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Unit 8 Notes
The Trans-Mississippi West captured the hearts of Americans although its glorified state only
lasted for 20 years (cowboys, Indians, Western TV/Film genre)
Indians before Columbus were semi nomadic.
Afterward, they were made nomadic and warlike because of less land and the introduction of
horses.
Buffalo Stuff
 Indians used every part of the buffalo
 Clothing of all types, teepees, ceremonial objects, sled runners, dice, fuel, silverware,
hairbrush, glue, soap, thread boats, pemmican (buffalo jerky w/berries).
 They were nearly driven to extinction when railroads came by.
 People would shoot buffaloes by the thousands just for sport.
More Indian Culture
 Commanchee’s were the most skilled horsemen who could grip the mane with their toes.
 Counting Coup- when a warrior gets close enough to touch his enemy, he gets one coup
mark. These marks made him a respected person in the group.
 Horse stealing was important because they determined one’s wealth.
 Farming, taking care of the buffalo body, and minding the children were all the jobs of
women.
 Polygamy was in place so that more work could be done.
 No chiefs- elder of group was leader
 No defined tribes
 Sophisticated sign language due to lang, barrier
Frederick Turner’s Theory America has been a history of western colonization
1865-1890- war between Indians and whites
 US soldiers were Civil War veterans, but mostly immigrants.
 1/5 of soldiers were black, they were called buffalo soldiers.
 General Sherman, Sheridan (“The only good Indian is a dead Indian”), and Custer were
all Civil war veterans who also fought against Indians
 Many of the Indian warriors had better weapons than US soldiers
 It was thought that Indians did not deserve the land because they were pagan.
 Sand Creek Massacre
 US led by Col. Chivington, whose family was killed by Indians
 400 unarmed Indian men, women, and children were killed
 Fetterman Massacre
 US leader was Capt. William J. Fetterman.
 Indians killed all the people that were trying to build the Bozeman Trail.
 Battle of Little Big Horn- “Custer’s Last Stand” 1876
 Custer’s 264 vs. 2500 Indians.
 Indians won, but the survivors were later killed after being caught by the US.
 Crazy Horse was an Indian leader on the battlefield.
 Sitting Bull was the overall leader
 Sitting Bull ran, but was later captured and performed in Buffalo Bill’s Wild
West Show.
 He was later murdered because he supported the Ghost Dance
 Geronimo was an Apache leader who was never defeated.
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Chief Joseph and the Nez Percè
 Lived in Idaho, but were booted because gold was found
 Ran north to try and meet Sitting Bull, but they were defeated at the Battle of Bear
Paw Mountain.
 Chief Joseph- “I will fight no more forever.”
Indian Ghost Dances
 Indians would dance and wear a shirt that made them immune to white bullets.
 Religious folks wanted to stamp it out.
 Battle of Wounded Knee
 Many Indians were massacred.
 People were paid $2 per body to remove bodies.
Art and Literature
 Frederick Remington/George Caitlin/Albert Bierstadt painted the west
 Helen Hunt Jackson
 A Century of Dishonor- recounts the dishonesty of gov’t when dealing with Indians.
 Ramona- a love story of injustice to the California Indians
“Whitization” of Indians
 Dawes Severalty Act of 1887
 Took away tribes as legal entities.
 Wiped out tribal ownership of land.
 Gave Indian family heads 160 acres.
 Indians would be awarded for being white by being granted citizenship in 25 yrs.
 Remaining reservation land not allotted to the Indians would be sold to railroads to
support the gov’t in educating the Indians
 Carlisle Indian School
 “Kill the Indian, save the man.”
 Taught Native American children English and white values/customs.
 Field Matrons were sent out to teach NA women to sew and practice good morals
Mining
 Gold continued to come in from California
 “59ers” or “Pike’s Peakers” searched for oil in Colorado
 The Comstock Lode in 1859 provided $350 million in gold and silver in Nevada. It
helped make Nevada a state.
 Expensive machines had to be brought in to get gold that was inside quartz, which was
deeper in the ground. Therefore, companies replaced the traditional single miner.
