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Name_______________________________________
INQUIRY: Was American expansion abroad justified?
AIM: Should the United States have gone to war with Spain in 1898?
Spanish-American War Debate
Directions: With your seat partner ONLY, please read the three documents “against war” with Spain and the
three documents “for war” with Spain. After each document, answer the questions that follow. When you are
finished reading and answering all of the documents, answer the “position outline” (the last pages of the packetyou can rip them off) with your partner.
Documents “against war” with Spain
Document 1: Platform of the American Anti-Imperialist League, 1899 - Following the Spanish American War, the United States
occupied Cuba for many years & annexed the Philippines from Spain (formerly Spanish territory). This was not a popular political
maneuver. The American Anti-Imperialist league was founded by a group of protesters who were against the Spanish - American War
& the American occupation of Cuba & the Philippines. Below is their league’s platform.
We hold that the policy known as imperialism is hostile to liberty and tends towards militarism - as is evidenced in the case of Cuba,
and an evil from which it has been our glory to be free. We regret that it has become necessary in the land of Washington and Lincoln
to reaffirm that all men, of whatever race or color, are entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We maintain that
governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed….We protest against the extension of American sovereignty
[supreme power or authority] by Spanish methods. We demand the immediate cessation of the war against liberty, begun by Spain….
If an Administration may with impunity [freedom from punishment] ignore the issues upon which it was chosen, deliberately create a
condition of war anywhere on the face of the globe, debauch [violate] the civil service for spoils to promote the adventure, organize a
truth suppressing censorship and demand of all citizens a suspension of judgment and their unanimous support while it chooses to
continue the fighting, representative government is itself imperiled [endanger].
We hold, with Abraham Lincoln, that “no man is good enough to govern another man without that other’s consent. When the white
man governs himself, that is self-government, but when governs himself and also governs another man, that is more than selfgovernment - that is despotism”.
Analysis Questions:
1.
According to the American Anti-Imperialist league, “...imperialism is hostile to liberty and tends towards
militarism…”. What does this mean? What are the members of this league fearful or weary of?
2.
What does “...governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed…” mean? How could that idea be used
to argue against the war with Spain for Cuba’s independence?
3.
The American Anti-Imperialist league was morally opposed to the invasion of Cuba. Why do you think that was based on
this platform?
Name_______________________________________
INQUIRY: Was American expansion abroad justified?
AIM: Should the United States have gone to war with Spain in 1898?
Document 2: U.S. Diplomacy and Yellow Journalism, 1895–1898
Yellow journalism was a style of newspaper reporting that emphasized sensationalism over facts. During its heyday in the late 19th
century it was one of many factors that helped push the United States and Spain into war in Cuba and the Philippines, leading to the
acquisition of overseas territory by the United States. The term originated in the competition over the New York City newspaper
market between major newspaper publishers Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst.
Once the term had been coined, it extended to the sensationalist style employed by the two publishers in their profit-driven coverage
of world events, particularly developments in Cuba. Cuba had long been a Spanish colony and the revolutionary movement, which had
been simmering on and off there for much of the 19th century, intensified during the 1890s. Many in the United States called upon
Spain to withdraw from the island, and some even gave material support to the Cuban revolutionaries. Hearst and Pulitzer devoted
more and more attention to the Cuban struggle for independence, at times accentuating the harshness of Spanish rule or the nobility of
the revolutionaries, and occasionally printing rousing stories that proved to be false. This sort of coverage, complete with bold
headlines and creative drawings of events, sold a lot of papers for both publishers.
The peak of yellow journalism, in terms of both intensity and influence, came in early 1898, when a U.S. battleship, the Maine, sunk
in Havana harbor. The naval vessel had been sent there not long before in a display of U.S. power and, in conjunction with the planned
visit of a Spanish ship to New York, an effort to defuse growing tensions between the United States and Spain. On the night of
February 15, an explosion tore through the ship’s hull, and the Maine went down. Sober observers and an initial report by the colonial
government of Cuba concluded that the explosion had occurred on board, but Hearst and Pulitzer, who had for several years been
selling papers by fanning anti-Spanish public opinion in the United States, published rumors of plots to sink the ship. When a U.S.
naval investigation later stated that the explosion had come from a mine in the harbor, the proponents of yellow journalism seized
upon it and called for war. By early May, the Spanish-American War had begun.
