Annotated Resource Set (ARS)
Content Theme:
Spanish American War
Developed by:
Cher McDonald
Contextual Paragraph for Resource Set: The plight of the Cuban people
in the 1890s was just one of many reasons that the United States got
involved in the Spanish American War. The documents below explore the
diplomatic, ethnocentric, and economic motivations that encouraged us to
go to war with Spain in the Caribbean and the Pacific.
Essential Question: Why did the United States get involved in an internal
dispute in the Spanish Empire?
This set will meet the Utah State Core:
Standard IV, Objective 1, Indicator b
 Examine the cause, course, and consequences of the SpanishAmerican War.
Teaching with Primary Sources - Annotated Resource Set
1
Resource Set Spanish American War
De Lôme Letter
(1898)
This letter, written by
the Spanish
Ambassador to the
United States, Enrique
Dupuy de Lôme,
criticized American
President William
McKinley by calling
him weak and
concerned only with
gaining the favor of the
crowd. Publication of
the letter helped
generate public
support for a war with
Spain over the issue of
independence for the
Spanish colony of
Cuba.
The United
States Declares
War on Spain,
1898.
A friend of
President
McKinley
recounts the
effect of the
explosion of the
US Maine on
the President.
A United States
Army surgeon
attending
wounded soldiers
in a field hospital
during
the SpanishAmerican war. The
Red Cross
emblem appears
on the sleeve of
one man.
CREATED/PUBLI
SHED
1898?
"Off to War" Parade
in Denver / photo
by Harry M.
Rhoads.
Spectators watch a
military parade in
front of the City Hall
building located on
14th (Fourteenth)
and Market Streets,
in Denver,
Colorado. The
parade was to
honor soldiers
leaving for
the Spanish
American War in
1898.
"Remember the
'Maine'". Written by
Arthur H. MacOwen for
the occasion of the
benefit performance
given at the Academy
of Music, Philadelphia,
on Friday, March 11th,
1898, in aid of the
survivors from
the blowing up of the
U. S. S. 'Maine" in the
harbor of Havana on
February 15th, 1898.
Distant
Possessions - The
Parting of the Ways
by Andrew
Carnegie The North
American Review
Volume 0167 Issue
501 (August 1898)
http://memory.loc.gov/
service/pnp/fsa/8e020
00/8e02200/8e02252r.j
pg
http://photoswest.org/cg
ibin/imager?00185235+
Rh-235
http://memory.loc.gov/rbc/rb
pe/rbpe16/rbpe160/1600410
0/001dq.gif
http://digital.library.corne
ll.edu/cgi/t/text/textidx?c=nora;cc=nora;idno
=nora01672;view=toc;node=nora01
67-2:10 This is the main
page and the article is
titled- Distant
Possessions - The
Parting of the Ways
No digital image
http://www.ourdocume
nts.gov/document_dat
a/document_images/d
oc_053_big.jpg
Transcript:
http://www.ourdocume
nts.gov/doc.php?doc=
53&page=transcript
http://www.eyewitn
esstohistory.com/s
panishwar.htm
Notes/Comments:
Teaching with Primary Sources - Annotated Resource Set
2
Annotations
Grade
Level
Curriculum
Connections
Curriculum
Standards
Learning Objectives
Content Objectives
11th
US History
Utah State
Core:
Standard
IV,
Objective
1, Indicator
b
Reading
Writing
Inquiry
Examine the
growing
demand for the
United States
to enter a war
with Spain in
1898.
Develop
language
through
viewing
media.; make
inferences and
draw
conclusions
Students will
write
informational
text evaluating
information
and
interpreting
ideas.
Use process of
inquiry to
deepen
understanding.
Teaching with Primary Sources - Annotated Resource Set
Students will use
primary sources to
help them understand
how the United States
committed to fight a
war with Spain.
Students will compare
the reasons for going
to war.
Suggested Learning
Strategies
Suggested Assessment
Strategies
Links to
Other
Resources
1. Students will use
the Analysis tool:
Students will use the
Analysis tool for
documents:
http://www.archives.g
ov/education/lessons/
worksheets/written_do
cument_analysis_wor
ksheet.pdf and for
pictures:
http://www.archives.g
ov/education/lessons/
worksheets/photo_an
alysis_worksheet.pdf
Students should be given a
chronology of the Spanish
American War. As they
work around the room in
stations they need to fill in
the relevant details from
the primary sources.
There should be four
stations (you can have
duplicates for room flow if
needed) at each station the
students read the
speeches (or analyze
photos/songs) and then fill
in pertinent details on a
timeline. When the class is
done you can debrief the
class with a general
discussion.
Poetry
interpreta
tion of
the White
Man’s
Burden:
http://hist
orymatter
s.gmu.ed
u/d/6609/
Thinking Objectives
Students will be able
to analyze primary
sources to increase
their content
knowledge of the
Spanish American
War.
Students will read and
comprehend original
documents written
during the historical
period.
Students will draw
conclusions from
examining primary
documents.
2. Students will use
documents to
determine the role of
popular sentiment in
declarations of war.
3. Students will use
images to see how
the United States
rallied around the
Spanish American
War.
This discussion has
relevance for today as well;
you can talk about the War
in Iraq and WMD as
another relevant incident,
or talk about Vietnam and
the Gulf of Tonkin. All
three are discussions
about public perception of
a threat.
Written response to the
question: “ Why did the
United States get involved
in an internal dispute in the
Spanish Empire ”
Library of
Congress
collection
of Span
Am War
movies:
http://me
mory.loc.
gov/amm
em/sawht
ml/sawho
me.html
Spanish
American
War
3