...The Spanish-American War was a conflict between the United States and Spain that last only four months. The war was a result of the provocation of the Spanish against the Cuban people. The United States involvement in this conflict was brought about not only as a means for freeing people oppressed by the Spanish government but also to appeal to the expansionist ideal of broadening Americas economic outreach. The hope for this war was for the United States to emerge victorious as a world power. During the late nineteenth century America’s economy was booming. [2] Between 1870 and 1890 the gross domestic product actually quadrupled. The only issue with this was the fact that 90 percent of this was consumed on home soil. Since exports were only 10 percent of Americas income the country started to look towards foreign markets for expansion. At the present time 80 percent of the United States small export went to Europe and Canada already. In order to broaden their outreach, America started too looked to Asia and Latin American markets to boost their export trading. [2] To do this, America starting looking at places such as Hawaii, Guam and the Philippines as places of interest to set up trade outpost. The problem with this is that most of these areas were controlled by Spain. These places would play a key role in the outcome of Spanish-American War. At the beginning Europe’s expansion to the Americas, Spain play a significant role in colonizing much of the new land. However...
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...In 19th century, the essential feature of the American foreign policy were trying to avoid the conflicts with European powers and applied itself for territorial expansion. But the Spanish-American War which took place in 1898, was the United States first time broke the geographic boundaries and began to set a goal as one of the most powerful countries in the world in 20th century. From isolationism to expansionism, the Spanish-American War led America into the modern era, the war was a symbol that the United States was rising power. The Spanish-American War was a war which launched in order to despoil the Spanish colonies. At that time, the Philippines not only had the important economic value, but also was the strategic base of America, so it was necessary to occupy the Philippines. On February 15th, the American vessel the Maine sunk in Havana harbor, and the United States seized the chance as an excuse, began to take military actions to declare war to Spain. There are many reasons to explain why the United States won this war, and many people consider that the main reason of it is because the huge strength disparity between the United States and Spain. “Spain was even less ready for war than the United States.”(ushistory.org). That’s true, the burgeoning America had strong economic and military potential, and it had built a powerful navy. At the same time Spain had declined, and it was isolated in the National position, also. Especially the Cubans and the Filipinos armed themselves...
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...Cuba was a very important territory for the United states in the late 1800’s. The reason for this was a large amount of the United States sugarcane and tobacco industry came from Cuba. Also this industrial paradise was about 90 miles away. This distance became a problem when the Spanish government tried to seize the island and hold the Cubans under Spanish rule. This conflict was watched closely by the United states due to the immense dangers the Spanish brought by being that close to the United States. This last conflict between the Spanish and the Cubans broke out in 1895. This conflict started when Cuba didn't have a strong enough army or enough resources to wage out a war against the mighty Spanish army. Cuba then tries to ruin their...
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...be looking at what led up to Cuba’s independence from Spain at the end of the Spanish American War. One thing that you will notice is there was no single person or movement that led the charge to independence, but a mix of people from all walks of Cuban life. We will also see that Spain made some of the same mistakes that Great Brittan had had with the United States, helping to push the Cubans to want change. Let us start with a little bit of history leading up to the major moves to independence. As early as 1790 the idea of independence was popular in Cuba, with the first attempt at revolution taking place in 1791, led by José Antonio Aponte....
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...history there have been many wars in which different parties were fighting for either freedom or territory and in the Spanish American War both Spain and the United States were in conflict for both. The Spanish American War began in April 1898 and ended August 1898 which was a brief rivalry between Spain and the United States that led to the death of three hundred and seventy-nine Americans . The United States found themselves intervening in Cuba’s fight for independence against Spain after President McKinley and the queen of Spain tried their best to keep a war from even happening. This has changed the countries future which some may say that it was a worthy entity or others thought it was a bad thing. As a result, they did indeed...
