Ch 12 Sec 2: Spanish American War
• Cuban Revolution – Cuban people looking to get their freedom from Spain largely revolved around sugar
• Yellow journalism – exaggerated (sometimes blatantly false) stories made up by the press in order to sell newspapers
• USS Maine – U.S. Navy ship in the harbor of Havana,
Cuba in February, 1898. The explosion killed 266
Americans on board and blame was placed on Spain although later it was proven that they were not at fault.
• Jingoism extreme patriotism and confidence in one’s nation that leads to an aggressive foreign policy
• “Rough Riders” – one of the groups that led the infamous charge up San Juan Hill during the Spanish-
American War and helped create the legend of
Theodore Roosevelt

College:
Allegheny College
Height:
5’7”
Religion: Methodist
Children: Had two daughters but both died at early ages (four months and four years)
Occupation: lawyer
Previous Political Offices: House of
Representatives (1877-91); Governor of
Ohio (1892-96)
First President to ride in an automobile
…..to use a telephone while campaigning
….to marry a woman that was not a teacher
Was the LAST U.S. President to serve in the
Civil War (his commanding officer was
Rutherford B. Hayes – both from Ohio)
This feature is found on pages 370
–371 of your textbook.
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Sign: Aquarius
Nickname:
The Napoleon of Protection
Campaign Theme:
“Prosperity, Commerce and Civilization”
Favorite Sport: swimming
Other Notes of Interest….
Featured on the $500 bill.
Was thought to hold the record for Presidential handshaking (2500 per hour).
Ironically it was while shaking hands that he was assassinated by Leon Czolgosz .
McKinley exercised very little. Had he been in better shape, his doctors said he might have survived his assassin's bullets
Last Words: "It's God's way. His will, not ours, be done."

Chapter Objectives
• Describe the circumstances that led to war between the United States and Spain in 1898.
• Explain how the war made the United States a world power.
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Guide to Reading
The United States defeated Spain in a war, acquired new overseas territories, and became an imperial power. 
• José Martí

• jingoism

• William Randolph
Hearst 
• Joseph Pulitzer

• yellow journalism

• Theodore
Roosevelt 
• Platt Amendment
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The Coming of War
• Cuba, a Spanish colony, provided wealth for Spain with sugarcane plantations.
(pages 399 –401)

The Coming of War
• In 1868 Cuban rebels declared independence and began a guerrilla attack against Spanish authorities.
• After the attack failed, the Cuban rebels fled to the United States to plan a new revolution.
• Writer and poet José
Martí, an exiled leader of Cuba’s revolution, fled to New York City.
(pages 399 –401)

The Coming of War
(cont.)
• He raised money from Americans and began purchasing weapons and training troops to prepare for an invasion of Cuba.
• In 1894, after the United
States imposed new tariffs on sugar, the economy of
Cuba was devastated.
• Martí and his followers began a new rebellion in
February of 1895.
• They seized control of eastern Cuba, declared its independence, and set up the Republic of Cuba in
September 1895.
(pages 399 –401)
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The Coming of War
(cont.)
• At the start of the
Cuban revolution,
Americans were neutral.
• But after reports in two newspapers, the
New York Journal owned by William
Randolph Hearst and the New York
World owned by
Joseph Pulitzer,
Americans began to side with the rebels.
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(pages 399 –401)

The Coming of War
(cont.)
• The newspapers, trying to outdo each other, began to use yellow journalism by running exaggerated stories of
Spanish attacks on Cubans.
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(pages 399 –401)

Language Arts
“Yellow” journalism takes its name from the “Yellow kid” comic strip, which featured a scrappy little bald kid in a flashy yellow nightshirt. Drawn by R.F.
Outcault, the comic strip first ran in 1895 in Joseph Pulitzer’s New
York World.
The bright yellow ink attracted readers. Therefore, yellow journalism came to refer to flashy, unsubstantiated news accounts.