Analysis Questions:
1.
How did yellow journalism impact the start of the Spanish-American War?
2.
According to this excerpt, was popular opinion and support for the war based on factual knowledge or shaped by a biased
opinion? How do you know?
Name_______________________________________
INQUIRY: Was American expansion abroad justified?
AIM: Should the United States have gone to war with Spain in 1898?
Document 3: Yellow Kid - Cartoon - the below cartoon was published in June of 1898 by Leon Barritt. It depicts two “yellow kids” Joseph Pulitzer on the left the William Randolph Hearst on the right. Each man is pushing back on a set of blocks that spell war. The
letters are large to reference the notion that the headlines both newspapers used to sensationalize an anti-Spanish sentiment &
encourage war were getting bigger and bigger, until the front pages of their respective newspapers were simply three or four word
headlines. Pulitzer and Hearst were two major newspaper owners in the 1890’s and are popularly known to have encouraged the
brand of journalism known as “yellow journalism” - sensationalizing and exaggerating the news to sell papers.
On the left Putlizer’s yellow kid costume reads “Say young feller, vatch de tome. I’m de tome. You can’t but it. I’m a goot ting put
don’t push me. See!” Putlizer’s odd accent here is mimicked to say “Say young feller - watch the tome. I’m the tome. You can’t buy
it. I’m a good thing but don’t push me. See!” The word tome here means a book or scholarly work. Essentially, Pulitzer here is
claiming that Hearst should watch his words & that Pulitzer is the “good thing” - or a scholarly newspaper that is providing people
with knowledge. Implying that he is ethically, accurately and morally reporting on the tensions in Cuba & the potential Spanish American War. But if he is pushed, he will do unethical things.
Hearst’s yellow smock reads “Say. This is my war - I bought and paid for it. And if you don’t stop bothering me about it, I’ll have you
put off the earth - see!” This suggests that Hearst is threatening Pulitzer - he wants Pulitzer to stop reporting on the war because Hearst
bought and paid for it - so he sees himself as the owner of the war & the news reporting on the war.
The cartoonist here is mocking these two men, criticizing the American government for allowing the media to create a war, and
informing citizens that the news reports they are reading, which urge strongly for war, are heavily biased.
Analysis Question:
1.
How could this depiction of Yellow Journalism be used to argue against the US invasion of Cuba?
Name_______________________________________
INQUIRY: Was American expansion abroad justified?
AIM: Should the United States have gone to war with Spain in 1898?
Documents “for war” with Spain
Document 1: The Monroe Doctrine by James Monroe 1823
The American continents, by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are
henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers.... The citizens of
the United States cherish sentiments the most friendly, in favor of the liberty and happiness of their fellow men
on that side of the Atlantic. In the wars of the European powers, in matters relating to themselves, we have
never taken any part....
It is only when our rights are invaded, or seriously menaced, that we resent injuries, or make preparation for our
defense. With the movements in this hemisphere, we are, of necessity, more immediately connected....
We owe it, therefore, to candor, and to the amicable relations existing between the United States and those
powers, to declare, that we should consider any attempt on their part to extend their system to any portion of
this hemisphere, as dangerous to our peace and safety. With the existing colonies or dependencies of any
European power we have not interfered, and shall not interfere. But with the governments who have declared
their independence, and maintained it, and whose independence we have, on great consideration, and on just
principles, acknowledged, we could not view any interposition for the purpose of oppressing them, or
controlling, in any other manner, their destiny, by any European power in any other light than as the
manifestation of an unfriendly disposition towards the United States....
Analysis Questions:
1.
2.
mean?
When was this primary source written? Who is the author?
In the first paragraph, what does Monroe declare about the people and nations on the American continent? What does this
3.
In third paragraph, Monroe suggests that there is only one instance in which the United States would get involved with
European powers. What is that instance?
4.
How could this document be used in support of an argument for the US declaring war on Spain?
Name_______________________________________
INQUIRY: Was American expansion abroad justified?
AIM: Should the United States have gone to war with Spain in 1898?