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...kindled the war between Spain and America. 2. What long-range causes led to the event? Signed by President Monroe in 1823, the Monroe Doctrine “held that the New World would no longer be a target for colonization” (Dent 12). Spain would not acknowledge the signed Doctrine and comply with its writings. Years later in 1873, a freighter flying the American flag and captained by an American, Joseph Fry, was caught by a Spanish gunboat for smuggling arms to the Cuban rebels. Fry, along with the other two hundred and seven men, were found guilty of piracy. Five days later, he and fifty two of the crew were executed by a firing squad. In addition, some of the now deceased men were decapitated and put on pikes for public display. American citizens were outraged by the brutality of the Spanish people and wanted revenge but the country was still recovering from the losses incurred during the American Civil War and at the time did not have the Navy ships required for war. Furthermore, Presidents Cleveland and McKinley shied away from any major conflict with Spain. 3. What immediate causes led to the event? Prior to the sinking of the battleship Maine, the island of Cuba was in a revolution against their highly oppressive rulers from Spain, which at that time claimed Cuba as a province, for their independence. A majority of the rebels were detained in prison camps without adequate nourishment or water, causing approximately 200,000 of the 400,000 captured to perish. The United States kept...
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...center of Spanish-American conflicts. Since 1895, Cubans had been in open revolt against Spanish democratic rule. The next year, Spain sent General Valeriano Weyler to Cuba to put an end to the rebels. Citizens suspected in supporting independence were sent to concentration camps. Many people died in the concentration camps from malnutrition and disease however, not many were executed. When the new reached the American public they were outraged. At this time American’s received there headlines from publishers like William Randolph Hearst or Joseph Pulitzer know as yellow journalist. In February 1898, the relationship between the United States and Spain became even more strained, when a letter from the Spanish minister Dupuy de...
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...domination of the Americas in 1823. Written and delivered by James Monroe, the fifth President of the United States, the Doctrine laid out fundamental “rules” dictating the activities of Europeans colonists. Specifically, it declared against foreign colonization of - or against - the Americans.Furthermore, it was written in response to the comments and requests that western hemisphere countries had told the United States. Specifically, the “proposal of the Russian Imperial Government” declared by the Russian czar had proclaimed that all the area north of the fifty-first parallel and extending one hundred miles into the Pacific would be off-limits to non-Russians....
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...American Imperialism Imperialism is defined as a policy which stronger nations extend they’re economic, political, or military control over weaker territories and this policy is often associated with the establishment of colonies. Since the American Revolution, American Imperialism has been a part of the United States history. European countries had been involved in imperialism for centuries before the United States started to build a colonial empire. During the American Imperialism, the main focus was a political and economic expansion and was supported by interests, actions, and strategies. This is how American became such a powerful nation. The United States became involved with Hawaii, Cuba, Spain, Philippines, and China during this policy. In the late 1800s, the people in the United States had wanted to become more involved in Imperialism. Henry Cabot Lodge, a senator from Massachusetts was one of the supporters of the US expansion. He believed that the United States must not fall out of the line of (Mathews, 2006) March, because of the smaller states that were trying to expand their future. In 1826, the United States first became involved with Hawaii, missionaries went to Hawaii to convert them to Christianity, this was one of the first treaties between the United States and Hawaii, and there became peace and friendship between the two of them (American Imperialism: Political and Econimic Expansion (1826-1914)) In 1875, the beginning of the Americans owned...
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... England were at war with Spain and France, the English didn’t have a good relationship with the Native Americans, and the earlier English colonies didn’t do so well. During the 115-year span, England was at war with Spain and France. England was a Protestant country and Spain was a Catholic country. That led to conflict between the two countries because Spain wanted to make England Catholic. In addition to religious differences, war broke out starting with Sir Francis Drake stealing lots of money and ships from Spain from 1577 to 1580. This made King Philip II very mad causing him to build an army. This army, the Spanish Armada, who were sent out in 1588 to destroy England. However, the Spanish lost quickly. England and France fought wars between them in each other during this time. These wars were called the Anglo-French wars. In all, there were...