 Towns
 Mining towns (Helldorados) sprung up all over the west.
 Ghost towns formed when minerals ran out.
 Little or no law and order in the towns.
 Women found equality by running boardinghouses or working as prostitutes.
 Effects of Mining:
 Financing the Civil War
 Facilitating the building of railroads
 Increasing the conflicts with Indians
 Restarted specie payments
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Characters of the West
 James “Wild Bill” Hickock kept order in Abilene. Killed while playing poker, killed
only in self-defense.
 Jesse James- inventor of train robbery, like Robin Hood, killed unarmed by Robert Ford.
 Billy the Kid- real name: William Bonney, killed 21 people, bad person, shot by Sheriff
Pat Garrett.
 Calamity Jane Canary- tomboy, reportedly married to Wild Bill, saved many lives
Cowboys
 Very lonely and hard life
 Clothing:
 Hats were used to block out the sun and carry water.
 Bandanas were used to block out dust and as a tourniquet
 Chaps protected a riders legs
 Spurs were to control horses
 Pointy-toe boots were used so that you could put your foot in the stirrups easier
 High-Heel boots were used so that your foot would not come out of the stirrup
 Long Drives- long cattle drive to railroad depot
 Made possible by the railroads
 Chisholm trail to Abilene
 Western Trail to Dodge City and Ogallata
 Goodnight-Loving Trail to Pueblo and Cheyenne
 Dangers: Indians, stampedes, cattle fever.
 Died because trains brought out homesteaders, who would put barbed wire fences out
 Longhorns- cattle with long horns who had originally developed in the wild
 Roundup- cows were herded, de-horned, then branded
 Cowboys had 18 hour days during this time
 Chuckwagons containing the cooks and food would follow the cowboys
 Cowboys would get profit from long drives and immediately spend it on whiskey and
women in town.
 Range Wars- battle between homesteader and cowboy
 Cow vs. Sheep herders- Sheep graze too much and cattle would not go where sheep went
Songs on the Range
 Cowboys would sing these songs to pass the time on the long drive
 Lavender Cowboy- a young cowboy dies with “two hairs on his chest.”
 The Cowboys Lament- funeral procession down the streets of Loredo.
 The Old Chisholm Trail- ad lib verses, “Come a ti yi yip-pee yip-pee yay.”
 Get Along Little Dogies- express loneliness on trail, dogie- an orphaned cow.
 Old Paint- expressed the importance of the horse-man relationship
 Home on the Range- Dr. Higley- lyrics, Dan Kelly- music, most popular range song
Problems with farming on the plains
 John Wesley Powell warned that agriculture beyond the 100th median was impossible
without massive irrigation.
 Dry Farming- frequent pulverizing of the topsoil, shallow cultivation. This eventually
caused the dust bowl in the 1930’s.
 Sorghum (Russian Wheat) had to be used because normal wheat couldn’t grow
 Locusts, boll weevil, drought, floods, prairie fires, cold weather, expensive equipment, no
business skills, worldwide competition, deflation, higher interest rates, erosion, high
railroad rates, high cost for manufactured goods, sod houses or dugouts were used.
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Farmers could not fix their problems with the government because they refused to protest as a group.
Bonanza Farming- growing one single cash crop, if it fails then the farmer would be poor
Irrigation was finally put in on a grander scale than Powell could have imagined.
Women’s Jobs on the Prairie
 Women had to be more self-sufficient.
 They had to feed/clothe their families, plant/harvest crops, raise stock, milk cows, shear
sheep, get water, make soap/candles, preserve food, serving as a doctor.
 Women finally got the vote in western states because of their added influence.
The Donner Party
 Donner and his friend James Reed set out to the west and try to take a shortcut.
 The shortcut fails and the party must stay at Truckee Lake for the winter.
 When all the food runs out, Foster suggests cannibalism and even kills a person to eat.
 The party was eventually found with only a few survivors from the original 87. The
survivors had resorted to eating their own family members to survive.
Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Utah all
joined the Union between 1876-1896.
