American Interest in Cuba
In
1854 diplomats recommended to
President Franklin Pierce that the U.S.
buy Cuba from Spain
In 1860, Democrats called for the
admission of Cuba to the Union as a
slave state
Political Instability
1868 – 1878, Cubans fought their
first war for independence
Failed to gain independence
From
Sugar Plantations
 In
1884, tariffs were abolished on Cuban
sugar, causing sugar production to skyrocket.
 American capitalists had invested millions in
large sugar cane plantations after 1886.
 Cuba’s economy became dependent on sugar
 The U.S. became Cuba’s main market.
 High tariffs were restored in 1894, ruining
Cuba’s economy.
Second War for Independence
 Jose
Marti, a Cuban poet, launched a
revolution in 1895.
 Cuban guerrillas destroyed American sugar
plantations hoping to provoke U.S.
intervention
 The U.S. public was split on whether to get
involved or not
Concentration Camps
 Cuban
General Valeriano Weyler Moved
the entire rural population of central and
western Cuba into concentration camps.
 Approximately 300,000 people were
imprisoned
 Thousands died of disease and hunger
Yellow Journalism
Journalism – Reporting that
exaggerates the news to lure new readers
 William Randolph Hearst (New York
Journal) and Joseph Pulitzer (New York
World) printed exaggerated reports of
Weyler’s brutality.
 They said that wells were poisoned and
children were fed to the sharks
 American sympathy deepened
 Yellow
 Spanish
authorities restricted the freedom of
reporters and prevented them from entering
combat areas.
 Many reporters gathered in bars and made up
reports of battles that never took place.
McKinley
 William
McKinley became president in 1897
 McKinley tried diplomatic means to resolve
the crisis in Cuba
 Spain recalled General Weyler and offered
Cuba limited self-government
The De Lome Letter
 In
February 1898, the New York Journal
published a private letter written by Enrique
Dupuy de Lome, the Spanish minister to the
United States
 The letter called McKinley “weak” and “a
bidder for the admiration of the crowd.”
 Theodore Roosevelt, assistant secretary of
the navy, said McKinley had “no more
backbone than a chocolate éclair”
The USS Maine
 Early
in 1898, McKinley had ordered the
USS Maine to Cuba to protect American lives
and property.
 On February 15, 1898, the Maine exploded.
 266 of the 350 men on board died.
 A naval court of inquiry determined it was
sunk by a Spanish mine
Yellow Journalists Cont.
 Yellow
journalists held Spain responsible
 Hearst’s paper offered a $50,000 reward for
the capture of the Spaniards who committed
the outrage
 “Remember the Maine!” became the rallying
call for U.S. intervention in Cuba
War Breaks Out
 On April
11, McKinley asked congress for
authority to use force in Cuba.
 After a week of debate, congress agreed.
The Philippines
 The
first battle of the war took place in the
Philippines
 In 1898 Roosevelt had ordered the Pacific
fleet to sail for the Philippines
 On May 1, George Dewey steamed into
Manila Bay and destroyed the Spanish fleet.
 Spain lost 381 men, the U.S. lost 1
Blockade
 The
U.S. blockaded Cuba
Untrained Troops
 The
U.S. army maintained a small
professional army.
 About 125,000 Americans volunteered to
fight.
 Training camps lacked the supplies and
effective leaders to train troops properly.
 Not enough modern guns to go around
 Outfitted with wool uniforms that were
unsuitable for Cuba’s tropical climate