The Spanish-American War Chapter 7 Section 2 The Spanish-American War

War with Spain In the late 1890s, newspapers published stories from Cuba. Cuban rebels were fighting for independence from Spain.

War with Spain To attract readers, the newspapers printed sensational, often exaggerated stories. This technique is called yellow journalism. These vivid stories about Spanish brutality convinced Americans that the U.S. military should support the rebels.

War with Spain President William McKinley was a supporter of Cuban independence. A few events led to war……

War with Spain The first event – Spanish minster wrote a letter to the U.S. president calling the U.S. weak. Americans were outraged!

War with Spain After the letter, the president sent a battleship, the Maine, to Cuba. One day it exploded and sank, killing 266 men. The reasons for the explosion were unknown, but the American press immediately blamed Spain.

War with Spain “Remember the Maine” became a rallying cry for angry Americans.

War with Spain President McKinley asked Congress to approve going to war & they did. Cuba was not an American territory, but the U.S. issued a resolution stating Cuba was now an independent nation. The U.S. also demanded Spain leave Cuba within 3 days.

War with Spain Attached to the resolution was the Teller Amendment. This stated that the U.S. had no interest in taking control of Cuba. In response to this, Spain declared war on the U.S. The next day, we declared war on Spain.

War in the Philippines While attention was on Cuba, the U.S. quickly won a victory on the other side of the world. The Philippines was a Spanish colony.

War in the Philippines Filipinos, like the Cubans, were rebelling against Spanish rule. As soon as the Spanish-American War began, American commodore, George Dewey, raced to the Philippines with 4 large warships and 2 small gunboats.

War in the Philippines He sailed into Manila Bay & destroyed the Spanish fleet that was stationed there. Dewey’s forces sank or captured 10 ships.

War in the Philippines U.S. troops arrived & with the help of Emilio Aguinaldo, a Filipino rebel, took control of the Philippine capital, Manila.

War in the Caribbean The navy was prepared for war, but the army was not. New volunteers brought the number of soldiers from 28,000 to 280,000.

War in the Caribbean The Army did not have enough rifles or bullets for these soldiers. Many soldiers had to wear wool uniforms in Cuba’s tropical heat.

War in the Caribbean The soldiers faced harsh conditions in Cuba. Many soldiers caught yellow fever. More than 2,000 Americans died from disease while only 400 were killed in battle.

War in the Caribbean The most colorful group of soldiers was the Rough Riders. Second in command of the group was Lieutenant Colonel Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt had organized the Rough Riders to fight in Cuba.

War in the Caribbean The Rough Riders were a group of volunteers that included Native Americans, college athletes, cowboys, miners & ranchers. Newspaper stories of their heroism earned the Rough Riders America’s admiration.

War in the Caribbean After many battles, Spain & the U.S. began peace negotiations. A few days later, the U.S. invaded Spanish-held Puerto Rico. Spain signed a cease-fire agreement on August 12, 1898.

U.S. Gains Territories The peace treaty with Spain, placed Cuba, Guam, Puerto Rico & the Philippines under U.S. control. Some Americans opposed imperialism and created the Anti-Imperialist League. They argued that the treaty threatened democracy because it denied self-government to the people living in the newly acquired territories.