Document 2: Senator Redfield Proctor, speech on Spanish atrocities in Cuba delivered in the United States
Senate (excerpts), March 17, 1898
NOTE: Senator Redfield Proctor, a Vermont Republican,
delivered this speech on March 17, 1898, after a visit to
Cuba. His testimony helped sway politicians and business
leaders toward war.
I went to Cuba with a strong conviction that the picture had
been overdrawn. I could not believe that out of a population
of one million six hundred thousand, two hundred thousand
had died within these Spanish forts....My inquiries were
entirely outside of sensational sources....What I saw I cannot
tell so that others can see it. It must be seen with one's own
eyes to be realized....To me the strongest appeal is not the
barbarity practiced by Weyler, nor the loss of the Maine...but
the spectacle of a million and a half people, the entire native
population of Cuba, struggling for freedom and deliverance
from the worst misgovernment of which I ever had
knowledge....
Analysis Questions:
1. What was Senator Proctor’s experience when visiting Cuba?
2. Why did Senator Proctor’s testimony sway politicians to support war?
Name_______________________________________
INQUIRY: Was American expansion abroad justified?
AIM: Should the United States have gone to war with Spain in 1898?
Document 3: Excerpt from Albert J. Beveridge’s Senate campaign speech - March of the Flag, September 16,
1898
Fellow citizens, — it is a noble land that God has given us; a land that can feed and clothe the world.... It is a
mighty people that he has planted on this soil.... It is a glorious history our God has bestowed upon his chosen
people; ... a history of soldiers who carried the flag across the blazing deserts and through the ranks of hostile
mountains, even to the gates of sunset; a history of a multiplying people who overran a continent in half a
century....
The Opposition tells us that we ought not to govern a people without their consent. I answer, The rule of liberty
that all just government derives its authority from the consent of the governed, applies only to those who are
capable of self-government. I answer, We govern the Indians without their consent, we govern our territories
without their consent, we govern our children without their consent....
They ask us how we will govern these new possessions. I answer: ... If England can govern foreign lands, so
can America. If Germany can govern foreign lands, so can America. If they can supervise protectorates, so can
America…
What does all this mean for every one of us? It means opportunity for all the glorious young manhood of the
republic—the most virile, ambitious, impatient, militant manhood the world has ever seen. It means that the
resources and the commerce of these immensely rich dominions will be increased....
In Cuba, alone, there are 15,000,000 acres of forest unacquainted with the axe. There are exhaustless mines of
iron.... There are millions of acres yet unexplored….
It means new employment and better wages for every laboring man in the Union....
Ah! as our commerce spreads, the flag of liberty will circle the globe.... And, as their thunders salute the flag,
benighted peoples will know that the voice of Liberty is speaking, at last, for them; that civilization is dawning,
at last, for them—Liberty and Civilization, those children of Christ's gospel....
Fellow Americans, we are God's chosen people....
Analysis Question:
1. Why does Albert Beveridge believe that the US has a right to take lands that aren’t theirs?
Name_______________________________________
INQUIRY: Was American expansion abroad justified?
AIM: Should the United States have gone to war with Spain in 1898?
POSITION OUTLINE
Directions: Using the documents above, fill out the arguments for and against war with Spain.
Question: Should the US declare war on Spain & invade Cuba?
Arguments AGAINST war:
Reason / Argument 1:
Reason / Argument 2:
Reason / Argument 3:
Argument #1 (from above):
Supporting Evidence from Primary Source Documents:
Reasoning:
Argument #2 (from above):
Supporting Evidence from Primary Source Documents:
Reasoning:
Argument #3 (from above):
Supporting Evidence from Primary Source Documents:
Reasoning:
Name_______________________________________
INQUIRY: Was American expansion abroad justified?
AIM: Should the United States have gone to war with Spain in 1898?
Arguments FOR war:
Reason / Argument 1:
Reason / Argument 2:
Reason / Argument 3:
Argument #1 (from above):
Supporting Evidence from Primary Source Documents:
Reasoning:
Argument #2 (from above):
Supporting Evidence from Primary Source Documents:
Reasoning:
Argument #3 (from above):
Supporting Evidence from Primary Source Documents:
Reasoning:
Based on all of the arguments, which one do you think is the most convincing? Should the US have gone
to war with Spain in 1898? Why or why not?