Oklahoma
 Oklahoma, a former Indian Territory, was being homesteaded off.
 Sooners- people that went to claim their land in Oklahoma too early and had to be evicted
by the force of federal troops.
 Boomers/89’ers- people that immediately went to claim OK land ASAP.
 1907- Oklahoma enters the Union as the Sooner State.
1890- the frontier was officially deemed closed by the census office.
 Inspired “The Significance of the Frontier on American History” by Frederick Turner.
 Although the frontier was closed the Homestead Act remained on the books.
Since all the land was nearly gone, preservation began.
 Yellowstone was founded in 1872 followed by Yosemite and Sequoia in 1890.
The Safety Valve Theory
 The frontier was like a safety valve because it lured in immigrant farmers and the
prospect of losing workers to migration kept wages higher.
 The real safety valve was the city because busted farmers would go there for work.
Western Writers- Bret Harte, Mark Twain, Helen Hunt Jackson, & Francis Parkman.
Western Painters- George Caitlin, Frederic Remington, & Albert Bierstadt.
Farmers used to make their own clothing and food etc., but now they were using cash crops
and buying items from the General Store and the Aaron Montgomery Ward catalog (1872).
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Combine- a combination reaper-thresher which cut and bagged the wheat at an alarming rate.
Expensive machines like this forced many farmers to become bankrupt & blame banks and Railroads.
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The bankruptcy of farmers led them to the cities, which swelled the work force and
dramatically decreased the rural population.
The refrigerator car (1880’s) allowed farmers to grow on west coast and sell for profit in east.
Indebted Farmers
 Crops in foreign countries flourished, therefore US prices went down.
 Inflation caused farmers to bay back more than they borrowed plus interest.
 The amount of bills in circulation was not enough for the new business world.
 Machinery increased production  decreased price  increased debt.
 1880- ¼ of all American farmers are tenant farmers.
 Massive local taxes not charged on rich easterners were charged on farmers.
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The Grange- founded in 1867 by Oliver H. Kelley
 Made to have social, educational and fraternal activities for farmers.
 Eventually established Co-op grain silos and stores for consumers to escape trusts
 They wanted to regulate RR rates & storage rates. (The Granger Laws)
 Wabash case killed the Grange laws and their influence because the laws couldn’t apply
to interstate commerce.
The Greenback Labor Party
 Combined inflation with labor improvement.
 Elected 14 members to congress and ran General James Weaver for Pres. in 1880
The Farmers’ Alliance
 Originally made to have farmers socialize with each other.
 Co-operatively sold and bought products
 Anti-Railroad and Anti-Trust
 Failed b/c it ignored tenant farmers and blacks.
 Platform: Nationalize railroads, abolish national banks, a graduated income tax, and a
federal subtreasury to provide farmers with crop storage.
 Ignatius Donnelley- main speaker for the Alliance and was elected to congress 3 times.
 Mary “Yellin” Lease- the other speaker for the Alliance; called the Kansas Pythoness.
“Farmers should raise less corn and more hell.”
 They continued to have more election victories which worried the Dem. and Rep.
Efforts from the Grange, the Greenback Labor Party, and the Farmers’ Alliance planted the
seeds for the future populist movement.
Benjamin Harrison ® began his term in 1889
 Harrison was good at charming people in speech, but had a clammy handshake
 He came to be known as the “White House Ice Chest.”
 James Blaine, known as the Plumed Knight, gets the Sec. of State job.
 Theodore Roosevelt gets a job in the Civil Service Commission
The House of Representatives
 Republicans only had 3 more votes than the necessary 163 needed for quorum
 Democrats would refuse to answer roll calls to make times harder for the Rep.
 Democrats also commanded unnecessary roll calls to take place to determine if a quorum
was present, even though one obviously was.
 Republicans wanted to squander money and keep a high tariff
 Thomas B. Reed of Maine ® was the speaker of the house and a good debater
 Reed didn’t believe that the filibustering minority should govern.
