Download Chapter 7 Section 2

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 SpanishAmerican 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.
Cuba
• The Teller Amendment had declared that the U.S. would
not annex Cuba.
• McKinley wanted to create stability & increase U.S.
economic activity there.
• He appointed Leonard Wood as governor there and he
quickly began building schools & sanitation system.
Cuba
• Even with the new
sanitation system, disease
remained a problem.
• Dr. Walter Reed was head
of the army’s Yellow Fever
Commission.
• He was sent to Cuba to
help fight the disease.
Cuba
• He & his volunteers
conducted experiments.
• They soon proved that
yellow fever was
transmitted by
mosquitoes.
• Getting rid of the standing
water where mosquitoes
lived helped health officials
to control the disease.
Cuba
• Governor Wood also oversaw
the writing of a Cuban
constitution.
• The document included the
Platt Amendment.
• This amendment limited
Cuba’s right to make treaties
and allowed the United
States to intervene in Cuban
affairs.
Cuba
• It also required Cuba to sell or lease land to the U.S.
• The Cubans reluctantly accepted the amendment & U.S.
troops withdrew.
• The amendment remained in force until 1934 & the U.S.
stayed active in Cuban affairs until the late 1950s.
Puerto Rico
• Like the Cubans, the Puerto Ricans hoped for independence
after the war.
• Instead, the U.S. made the island a territory.
• The Foraker Act established a civil government.
Puerto Rico
• Puerto Ricans were
considered citizens of the
island, but not of the U.S.
• In 1917 the Jones Act gave
Puerto Ricans citizenship.
• Today, the island has its
own constitution & elected
officials, but is considered a
commonwealth of the
United States.
The Philippines
• Spain had surrendered the Philippines in return
for $20 million.
• McKinley argued that the U.S. could benefit from
the naval value & that annexing the island would
keep European nations from seizing them.
The Philippines
• Filipino rebels had expected
independence after the war
because they had helped
U.S. forces capture Manila.
• Filipino rebels, led by Emilio
Aguinaldo, started a
guerilla war against the U.S.
The Philippines
• After thousands of deaths, the U.S. Congress
passed the Philippine Government Act.
• It provided that an appointed governor would
rule the Philippines.
• In 1946 the U.S. granted full independence to
the Philippines.