Download Textbook perspectives uss Maine

Name:___________________________________________ Date:_____________ Hour:__________
SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR PERSPECTIVES

Read the following passages. As you are reading, use a
highlighter to mark where you see similarities/differences
between the passages. Use one color for similarities and another
color for differences.

The following excerpt is from a textbook from the Caribbean. It
talks about the events of the Spanish-American War.
CARIBBEAN POINT OF VIEW:
 On the U.S.S. Maine…
 The United States government began to see that intervention in the war would be
popular. Americans who owned land or businesses which were being ruined in the
fighting called on their government to send aid and bring about a quick rebel victory.
Army and Navy commanders pointed out that American defenses would be stronger in
Cuba was under United States influence. President McKinley hesitated and took time to
thing the question over. Meanwhile, he sent the warship Maine to Havana to protect
American lives and property. On 15 February 1898 the Maine exploded in Havana
harbor with the loss of 266 American lives. It had been blown up by an underwater
bomb. Americans immediately blamed the Spanish. In fact the bomb was probably
placed by Cuban patriots who saw the disaster as a way of bringing the United States
into war on their side.

The following excerpt is from a textbook from Cuba. It also talks
about the events of the Spanish-American War.
CUBAN POINT OF VIEW:
 On the U.S.S. Maine…
 On February 15th, 1898 only weeks after the autonomous regime was installed and just
before the island’s parliamentary elections were held, an event occurred that clearly
announced the future: the explosion of the US battleship Main in Havana Bay, with a
toll of 266 crew members and two officers dead. The US government had send the ship
three weeks before with the pretext of serious unrest promoted in Havana by integration
supporters against the autonomous regime. The “Maine” was an obvious sign that the
United States was willing to directly intervene in the Spanish-Cuban war.
 According to a US commission, the explosion had come from outside the ship; but a
Spanish commission found that the blast occurred inside. Actually Spain was doing
everything possible to prevent a war with the United States and was careful not to
commit any act of provocation. Hence, the Spaniards were not responsible for the blast.
On the contrary, the US authorities were seeking a pretext to wage war against Spain.
Besides meeting its old ambitions over Cuba [and] Puerto Rico, the Philippines and
other militarily and economically important possessions could fall into US hands as a
result of a war with the European country. And fearing that Cuba would obtain its
independence and slip through its fingers, the US needed an incident like that of the
“Maine”. Consequently, everything points to a self-provocation. The theory
concerning US responsibility was reinforced by the fact that almost all white officials
escaped the catastrophe because they were not on deck at the time of the blast.

The following excerpt is from a textbook from the Philippines. It
also talks about the events of the Spanish-American War.
FILIPINO POINT OF VIEW:
 On the U.S.S. Maine…

The immediate cause of this was the blowing up of the U.S. battleship Maine at the
harbor of Havana Cuba on the night of February 18, 1898. Although the Maine had
been blown up by American spies in order to provoke the war, the public was not
informed of the truth. Instead, American newspapers stirred the war spirit of the
Americans and blamed Spain. The cry “Remember the Maine!” swept the United
States.

On April 19, the U.S. Congress passed several resolutions demanding that Spain
evacuate Cuban soil. Spain did not want a war because at the time she was harassed
by domestic trouble and two revolutions in her previous colonies – Cuba and the
Philippines. To save her honor, however, she declared war against the United States
on April 24. This is what the American government was waiting for. On the
following day, the Congress declared war on Spain. Thus began the SpanishAmerican war.

NOW: Read the excerpt from your U.S. History textbook about the
explosion of the U.S.S. Maine (pg. 625).

Compare these excerpts with the excerpt from our textbook about
the U.S.S. Maine

Answer the following on a separate sheet of paper:
1) What are some of the differences in the description of the
explosion of the Maine? What are some similarities?
2) How does each book portray…
 The U.S.
 Cuba
 Spain
 Are they portrayed in a positive or negative manner?
3) Why would the foreign textbooks be different from each
other and different from the American textbook?