 “Czar” Reed would always count members present
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51st (billion-dollar) Congress was the first to appropriate $1 billion to get rid of the surplus
War Pensions
 Harrison appointed a Civil war amputee as Commissioner of Pensions.
 The Pension Act of 1890
 Gave pensions to people who served 90 days and who now couldn’t do manual labor.
 Pensioners increased for 676,000  970,000
 Annual bill increased from $81 billion  $135 billion
 This solved the problem on the treasury surplus, saved the protective tariff by making it
necessary, and secured votes for the GOP (Grand Old Party) from the soldiers.
The Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890 was also passed during Reed’s reign.
Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890
 Silver miners were disappointed of the low amount of silver bought by the government
under the Bland-Allison Act of 1878
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Debt burdened farmers were still looking for easy or cheap money
Agreement: the west would support a high tariff and the east would support a silver bill
The gov’t buys 4.5 million ounces of silver, about all that was being mined, and pay for it
in amount redeemable in silver or gold. This doubled the amount that was once bought.
McKinley Tariff Bill of 1890
 Boosted rates to its highest peacetime level of 48.4%
 Gave a bounty of 2 cents a pound to American sugar producers.
 Raised tariffs on agricultural products even though foreign producers couldn’t compete
 Sponsored by future president William McKinley of Ohio
 Brought new plight onto farmers because eastern manufacturers raised their prices
 Tin peddlers paid by Democrats said that pie pan prices went from 10 to 25 cents because
of the wicked republican tariff.
In the congressional election of 1890, Democrats regained the majority with 235-88 votes
because of the publicity from the “bad” republican tariff to the poor farmers.
 McKinley lost his seat
 9 members of the Farmers’ Alliance were also elected, foreshadowing the Populist
Movement.
The Election of 1892
 Grover Cleveland (D) vs. Ben Harrison ® vs. General James Weaver (Populist)
 Cleveland had become conservative after having a profitable law practice
 The People’s Party, or populists, was rooted in the Farmers’ Alliance but also tried to
support laborers
 Populist Platform: unlimited coinage of silver at a 16:1 ratio, a graduated income tax,
government ownership of telephone/telegraph/railroad companies, direct election of
senators, one-term limit on the Presidency, citizens can propose and review legislation,
shorter workday, and a limit on immigration.
 Populists got 22 electoral votes, becoming one of the few 3rd parties in history to do so.
They were not supported by the eastern urbanities and industrial laborers. Support came
from the west and mid-west. (Colorado, Kansas, Idaho, Nevada, Wyoming, Nebraska)
 The south did not support the Populists because of race differences.
 Tom Watson, who could “talk like the thrust of a Bowie knife”, unsuccessfully tried to
unite black and white farmers under the Populists. The “Bourbon” elite in the south were
able to woo the poor whites back before election time
 Whites further disenfranchised blacks because they were reminded of their political
potential when they joined the populist movement. After 1896, both Tom Watson and
the Populists supported racism and black disenfranchisement.
 Grover Cleveland won the election and became the only president to have nonconsecutive terms
The Homestead Strike
 Workers in the Homestead steel plant were angry over pay cuts.
 300 armed Pinkerton detectives were called in to crush the strike.
 Strikers armed with guns & dynamite won a battle where 10 were killed and 60 wounded
 Troops were summoned and both the strike and union were broken.
 Troops were also sent to kill a silver strike in Idaho’s Coeur d’Alene district.
The Depression of 1893
 Lasted 4 years
 Causes: over-building and over-speculation, labor disorders, an agricultural depression,
free-silver agitation harmed American credit abroad, European banks began to call in
loans from American banks.
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 8,000 businesses closed in just 6 months
 Henry Adams said that business executives “died like flies under the strain.”
Gold Shortages
 People would trade in the legal tender currency gained by the purchase of silver bullion
under the Sherman Silver Purchase Act and present it for gold. The notes were then
reissued and were again presented for gold. Gold was drained from the treasury in an
“endless-chain” operation.
 The treasury dropped below $100 million in gold, which was the amount needed to
support $350 million in paper currency. Thus, the Sherman Silver Purchase Act had to
be repealed.
