Spanish American War

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Spanish American War

• Deal or No Deal

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US Interest in Cuba
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• William L. Marcy, US Secretary of State
  (1853-1857)

Our minister at Madrid, during the
Administration of President Polk, was instructed
to ascertain if Spain was disposed to transfer
Cuba to the United States for a liberal pecuniary
consideration.
July 23, 1853
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• James Buchanan, 15th President (1857-1861)

I reiterate my recommendation ... in favor of
the acquisition of Cuba from Spain by fair
purchase. I firmly believe that such an
acquisition would contribute essentially to the
well-being and prosperity of both countries in
all future time.
State of the Union December 3, 1860
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Timeline Activity
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• Argued for
• Building the Panama Canal
• Obtaining bases in the Caribbean
• Building maritime commerce
• Building a navy to protect commerce and prevent
  blockade
• Obtaining overseas colonies for refueling and
  repair

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• Jose Marti (1853-1895)
• Exiled Cuban Nationalist

• Published newspaper La Patria Libre (Free
  Fatherland) in 1869
• Arrested and sentenced to six year hard labor
  released and exiled from Cuba
• Founded the Cuban Revolutionary Party
• Killed in a skirmish in Cuba

8
William Randolph Hearst Publisher, New York
Journal San Francisco Examiner

• Didn't mind fabricating stories - goal was 1
  million subscribers.
• You furnish the pictures, I'll furnish the war
• Published pictures showing how Spanish saboteurs
  had fastened an underwater mine to the Maine

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Joseph Pulitzer (1847-1911)Publisher, New York
World St. Louis Post-Dispatch

• At thirty-six, purchased the New York World
• Sent divers to investigate the wreck of the Maine
• Battled for readers with William Randolph Hearst
• Endowed the school of journalism at Columbia
  University in New York City

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Annexation of Hawaii
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General Valeriano Weyler y NicolauGovernor
Commander-in-Chief,Spanish Army in Cuba The
Butcher

• Relocated (herded) more than 300,000 rebels into
  "reconcentration camps,
• Bad and inadequate food and lack of sanitation
  killed thousands of peasants
• 50,000 in Havana province alone
• Cuban émigrés publicized Weyler's inhumanity and
  won the sympathy in the U.S.

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Theodore RooseveltAssistant Secretary of the
Navy

• The Naval War of 1812, set the standard for
  studies on naval strategy and was required
  reading at the Naval Academy
• Befriended Alfred Thayer Mahan
• "the liveliest spot in Washington...is the Navy
  Department. The decks are cleared for action.
  Acting Secretary Roosevelt....has the whole Navy
  bordering on a war footing.

New York Sun
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DeLome Letter

• Written by the Spanish Ambassador to the United
  States
• Criticized President McKinley
• weak and a bidder for the admiration of the
  crowd
• a would-be politician
• Published in the New York Journal - helped
  generate public support for a war with Spain

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Sinking of the Maine
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(No Transcript)
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"You may fire when your are ready, Gridley"

• Commodore George Dewey sank the entire Spanish
  squadron in six hours in Manila Bay, the
  Philippines Islands.

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Rough Riders
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Platt Amendment

• Approved May 22, 1903
• U.S. - Cuba Treaty attempted to protect Cuba's
  independence from foreign intervention
• Permitted extensive U.S. involvement in Cuban
  international and domestic affairs to enforce
  Cuban independence

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Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine

• All that this country desires is to see the
  neighboring countries stable, orderly and
  prosperous....Chronic wrongdoing, or an impotence
  which results in a general loosening of the ties
  of civilized society, may in America, as
  elsewhere, ultimately require intervention...and
  force the United States, however reluctantly, in
  flagrant cases of such wrongdoing or impotence,
  to the exercise of an internal police power.
• Speak softly and carry a big stick

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Bibliography

• http//www.spanamwar.com
• http//www.ourdocuments.gov
• http//www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/
• http//www.historyofcuba.com/
• http//www.smplanet.com/imperialism/remember.html
• http//www.zpub.com/cpp/saw.html
• http//millercenter.org/scripps/archive/speeches
• http//www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/
• http//www.encyclopedia.com/doc

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Spanish American War

• Deal or No Deal