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Date sent: Tue, 14 May 1996 23:57:06, -0500 <!BEGIN!> <A HREF="SPANWAR.TXT">SPANWAR.TXT </A> Uploader : Greg Polla Email : vtbr46c@prodigy.com Language : English Subject : Spanish american war Title : The Spanish American War Grade : 83 System : High School Age : 17 Country : USA Where I got Evil House of Cheat Address : usenet newsgroups Date : 3/12/96 <!STOP!> The Spanish American war was just another attempt (and a successful one at that) to promote manifest destiny, American trade, and to become a world power. The war originated in the Cuban struggle for independence from Spain that began in 1895. The conditions we (the Spanish) imposed on them were not that harsh but the American newspapers played them up to be more than they really were. This aroused a great deal of sympathy from the United States. In addition the United States had a genuine economic interest in seeing our little island of Cuba independent. Business involvements on the island were estimated at 50 million dollars, and trade with Cuban ports was valued at 100 million dollars yearly. A large hunk of propaganda were the newspapers made by William Randolf Hearst, and Joseph Pulitzer, both who were hungry for war with Spain. Our beloved general Valeriano Weyler y Nicolau was dubbed by them "the butcher". Nothing has been so far from the truth. All he did was take Cubans who were convicted of treason and put them in jail. I am not saying jail life was cake and candy but as I recall neither was the American system. You were still going under penal reforms and from what I hear in my country you can get locked up for being a certain race and all you get is water and bread. We put our prisoners in camps and let them eat what they want. By 1896 there were American demands for the intervention in the war between Cuba and Spain. To appease both sides we did what England had done for your country. We offered them their own parliament and we even recalled our beloved general. How did Cuba respond? The insurgents demanded total independence! All attempts to end the struggle peacefully became futile. America sent the Maine, a big battle ship, to Havana and there it blew up for some reason. I believe it was Hearst who had something to do with the explosion because right after it blew up he wired his correspondent in Cuba Frederic Remington and said "Please remain. You furnish the pictures and I'll furnish the war." Enough said. On March 27th President Mc. Kinley sent an ultimatum to Spain offering American mediation. What they didn't tell you was that another letter was sent saying that nothing less than Cuban independence would be satisfactory. We were not going to take this sitting down from a country who only wants this Cuba because it can take it. It was one of the few last colonies we had and we had a right to it. When the Teller amendment was passed we broke off diplomatic relations and declared war on April 24. On both fronts (the Caribbean and the Philippines which were ours too) we were defeated by the overpowering navy of the US in ten weeks. When the formal peace negotiations took place in Paris on Oct. 1, 1898 the American representatives committed themselves to a policy of imperialistic expansion and did so in the peace talks. They took the Philippines in exchange (although hardly fair) for 20 million dollars. In doing so Spain lost the last remnants of its world empire. The united states in contrast gained an empire. The Spanish American war assured that the Panama canal would be built (since the US now needed a two ocean navy) and thus commerce would flow both to the Atlantic and pacific oceans. The war also advanced the career of the assistant sec. of the Navy who won the v. presidency in 1900 and became president in 1901 when Mc. Kinley was assassinated. Sources Compton's online encyclopedia Prodigy service Encyclopedia Brittannica copyright 1984