 A tumor had also been discovered on the roof of Cleveland’s mouth, had he died because
of it, then soft-money Adlai Stevenson would have been president. This would worsen
the depression.
 William Jennings Bryan spoke for 3 hours supporting the cause of silver, but it failed.
 Gold in the treasury went down to $41 million as other currency was being traded in for
gold.
 Cleveland sold government bonds for gold and also borrowed $65 million in gold from
J.P. Morgan. Morgan got $7 million out of the deal, but was required to get ½ of the gold
abroad.
 Many saw this deal as the gov’t selling out to Morgan.
The Commonweal Army
 “General” Jacob S. Coxey, a wealthy quarry owner, marched to Washington to demand
the relief of unemployment by an inflationary public work problem
 They arrived in Washington only to be arrested for walking on the grass.
 Other such “petitions in boots” failed because they were too rowdy.
The Pullman Strike
 Eugene Debs- organizer of the American Railway Union and leader of strike.
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The Pullman Palace Car Company cut wages by 1/3 but left rent in a company house the same.
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The McKinley Tariff kept protection high and surplus low, but the deficit was now $61 million.
Workers revolted by overturning cars and stopping railway traffic
Illinois Gov. John Atgeld supported the strike as he had supported the Haymarket
anarchists on year before.
 Attorney General Richard Onley supported the dispatch of federal troops because mail
could not be delivered. Pres. Cleveland agreed with him.
 Troops were sent and the strike died. Debs and his leading associates were arrested.
 Debs reads socialist lit. in jail and later becomes the leader of the Socialist Movement.
 This marks the first time that government said that a group could not strike. Leaders who
were held in contempt could also be jailed without jury trial.
 Showed further signs that businesses and courts had an alliance.
The Wilson-Groman Bill
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The democrats introduced a new bill that kept good revenue but lower protection. It also
included a 2% income tax on incomes over $4,000.
Joseph Choate, a wealthy lawyer, deemed the bill “Communistic, socialistic.”
The sugar trust in the bill gave itself $20 million a year, such clauses only lowered the
tariff from 48.4  41.3 percent
Cleveland hated the bill because it violated his campaign promises, but he let it pass so
that the McKinley Tariff did not stay in the books.
The income tax was later taken away by the Supreme Court which showed the populists
that the courts still supported Plutocracy.
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The Congressional Election of 1894 was a landslide victory for the GOP as the tariff
problems kicked out the democrats.
William Hope Harvey (the Little Professor) wrote Coin’s Financial School, which supported
unlimited coinage of silver. It made people think that there was an international conspiracy
against sliver and for gold.
William McKinley ®
 McKinley was a major in the Civil War, CAME FROM OHIO, and had made many
friends in congress. (“The Napoleon of Protection”, “The Advance Agent of Prosperity”)
 Marcus Alonzo Hanna- supported McKinley during the election, personally attracted to
McKinley, believed that gov’t should aid business, pictured as a man in a checkered suit
with $ in each square, very conservative in business.
 Republican Platform: pro-gold, international bimetallism (a worldwide gold-silver
standard. This would have to be agreed upon by every major country.), condemning hard
times and Democratic incapacity, and a protective tariff.
 “Gold Bugs”- People in support of gold over silver
William Jennings Bryan (DEMO-POP) from Nebraska
 Known as the “Boy Orator from the Platte”
 The “Cross of Gold” Speech
 Supported silver by saying, “you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.”
 Quickly made Bryan the candidate for the Democrats the next day.
 Platform: Coinage of silver at 16 oz. to 1 oz. of gold, even though the market rate was
32:1. This meant that the silver in one silver $ would be worth 50 cents. Inflation.
 Since the Populists had the same platform as the Democrats, they also nominated Bryan.
 Hanna tried to make the tariff an issue, but Bryan’s mass amount of speeches all over the
country wouldn’t allow it.
 Bryan was hailed as the messiah that would lead the poor out of debt.
