States?

C. Answer TheSpanish agreedto all of thedemands of theUnited States,including a sixmonth ceasefire.

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125,000 Americans had volunteered to fight. The new soldiers were sent to train-ing camps that lacked adequate supplies and effective leaders. Moreover, therewere not enough modern guns to go around, and the troops were outfitted withheavy woolen uniforms unsuitable for Cuba’s tropical climate. In addition, theofficers—most of whom were Civil War veterans—had a tendency to spend theirtime recalling their war experiences rather than training the volunteers.

ROUGH RIDERS Despite these handicaps, American forces landed in Cuba inJune 1898 and began to converge on the port city of Santiago. The army of 17,000included four African-American regiments of the regular army and the RoughRiders, a volunteer cavalry under the command of Leonard Wood and TheodoreRoosevelt. Roosevelt, a New Yorker, had given up his job as Assistant Secretary ofthe Navy to lead the group of volunteers. He would later become president of theUnited States.

The most famous land battle in Cuba took place near Santiago on July 1. Thefirst part of the battle, on nearby Kettle Hill, featured a dramatic uphill charge bythe Rough Riders and two African-American regiments, the Ninth and Tenth

Cavalries. Their victory clearedthe way for an infantry attack onthe strategically important SanJuan Hill. Although Rooseveltand his units played only a minorrole in the second victory, U.S.newspapers declared him thehero of San Juan Hill.

Two days later, the Spanishfleet tried to escape the Americanblockade of the harbor at Santiago.The naval battle that followed,along the Cuban coast, ended inthe destruction of the Spanishfleet. On the heels of this victory,American troops invaded PuertoRico on July 25.

TREATY OF PARIS The UnitedStates and Spain signed anarmistice, a cease-fire agreement,on August 12, ending whatSecretary of State John Hay called“a splendid little war.” The actualfighting in the war had lastedonly 16 weeks.

On December 10, 1898, theUnited States and Spain met in

Paris to agree on a treaty. At the peace talks, Spain freed Cuba and turned over theislands of Guam in the Pacific and Puerto Rico in the West Indies to the UnitedStates. Spain also sold the Philippines to the United States for $20 million.

DEBATE OVER THE TREATY The Treaty of Paris touched off a great debatein the United States. Arguments centered on whether or not the United States hadthe right to annex the Philippines, but imperialism was the real issue. PresidentMcKinley told a group of Methodist ministers that he had prayed for guidance onPhilippine annexation and had concluded “that there was nothing left for us todo but to take them all [the Philippine Islands], and to educate the Filipinos, anduplift and Christianize them.” McKinley’s need to justify imperialism may

BackgroundThe Rough Riderstrained as cavalrybut fought on footbecause theirhorses didn’treach Cuba intime.

D

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These African-American troopsprepare for battleduring the Spanish-American War.

D. AnswerSpain freedCuba and turnedover the islandsof Guam andPuerto Rico tothe UnitedStates. Spainalso sold thePhilippines tothe UnitedStates for $20 million.

MAIN IDEAMAIN IDEA

DSummarizing

What were theterms of the Treatyof Paris?

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have clouded his memory—mostFilipinos had been Christian forcenturies.

Other prominent Americanspresented a variety of arguments—political, moral, and economic—against annexation. Some felt thatthe treaty violated the Declarationof Independence by denying self-government to the newly acquiredterritories. The African-Americaneducator Booker T. Washingtonargued that the United Statesshould settle race-related issues athome before taking on social prob-lems elsewhere. The labor leaderSamuel Gompers feared thatFilipino immigrants would com-pete for American jobs.

On February 6, 1899, theannexation question was settledwith the Senate’s approval of theTreaty of Paris. The United Statesnow had an empire that includedCuba, Guam, Puerto Rico, and thePhilippines. The next questionAmericans faced was how andwhen the United States would addto its dominion.

America Claims an Empire 351

•José Martí•Valeriano Weyler

•yellow journalism•U.S.S. Maine

•George Dewey•Rough Riders

•San Juan Hill•Treaty of Paris

1. TERMS & NAMES For each term or name, write a sentence explaining its significance.

MAIN IDEA2. TAKING NOTES

In 1898, a debate raged in theUnited States over whether the U.S. had the right to annex thePhilippines. Use a graphic organizerlike the one below to summarize thepros and cons of this debate.

Which side do you support? Why?

CRITICAL THINKING3. MAKING INFERENCES

What do you think were the unstatededitorial policies of yellowjournalism? Support your answerwith evidence from the text. Think About:

• James Creelman’s account ofSpanish atrocities againstCubans (page 346)

• Hearst’s remark to Remington• the Journal headline about the

explosion of the battleshipMaine

4. ANALYZING EFFECTSMany anti-imperialists worried thatimperialism might threaten theAmerican democratic system. Howmight this happen?

5. DRAWING CONCLUSIONSIn 1898 Theodore Rooseveltresigned his post as AssistantSecretary of the Navy to organizethe Rough Riders. Why do you thinkRoosevelt was willing to take thisrisk? How do you think this decisionaffected his political career?

Reasons in Favorof Annexation

Reasons AgainstAnnexation

The Annexation ofthe Philippines

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This lithograph criticizes American foreign policy in 1898. In thecartoon, Uncle Sam is riding a bicycle with wheels labeled “westernhemisphere” and “eastern hemisphere.” He has abandoned hishorse, on whose saddle appears “Monroe Doctrine,” because thehorse is too slow.

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