UNIT #4 – BECOMING A WORLD POWER
LESSON #2 – Spanish American War and
American Empire
(4-2)
(145-151)
LESSON #1 – Spanish American
War & Amer. Empire (11/18)
• ESSENTIAL
QUESTIONS
3. How can Yellow
Journalism change
governmental policy?
4. Describe how American
came to own most of what
was left of the Spanish
Empire.
VOCABULARY
Yellow journalism (147)
Cuban autonomy (147)
Jingoism (147)
Spanish-American War (148)
Rough Riders (148)
Theodore Roosevelt (148)
San Juan Hill (148)
The World
“Blood on the roadsides, blood in the fields, blood
on the doorsteps, blood, blood, blood!”
—from a newspaper article in the
World describing the Cuban Revolution
How can yellow journalism influence
people's opinions on foreign policy issues?
Yellow Journalism
• What is Yellow Journalism?
• Find the definition on p. 147.
Sensationalist reporting in which writers purposefully distort truth,
exaggerate information or even lie to get more attention to their
stories
Usually catch headlines or invented drawings
Usually information is not researched very well (if at all)
• What are some reasons a newspaper might resort to this type
of reporting?
To sell more papers (and sell more advertising)
(and make more money)
To sway public opinion
To get government to base decisions from their views
Yellow Journalism
Yellow Journalism
Yellow Journalism
Yellow Journalism
Yellow Journalism
• The most infamous yellow journalism publishers was
William Randolph Hearst, whose New York Journal
published wild exaggerations and false stories to
increase circulation.
• The New York Journal-American and other tabloids prospered
for several decades with a mix of celebrity scandal and gory
murder stories, but didn't survive the Great Depression.
• In 1952, a former Hearst-owned paper called the New York
Enquirer was purchased and changed to tabloid size and took
it in a new direction, with content based on people's tendency
to stop and gawk at car accidents. "If it was blood that
interested people, I'd give it to them," he said in a 1970s Time
interview.
• Circulation increased rapidly based on a steady stream of gory
crime scene photographs and murder stories.
• What are some examples of Yellow Journalism today?
Tabloids
Spanish Empire
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What do you know about the Spanish Empire?
What did Columbus do?
Why does most of Latin America speak Spanish?
Spain was once the most powerful nation on earth
Over the years, Spain lost most of the empire
They were vicious leaders
Rebellion plagued
most of regions they
controlled
Cuban Revolution
• Where is Cuba?
Just south of Florida
• Read the first two paragraphs of the Cuban Rebellion on p. 146
What were the circumstances leading to rebellion?
Spain still owned Cuba in 1800s
Cuba produced HUGE amounts of sugar (1/3 of world’s supply)
1868 – Cubans rebelled for independence from Spain
• Read the top of p. 147. What was the result?
Cuba was able to declare independence by 1895
Is war a good idea?
• Spain did not like that Cuba rebelled.
• What did they do? (p. 147 – second full paragraph)
Sent 200,000 troops to put down rebellion
Spain put rebels in concentration camps
Spain eventually agreed to [a form of] Cuban independence
• Riots continued.
• Pres. McKinley sent Battleship Maine to protect Americans.
• Spain saw this as overly aggressive
• Both nations were VERY prideful
• This was an era of NATIONALISM, when pride in nation often
got carried too far… called JINGOISM
The USS Maine, American Battleship
click
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A massive explosion RIPPED through the Maine
Killing hundreds of American sailors
Americans were outraged
Most Americans wanted to blame someone
Yellow Journalists handed them SPAIN
How did Yellow Journalism change history?
REMEMBER THE MAINE!
The explosion killed 268 men, twothirds of the crew. Only 200 bodies
were recovered, but they were so
badly disfigured that only 76 were
identified.
A 1970s study indicated that the
explosion may have been caused
by spontaneous combustion in a
coal bunker on the ship. Another
study in the 1990s, though,
concluded it could have been
caused by a mine.
Example of Yellow Journalism
Yellow journalism depended on
sensationalist reporting that relied on
getting an emotional reaction from the
reader, usually by using words that
quickly created a visual image.
Emotional words such as “outrage” and
“destroyed” target the reader’s feelings.
Whether the words actually describe a
fact is not as important as causing the
reader to feel a certain way.
The story was printed on
February 17, 1898. It is
doubtful there was a
unanimous agreement
because the Navy did not
finish its investigation until
March.
The phrase “$50,000 REWARD” is used four times in a fairly small
area. The intent was to capture the reader’s eye and hold it.
Is war a good idea?
• What happened next? (147 – last two paragraphs)
The Maine exploded.
Some Americans blamed the Spanish
• What does JINGOISM look like?
This should be a description of EXTREME nationalism.
• 1898 – What did congress do? (top of p. 148)
We declared Cuba independent.
• What was Spain’s response?
They declared war on us.
The Spanish-American War
Day 1 Reflection Question
Do you think if the USS Maine had not been
destroyed, the Spanish-American War would
not have occurred? Why or why not?
A two-front war
• Battle of Manila Bay
– “YOU MAY FIRE WHEN READY, GRIDLEY”
– Destroyed Spanish fleet in Philippines
• Battle of Cuba
– ROUGH RIDERS – TEDDY ROOSEVELT
– BATTLE OF SAN JUAN HILL
A two-front war
The war
• Americans were not really ready to fight
• They looked for volunteers
• One such group: THE ROUGH RIDERS
– Cavalry led by Teddy Roosevelt
– Mostly cowboys, miners and law officer
– Attacked San Juan Hill in Cuba
– Spanish fled
– Whole fleet destroyed
American Imperialism
10m version
30m version
Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896)
1. What did Adolph Plessy do? (135)
He was a partially black man (1/8 black, and very light skinned)
who took a seat on a train in a car designated just for whites
2. What “doctrine” did this lead to? (136)
The doctrine was known as “separate but equal,” and led to
legal discrimination in the South that lasted for more than 50
years