 Gold Bugs didn’t want Bryan elected b/c their money would be cut in ½ with silver $’s
“Dollar Mark” Hanna gathered $16 million to fund the “campaign of education” compared to
$1 million for the Democrats. (16:1)
Election of 1896
 Bryan (DEM-POP) vs. McKinley ®
 Hanna sent out hundreds of “spellbinders” to campaign against silver
 Finley Peter Dunne- “The whole currency question is a matter of lungs.”
 The public was reminded of the depression under the democrats and that McKinley
would provide a “full dinner pail.”
 Hostility to the GOP in the wheat belt fell b/c prices went up.
 Businesses made contracts that voided if Bryan won, bosses told workers that they could
not come to work if Bryan won, bosses said that they would pay people in silver dollars if
Bryan won.
 McKinley won 271-176 and 7,102,246-6,492,559
 McKinley won the east, which didn’t care for inflation, while Bryan won the south and
west, where debt burdened farmers lived.
 Bryan’s defeat marked the last serious effort to win with agrarian votes.
 This election marked a GOP grip on the White House for 16 yrs.
 The Fourth Party System- low voter turnout, weakening of party organization, and the
issues of industrial regulation and the welfare of labor.
Vachel Lindsay continued writing anti-McKinley poems claiming that McKinley took orders
from Hanna. During the election, he glorified Bryan in the poems.
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Standpattism- a conservative political philosophy, not straying too far from public opinion.
This was both McKinley’s and Hanna’s belief.
The Dingley Tariff of 1897
 The Democratic Wilson-Groman Tariff was not generating enough revenue.
 Passed though the House by “Czar” Reed with 850 amendments.
 Raised rates to 46.5%
Returning Prosperity
 The Depression of 1893 ends and prosperity returns. The GOP demands credit.
 The Gold Standard Act of 1900
 Passed my hard-money congressmen despite resistance by remaining silverites.
 Paper currency could be redeemed in gold.
 Ended the period where gov’t tried to do something for the debtor.
 Farmers were still not doing well because silver coining was not a good plan. It didn’t let
a better currency reform plan get into place and it set back agrarian reform.
 Inflation later occurred when more gold was discovered in Alaska, South Africa, and
Australia. A cheaper cyanide process also caused inflation.
Reasons for Imperialism
 Increase in agriculture, manufacturing, exports, industry, a safety valve to curb agrarian
unrest and labor violence, the yellow press, a search for resources, a market for goods, &
colonies as coaling stations.
 Missionaries became inspired by books like Reverend Joseph Strong’s Our Country: Its
Possible Future and Present Crisis.
 “The White Man’s Burden”- Anglo-Saxons are more superior and must therefore teach
their values to the backward natives of other nations.
 The aggressive views of congressman such as Henry Cabot Lodge.
 Darwinism interpreted the US to be “fit.”
 Competition from other nations.
 Capt. Alfred Thayer Mahan’s The Influence of Sea Power upon History said that control
of the sea was the key to world dominance. It inspired a naval race.
 James Blaine’s Big Sister Policy where Latin America was pushed under the USA’s
leadership. This led to the 1st Pan-American Conference in 1889, which blazed the way
for future relationships. The 1st conference set up a plan to gradually lower the tariff.
Near Wars with:
 Germany over the Samoan Islands which were eventually split in ½.
 Italy over the lynching of 11 Italians in New Orleans. Solved by the US paying
compensation for the deaths.
 Chile over the deaths of 2 American Sailors in the port of Valpariso. Solved when Chile
was forced to pay an indemnity because of American power.
 Canada over seal hunting near the Pribilof Islands in Alaska. Resolved by arbitration.
 These events showed the willingness of Americans to become involved in wars.
US vs. Britain?
 There was a boundary dispute between Venezuela and British Guinea. It was going to be
solved by arbitration, but gold was soon found in the contested area.
 Richard Onley, now the Sec. of State, sent a letter to Britain which demanded them to
send the case to arbitration and to keep their hands off of the Americas.
 Britain takes 4 months to send a reply, saying that the Monroe Doctrine did not apply to
them and that they would not submit to arbitration.
