Chapter 17 Section 2
The Spanish-American War
The U.S. defeats Spain in a war.
The U.S. acquires new overseas territories.
The U.S. become an imperial power.
U.S.S. Maine
U.S.S. Maine is a boat docked in the Havana
harbor.
Somehow it explodes!
266 out of 354 people die.
What caused U.S.S. Maine explosion?
There is no definitive answer.
Theories:
1. A U.S. ammunition supply blew up.
2. Fire ignited the explosion.
3. A nearby mine set off the ammunition.
Who is to blame?
The U.S. blames Spain, a colonial power with
overseas land.
Spain controlled Cuba.
Cuba was in the process of trying to kick Spain
out of Cuba.
Spain’s Colony of Cuba.
Cuba’s sugarcane plantations produced 1/3 of
the world’s sugar in the 1800’s!!!!
Spain had forced Cubans to produce sugarcane
and enslaved them.
Cubans had been actively planning for a revolt.
The Situation
Cuba was in a revolution
The U.S. had many investors in the Cuban
economy.
U.S.S. Maine exploded.
This leads to war.
Who did the U.S. public support?
The U.S. public was supportive of the Cubans…
1. Similar situation to the American Revolution
2. Yellow Journalism- U.S. public read
outrageous and exaggerated stories in the
newspapers about the Spanish treatment of
the Cubans
Yellow Journalism
Newspapers were the major way people in the
U.S. learned about news.
Newspapers fought each other for readers.
Stories- Spanish soldiers feeding Cubans to
sharks and dogs
Yellow Journalism
Joseph Pulitzer- owner of the New York World
William Randolph Hearst- owner of the New
York Journal
Both papers competed for readers and told
outrageous stories
Reasons for War!
Manifest Destiny, Anglo-Saxonism, Yellow
Journalism, Sympathy for Cubans Frontier is
closed, European Expansion!!!!
-U.S.S. Maine explodes.
-Jingoism= attitude of aggressive nationalism
-Enrique Dupuy letter
Enrique Dupuy Letter
The Spanish Ambassador to the United States
writes a letter that is intercepted.
The letter says President McKinley is “weak and
a bidder for the admiration of the crowd.”
The newspapers print the letter and call for war!
U.S. declares war!
U.S. declares war on Spain on April 19, 1898.
The war will be fought on two fronts.
Cuba
Philippines
Why? Spanish colonies
War in Cuba
U.S. forces landed on southern coast of Cuba
right near the city of Santiago
The U.S. captures Spain’s shore-based guns in
order to drive Spanish fleet out of the harbor
where U.S. ships could sink them
Rough Riders
Rough Riders were an energetic mix of cowboys,
miners, and officers from western U.S. who
volunteered for war
2nd in command of Rough Riders- Teddy
Roosevelt
¼ troops in Cuba were African American
Philippines
Commodore George Dewey led navy and took
Philippines
U.S. Army took Guam on their way to the
Philippines
Emilio Aguinaldo- Filipino revolutionary leader
who controlled Filipino troops
War Ends!
August 12, 1898 war ends
U.S. is able to capture Spain’s colonies
American Empire is born!
What does the U.S. do with the new lands they
acquired from the Spanish-American War?
Treaty of Paris- Spain agrees to give the U.S.
their colonial lands
Cuba, Puerto Rico, Philippines
Puerto Rico
1917- U.S. granted all Puerto Ricans U.S.
citizenship
1948- PR elected their own governor
1952- PR created their own Constitution
Puerto Rico Today
Puerto Rico has own Congress, but the U.S.
passes many of their laws
Today, PR is an “unincorporated territory” of the
U.S.
Puerto Rico= Rich port
Puerto Rico Today
Languages spoken- Spanish, English
Industry- tourism
Cuba
After the U.S. took Cuba, they were given their
freedom.
The U.S. owns a piece of Cuba called
Guantanamo Bay, which serves as a military
base and prison.
Cuba is their own country.
Guam
Today, Guam is an unincorporated territory of
the U.S.
Guam has an elected Governor.
Guam is home to many U.S. military bases.
Philippines
Philippines revolted against the U.S. after the
U.S. took control from Spain.
The U.S. put many Filipinos into reconcentration
camps and thousands died.
Emilio Aguinaldo attacked the U.S.- lot of
hostility
Philippines
1st Governor of Philippines- William Howard Taft
He tries to win over the Filipino people with
reforms
Reforms- education, health care, transportation
Reforms
Public schools were set up
Cholera and small pox were gone
Independence
U.S. troops eventually captured Emilio
Aguinaldo.
Aguinaldo calls off the war.
1946- Philippines gains independence
Today- elected President, democratic goverment
