Today we are going to:
• Identify the areas of United States military, economic,
and political involvement and influence.
• Describe how the policies and actions of the United
States government impacted the affairs other
countries.
Spanish Empire Weakens
• Spanish power was dwindling
– Only a few colonies left
• Phillipines, Puerto Rico, and Cuba
• Resistance movement began in Cuba
during 1890s.
“Cuba Libre!”
• Cuban patriot Jose Marti launched a war
for independence from Spain in 1895.
– Rebel fighters used guerilla tactics
• Spanish Generals were cruel to Cubans
– Concentration-style camps
U.S. Chose Neutrality
• By 1897, American entrepreneurs had
invested millions in sugar cane plantations
in Cuba
– Saw Cuba as a growing market
• Some supported independence for Cuba,
while others wanted Spanish to take control
for more stability in the sugar business
“Yellow Journalists”
• Yellow Journalists were publishers who
exaggerated the headlines to sell papers($$).
-William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer
• Pushed America to support Cuban rebels
McKinley Tries Negotiations
• US business interests in
Cuba were threatened
• McKinley threatened to
recognize Cuba as an
independent state
• Spanish loyalists to riot
in Havana, forcing
McKinley to dispatch
the USS
The De Lome Letter (1898)
• Spanish official wrote an insulting
letter about McKinley
– Called McKinley a “weak and stupid
politician”
• Hearst called it the “Worst Insult
to the United States in Its History”
Then the Maine Explodes!
“Remember the Maine!” (1898)
• USS Maine was stationed in Havana
– 266 sailors killed
• Yellow Journalists accuse Spain of blowing
up the battleship with NO evidence!
War Fever Spreads
• McKinley asks for Declaration of War (April 11,
1898)
• US demanded that Spain withdraw from Cuba
or face US force;
• Spain responded by declaring war on US
Manila Bay Incident (1898)
• George Dewey led ships into Manila Bay
• Dewey fired on Spanish ships for no
reason.
– 400+ Spanish sailors died
– 0 Americans
Filipino Freedom! (1898)
• Filipinos also want independence from
Spain.
– Filipino nationalists led by Emilio Aguinaldo
were defeating the Spanish.
• U.S. Navy defeats Spanish Navy with help
from Filipino rebels.
Philippines
• Filipino resistance against US occupation
– Emilio Aguinaldo led the resistance
Philippine-American War
• 3 years of brutal fighting guerrilla war
• U.S. mistreatment of Filipino civilians
Back in the Caribbean…
War in Puerto-Rico
• US Navy blockaded Cuban
ports and destroyed the
Spanish fleet sent to
protect Cuba
• 17,000 US ground forces
fought
• Battle of San Juan Hill
The Rough Riders (1898)
• Rough Riders – rugged
westerners and rich
easterners who
volunteered to fight.
• Teddy Roosevelt leads
Rough Riders in two
famous battles
– Kettle and San Juan Hills
The Treaty of Paris (1898)
• Cuba = Freedom
• U.S. got land for free
– Guam
– Puerto Rico
• U.S. bought the Philippines for $20 million
How did the U.S. handle these new
territories?
Puerto Rico
• The US Military was left in charge
• Foraker Act: Puerto Rico becomes US
Territory
– Can’t vote for President, don’t have a vote in
Congress
– Can have their country used as a bombing
range for the U.S. military
– Can go into the military
– Can pay taxes
Cuba
• Cubans wrote their own
Constitution
• U.S. forced Cuba to add:
–
Platt Amendment
1) Cuba could not make treaties that
might limit its independence or
permit a foreign power to control
its territory
2) The U.S. had the right to intervene in Cuba
3) Cuba could not go into debt
4) The U.S. could buy or lease land on the island for navy
(Huh? Look at #1 and #4 again)
Protectorate
• A country who is protected diplomatically and
militarily by a stronger nation
• Example: after the Spanish-American War,
Cuba was a protectorate of the United States