 Congress said that they would set the line and would fight for it if needed.
 Britain backed off due to preoccupation with Germany and the Boer War.
 Britain’s policy of “splendid isolation”, which thought that England didn’t need friends,
was failing.
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INCREASED THE PRESTIGE OF THE MONROE DOCTRINE
THE GREAT RAPPROCHEMENT- the beginning of friendship b/t BG and USA
“Patting the eagles head” replaced “twisting the lion’s tail.”
Hawaii
 First became a coaling station and provisioning point for sailors, then a place for
missionaries to go. The latter succeeded very well and Honolulu took on the aspects of a
New England town.
 James Michner wrote Hawaii about life in Hawaii.
 The US had a commerce agreement w/Hawaii and the rights to Pearl Harbor. They told
other world powers to keep their hands off.
 The good sugar business went sour when the McKinley Tariff went through. The only
way around this was to annex Hawaii.
 Queen Lilioukalani of Hawaii wanted Hawaiians to rule.
 1893- the small white population organized a successful revolt and put the Queen under
house arrest. New president Grover Cleveland hated this b/c he thought it was immoral.
Therefore, the annexation has to wait until 1898.
 An investigation later proved that no Hawaiians wanted to be annexed.
Cuba
 1895- Cubans organized another revolt against Spain. The reason for this was also the
harm caused by the McKinley Tariff on sugar farming.
 Insurrectos used a scorched-earth policy in hopes that Spain would leave.
 The US wanted to help b/c of the large amount of $ they had invested in Cuba. They also
likened this to their own revolution.
 Spanish General “Butcher” Weyler put Cuban civilians into reconcentration camps where
many died because of poor sanitation.
 The public liked Cuba, so Congress recognized Cuban independence.
 Cleveland did not want a war, and would refuse to mobilize troops if war was declared.
The Maine
 Yellow Journalism by Hearst and Pulitzer encouraged anti-Spanish sentiment by printing
stories with the truth blown out of proportion.
 Frederic Remington was told by Hearst to furnish false paintings of bad things in Cuba.
 Hearst- “You furnish the pictures, I’ll furnish the war.”
 The US sent the Maine to Cuba to evacuate Americans if necessary.
 Feb. 9, 1898- a letter was sent by Dupoy de Lome, Spain’s American Minister, which
dissed McKinley. This forced him to resign.
 Feb. 15, 1898- The Maine blew up in Havana harbor with the loss of 260 lives.
 The US claims that it was Spain who blew it up
Declaration of War
 McKinley does not want to go to war. Asst. Sec. of the Navy Teddy Roosevelt does.
 McKinley knew the horrors of war. Hanna and businesses thought that commerce would
be disrupted, so they agreed with McKinley.
 Spain promised Cuban freedom and an end to reconcentration camps.
 McKinley decides to declare war on Apr. 11, 1898 b/c he wants to give the public what
they want, keep the party in power, and he mistrusted Spain.
 The Teller Amendment- when the US had overthrown Spanish rule, it would NOT
control Cuba.
The Spanish-American War
 Sec. of State John Hay calls it the “splendid little war.”
 The US was unprepared for war, outnumbered, had a worse navy, and had only Great
Britain as an ally.
 The Spanish navy was only strong in #, it was really shoddy and had to fight far away.
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Teddy Roosevelt went under the nose of Sec. of Navy John Long to order the invasion of
the Philippines by Commodore Dewey in May of 1898.
 May 1, 1898 Dewey rapes the 10-Ship Spanish fleet w/no loss of life at the Battle of
Manila. Dewey only had 6 ships.
 Germany and other foreign nations watched out movements in Manila Bay. Britain
safeguarded out ships from attack.
 America finally gets reinforcements and captures Manila on Aug. 13, 1898.
 Emilio Aguinaldo- a Philippine rebel brought back by Dewey to aid the rebellion. He
later turned against the US many times.
 July 7, 1898- Hawaii is annexed to serve as a refueling station
 Spanish Admiral Cervera is sent to Cuba with his shoddy ships.
