Unit 7 Question # 2
The Spanish-American War was the result of shrewd
maneuvering on the part of a number of Washington
imperialists, such as Theodore Roosevelt, who pressured the
weak and vacillating McKinley into war in order to gain a
colonial empire in the Caribbean and the Western Pacific.
Evaluate this statement.
Liam Pocher, Nick Fisher, and Brady Pedneau
Thesis Statement
• Yes, the Spanish-American War was the result of
shrewd maneuvering on the part of a number of
Washington imperialists, such as Theodore
Roosevelt, who pressured the weak and vacillating
McKinley into war mainly because of three things.
The desire for overseas expansion, and the
manipulation of yellow journalism involving the
DeLome Letter and the sinking of the Maine.
Imperialism
• The policy of extending the rule
or authority of an empire or
nation over foreign countries, or
of acquiring and holding
colonies and dependencies.
• Advocacy of imperial or
sovereign interests over the
interests of the dependent
states.
• Imperialists, such as TR and
others, wanted a good war to
rouse and shake the nation up.
If this war also just happened to
get them colonies or dependent
Desire for Overseas
Expansion
•
For America to become a world player, as many people of the younger
generation wanted, America had to enter the imperialistic race for land.
•
To protect these foreign lands they acquired they would need a very
powerful navy to protect their interests.
•
Cuba was in the hands of a weak nation, one that had already seen it's
power rise and fall. Cuba also was very close to America and had lots of
sugar plantations, making for easy money.
•
America wanted a naval base in the South Western Pacific, as a staging
base for our navy to protect it's interests, and the Philippines just
happened to be controlled by Spain as well, and was in the perfect
location.
Yellow Journalism
• Yellow journalism relies on catchy
headlines instead of facts to sell
newspapers
• William Randolph Hearst bought the
New York Journal in 1895, and
managed to turn it into the most
popular newspaper in New York,
using a yellow journalism
• The Spanish-American War was a
result of yellow journalists like Hearst,
who sometimes made up stories about
the oppression of the Cubans
The De Lome Letter
• When the Spanish Minister who was in
charge of Cuba, De Lome, came to visit
Washington, he wrote a letter back to
Spain, which was illegally intercepted by
the US government
• At one point in the letter, De Lome called
McKinley "weak and catering to the
rabble and, besides, a low politician who
desires to leave a door open to himself
and to stand well with the jingos of his
party."
• The insult to the president was yet
another reason for America to declare
war on Spain
The Sinking of the Maine
• On February 15, 1898, the USS
Maine sank in Havana Harbour
• Politicians like Teddy Roosevelt
blamed the Spanish, saying they
mined the ship
• Yellow journalists spread this
misinformation, demonizing the
Spanish
• The Maine probably sunk because of
some coal dust in the hull was lit by
accident
Conclusion
The Spanish-American War was the result of
imperialistic politicians who used yellow journalism to
manipulate the De Lome Letter and the sinking of the
USS Maine, in order to accomplish overseas expansion.