Chapter 27 Review

What to know…. The Monroe Doctrine Venezuela/ British Dispute Yellow Journalism/ Jingoism Hawaii Remember the Maine McKinley’s reasons for war Puerto Rico Cuba

The Spanish American War April 25-August 12, 1898 The expansionists in the United States wanted to acquire Cuba, and in 1895 Cuban nationalists began an insurrection against the Spanish government. William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer started their yellow journalism newspaper war, molding public opinion in favor of U.S. intervention against Spain and the annexation of Cuba. With the blowing up of the battleship USS Maine in Havana Harbor and the loss of 266 lives, President William McKinley was pressured by Congress into asking for a declaration of war.

The Philippines Starting on April 25, 1898, the bloody combat lasted only a few months, so that Secretary of State John Hay called it "the splendid little war." In the Pacific, Commodore George Dewey’s squadron slipped into Manila Bay on May 1 in the Philippines and destroyed the obsolete Spanish fleet lying at anchor. Aided by army reinforcements, Dewey captured the city of Manila on August 13. The U.S. Navy then seized Spanish Guam and unclaimed Wake Island, and Congress, by a joint resolution, annexed the Hawaiian Islands.

Cuba and the End In May 1898 the Spanish fleet at Santiago, Cuba, was blockaded. American troops under Gen. William Shafter landed in Cuba and the Rough Riders, were victorious at the Battles of El Caney and San Juan (Kettle's) Hill. The Spanish fleet made a dash for the open seas but was destroyed by the U.S. fleet led by Rear Adm. William Sampson in less than four hours. On July 17, twenty-four thousand Spanish troops surrendered. In the Treaty of Paris (1898) Cuba became independent, and the United States claimed Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippine Islands. The treaty barely passed the Senate, with only two votes over the two-thirds needed for ratification.

Monkey says “Good Luck”