 Cervera stops in Santiago Harbor. He is blockaded by more powerful US ships.
 General William Shafter was the overweight leader of the American invasion.
 The ill-prepared Americans arrived in Cuba with wool uniforms.
 Rough Riders- a group led by Col. Leonard Wood that included Roosevelt. They led the
charge at San Juan Hill with heavy casualties. They were very inexperienced and were
made up of former cowboys and convicts. They became heroes because of their courage.
 July 3, 1898- the US defeats Cervera.
 Capt. Philip-“Don’t cheer men, the poor devils are dying.”
 General Nelson Miles leads an invasion against Puerto Rico. He met little resistance and
took the island.
 Aug. 12, 1898- the armistice is signed.
 The US could have lost because of disease and bad food, which caused soldiers to
become incapacitated. Roosevelt sent round-robin demands (documents signed in
circular fashion so that the 1st signer can’t be identified) to Washington for supplies. 400
men lost their lives due to bullets, but 500 died due to disease.
Treaty of Paris 1898
 Cuba gets its freedom.
 The US gets Puerto Rico.
 The US gets Guam, which it had captured early on in the war.
 The US needs to get the Philippines because other countries may try to take over and the
US may be sucked into a world war. The McKinley wants to take the country now and
give them their freedom later. Missionaries want to convert Filipinos to Protestantism.
Wall Street wants the islands for commercialistic purposes.
 Since we captured the islands the day after the armistice was signed, then the US had to
pay $20 million for the islands to the dismay of ex-speaker Reed.
Philippine Troubles
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The problem with the Philippines was that it could never become a state due to its alien culture.
An Anti-Imperialist League sprang up which included William James, Mark Twain, Sam
Gompers and Andrew Carnegie.
 James was not just pissed, but really super pissed. “God damn the US for its vile
conduct in the Philippine Isles!” He was amazed at how the US could “puke up its
ancient soul in 5 minutes without a wink of squeamishness.”
If the Philippines was annexed, then it would violate the “consent of the governed” clause
of the constitution. It would also involve the US in the risky political world of the far east
Rudyard Kipling urged the US to annex the islands and take up the White Man’s Burden.
William Bryan steps up to defend the treaty in the Senate, instead of trying to be antiImperialistic as the Republicans had assumed.
 He stated that the sooner the treaty was ratified, the sooner they could give the islands
their independence.
 Because of Bryan’s influence the treaty was approved with 1 vote to spare.
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The Foraker Act of 1900 gave Puerto Ricans a limited degree of government.
1917- Puerto Ricans are granted US citizenship.
The Insular Cases- beginning in 1901
 There was a problem in deciding if American laws applied to the new finds.
 The cases decided that they didn’t.
Cuban Troubles
 A military government was set up in Cuba under General Wood
 Improvements in finance, agriculture, education, government, & health.
 Yellow fever cases were drastically reduced
 Dr. Walter Reed discovered that the mosquito carries the disease
 Efforts to remove breeding places wiped out the disease in Havana.
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Platt Amendment
 An amendment to the Cuban constitution
 Cuba can not impair its independence by treaty or by contracting a debt beyond their
resources.
 The US can interfere w/troops to provide order or protection.
 Cuba must sell or lease coaling stations to the US (Guantanamo).
 This can only be revoked by both parties
The Spanish-American War proved that the US was a world power and it boosted American
prestige and respect. Prince Bismarck of Germany argued that there was a special Providence
that looked after drunkards, fools, and the USA. America’s success without being prepared
led to a false confidence. The war made Americans join imperialism, but regret it later
because they could not defend their far-reaching colonies.
Elihu Root was the head of the War Department. He founded the War College in Washington
that proved to be a good asset when the US became involved in WWI.
THE RIFT BETWEEN NORTH AND SOUTH WAS CLOSING FASTER. General Joseph
Wheeler, a Confederate hero, joined the north to fight Spain. He said, ”To hell with the
Yankees! Dammit I mean the Spaniards.”