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...In the American Revolution the United States key problem was to secure aid from abroad without sacrificing independence. The fight for American independence piqued the interest of Europe’s most powerful colonial powers. The result of this conflict would not only determine the fate of the thirteen North American colonies, but also alter the balance of colonial power throughout the world. John Dickinson and Patrick Henry believed that independence without an alliance in place would put America at the mercy of France. Samuel and John Adams believed that other nations would not sign alliances until America declared its independence and that the offer of trade would bring alliances without political commitments. European support varied greatly in both its form and intensity. For France, support of the Americans meant strong, direct action. This included heavy shipments of military supplies and significant financial support. Later in the war, French action took the form of direct military intervention as French troops landed in North American and French ships began to roam the Atlantic coastline. In fact, the argument exists that if it were not for the influx of French troops and ships, towards the end of the conflict, the...
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...So far, the United States have been focusing on building itself up and have not looked past the western hemisphere. The influx of people moving west and immigrants have put the U.S on the fast track of growth in its cities and global power. The Monroe Doctrine was a catalyst for the rise of the next global power. This document pushed the United States to start asserting itself to the other countries around the world. During the late 1800’s, Great Britain started their campaign of global control and one of the first disputes that caused the Spanish-American War involved the number one world power and the rising nation. There were three incidents that acted as a gateway in America’s role in Latin America; one major incident, out of three,...
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...1898 April 21–25 - The Spanish–American War begins. War is officially declared by the United States and by Spain. May 1 - Commodore George Dewey defeats decisively the Spanish fleet in the Battle of Manila Bay. May 19 - Emilio Aguinaldo returns to the Philippines from exile in Hong Kong aboard an American naval vessel[4] May 24 - Aguinaldo issues a proclamation in which he assumed command of all Philippine forces and established an insurgent dictatorial government with himself as dictator.[5] June 12 - The Philippine Declaration of Independence is proclaimed by Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista, its author, on behalf of the Dictatorial Government of the Philippines. June 18 - Aguinaldo, believing the Americans had no intent to occupy the Philippine Islands, issues a decree formally establishing the Dictatorial Government of the Philippines.[6] June 23 - Aguinaldo issues a decree replacing the Dictatorial Government with a Revolutionary Government, with himself as President.[7][8] June 25 - The third of three U.S. expeditions arrives in Manila, bringing land forces in the country to a total of 10,946 men.[9] August 8 - Eight American soldiers were killed or wounded by the Spanish fire. American officers suspected at the time that the insurgents were informing the Spaniards of the American movements. This was later confirmed by captured insurgent documents.[10] August 12 - A Protocol of Peace is signed...
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...The explosion and the consequent sinking of the USS Maine in 1898 is undeniably one of the greatest mysteries that would go down in the cannons of American history. In the Key West Cemetery on 701 Passover Lane stands the statue of a USS Maine sailor, looking into the horizon as if he is trying to find those left behind at Havana’s harbor. Like this sailor, we have attempted to look back at that fateful day to gain a better understanding of what caused the explosion, but also to understand what motivated the United States to invade Cuba thereafter. It had seemed to be a deliberate tactic on the part of the U.S. to declare war against Spain. The United States had an array of ulterior motives behind the dispatch of the USS Maine to Cuba, and...
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...The Spanish-American War changed America’s view of expansion. It was a brief and intense war between America and Spain that lasted only from April until July of 1898. The war was not started by one thing in particular. Many events happened preceding the war. It all began with the Wilson-Gorman Tariff of 1894, which put restrictions on sugar imports to the United States. This hurt Cuba’s economy since it was based on producing and selling their sugar. At the time, Cuba was a Spanish colony. Angry citizens known as “insurrectos” began revolting. Spain then sent General Weyler to stabilize the situation in Cuba and put a lot of people in concentration camps. The United States became concerned having many businessmen with investment interests in Cuba. The American public was stirred into an anti-Spain frenzy by the yellow journalism of men like Hearst and Pulitzer. President Grover Cleveland did not declare war. Not long after President McKinley came into office, he was criticizing Spain’s “uncivilized and inhuman” conduct. By this time, Weyler had left Cuba. McKinley sent the USS Maine on a “friendly” mission to Cuba. The ship was to wait, ready to rescue any U.S. citizens endangered by the conflict in Cuba. On February 15, 1898, the USS Maine mysteriously blew up, killing 266 sailors and sinking the ship. McKinley gave the OK for war and by April, both the US and Spain had declared war. The Spanish-American War was called “a splendid little war” because the war...
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