The Coming of War
(cont.)
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(pages 399 –401)

The Coming of War
(cont.)
• The Cuban rebels attacked and destroyed American property, hoping for American intervention in the war.
• The Spanish appointed
General Valeriano Weyler to serve as governor.
(Known to Cubans as
“ Weyler the Butcher ”)
• He caused the deaths of tens of thousands of
Cuban villagers by sending them to reconcentration camps.
• This led Americans to call for intervention in the war.
(pages 399 –401)
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The Coming of War
(cont.)
• The Spanish ambassador to the
U.S., Enrique Dupuy de Lôme, wrote a private letter, describing President
McKinley as weak and seeking admiration of
Americans.
• The New York
Journal printed the letter, causing
Americans to become angry over the insult.
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(pages 399 –401)

The Coming of War
(cont.)
• In February 1898, the U.S.S. Maine, anchored in
Havana, Cuba, exploded, killing 266 American officers and sailors.
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(pages 399 –401)

Strong Ego William Randolph Hearst sent artist Frederic
Remington to Cuba to cover events after the explosion of the
Maine . When the expected conflict between the United
States and Spain did not immediately materialize, the artist asked if he should return home. Hearst called back,
“You furnish the pictures, I’ll furnish the war.”

The Coming of War
(cont.)
• Although no one knows why the ship exploded, many
Americans blamed Spain.
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(pages 399 –401)

The Coming of War
(cont.)
• President William McKinley did not want to intervene in the war, fearing it would cost the United States too many lives and hurt the economy.
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(pages 399 –401)

The Coming of War
(cont.)
• Within the president’s own political party, jingoism was very strong.
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(pages 399 –401)

The Coming of War
(cont.)
• In 1898, after much pressure, McKinley authorized
Congress to declare war on Spain.
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(pages 399 –401)

When President McKinley asked
Congress for a declaration of war, the House of
Representatives voted 311 to 6 in support of the declaration.
The Senate was more evenly divided, voting 42 to 35. To appease some reluctant members of Congress, the Teller amendment was added to the declaration. The amendment called for the United States to help Cuba become an independent country once the war had ended.

A War on Two Fronts
• The United States Navy’s North Atlantic Squadron blockaded Cuba.
• An American fleet in
British Hong Kong was ordered to attack the Spanish fleet in the Philippines –a
Spanish colony.
• In May 1898,
Commodore George
Dewey led a squadron that destroyed or captured
Spanish warships in
Manila Bay in the
Philippines.
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(pages 401 –403)

A War on Two Fronts
(cont.)
• McKinley sent 20,000 American troops to the
Philippines and, along the way, seized the island of
Guam –a Spanish possession in the Pacific.
• The American army was untrained and unequipped.
• Poor conditions in training camps resulted in more
Americans dying in training than in battle.
(pages 401 –403)
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Most of the deaths in the
Spanish American War were from disease and food poisoning, including a batch of tainted meat that Teddy Roosevelt’s
Rough Riders got from the Armor Meat Packing
Plant, the same plant that will be the setting of
Upton Sinclair’s “The
Jungle”.

A War on Two Fronts
(cont.)
• In June, American troops advanced toward Santiago
Harbor in Cuba.
• One group attacked the village of El Caney, and another group attacked San Juan
Heights.
• Both attacks were
American victories.
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(pages 401 –403)

A War on Two Fronts
(cont.)
• Among the American troops were the
“Rough Riders” led by Colonel Leonard Wood, with Theodore Roosevelt
(3 years before Presidency) as Second in command.
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(pages 401 –403)

Made for a Movie The reenactment of
Roosevelt’s “Charge of San Juan Hill” was a popular theatric production at vaudeville houses and “wild west shows” across the country

Analyzing Visuals
Considering what you have learned about the Rough Riders and this battle, what is inaccurate about the painting? What kind of artistic bias is evident in this painting?
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Analyzing Visuals
The Rough Riders are on horseback in the painting, but in battle they were actually on foot.
The painting glorifies the Rough Riders.
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A War on Two Fronts
(cont.)
• Along with the Rough Riders were the all-black 9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments.
• About one-fourth of the American troops fighting in Cuba were African American.
(pages 401 –403)
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The Tenth Cavalry was one of four African American units to serve in Cuba. Although their courage was highly praised, they were not considered equals. The U.S. Army did not abolish segregated units until 1948 (after WWII).

A War on Two Fronts
(cont.)
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(pages 401 –403)

A War on Two Fronts
(cont.)
• Spanish resistance ended with the surrender of
Santiago.
• On August 12, 1898, Spain and the United States agreed to a cease-fire.
(pages 401 –403)
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