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| By the end of the 19th Century,
the long era of European colonialism in the Americas
was coming to a close. Spain had been declining in power
since the mid-seventeeth Century, while the United States
has been growing in power since the close of the American
Civil War. Although President Monroe had issued his Monroe
Doctrine in 1823, it had little weight for its first
75 years while the United States was still a fledgling
military power. That would change in 1898, when the
United States arrived on the international scene with
a sound defeat of Spain; a war that ushered in the American
century and projected American power deep into the Pacific
with the country's first foray into imperialism. |
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| The conflict
erupted over Cuba. Located less than one hundred
miles from Florida, the Spanish-ruled island had
been heading toward independence for over thirty
years. By 1896, when Marshal Campos had failed
to pacify the Cuban rebellion, the Conservative
government of Antonio Cánovas del Castillo
sent general Valeriano Weyler to crush the rebellion.
Weyler's experience in controlling rebels in the
Philippines made him the logical choice. Weyler
was made a governor of Cuba with full powers to
suppress the insurgency and to restore political
stability to facilitate greater sugar production. Weyler was |
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| frustrated by the insurgent hit-and-run
tactics and their ability to live off the land
while blending in with the noncombatant population.
His solution was to physically separate the rebels
from the civilians by putting the latter in safe
havens, protected by loyal Spanish troops. Weyler
began moving Cuban civilians to centralized prison
locations. Ultimately he would move about 300,000
civilians. Although the intention was to keep them alive,
the conditions at these "reconcentration"
camps were abysmal and many starved. Several hundred
thousand died in these concentration camps, earning
the general the nickname "Butcher Weyler".
Additionally, the Spanish put the entire island under
martial law and lynched Cubans suspected of guerilla
activities. |
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For several years, the Cuban situation was
had been growing as a topic of interest among
Americans. It became the backdrop for a New
York City circulation war between two of America's
prominent newspaper publishers, William Randolph
Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer. These journalists
vied for readership, money, and power with a
sensationalized reporting style that became
known as "yellow journalism," a reference
to the first newspaper cartoon character to
be printed with color, called The Yellow Kid.
By 1897 both Hearst's New York Journal and
Pulitzer's The World had competing versions
of the comic strip. They were soon referred
to as, "the Yellow Kid papers," and
their work became known as yellow journalism. |
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| Much credit has been given to yellow journalism
for its role in influencing public opinion and
government policy, which culminated in a declaration
of war against Spain in 1898. How large a role
these papers played
is debatable. For some time Hearst and Pulitzers
had turned up the anti-Spanish rhetoric, often
ignoring some of the anti-American actions of
Cuban nationals. In January 1896, for example,
a riot had broken out in Havana by Cuban Spanish
loyalists who were also anti-American. They destroyed
the printing presses of four local newspapers
that had been critical of Spanish Army atrocities.
Most famous of the Anti-Spanish yellow journalism
was the "Olivette Incident." On February
12,1897, the Journal reported that as the
American steamship Olivette was about to
leave Havana Harbor for the United States, it
was boarded by Spanish police officers who searched
three young Cuban women, one of whom was suspected
of carrying messages from the rebels. The Journal ran the story with the headline, “Does
Our Flag Protect Women?” It was accompanied
by a dramatic sketch by Frederic Remington across
one half a page showing Spanish plainclothes men
searching a nude |
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| woman. The Journal went
on to editorialize, “War is a dreadful thing,
but there are things more dreadful than even war,
and one of them is dishonor.” This report
shocked the country and prompted Congressman Amos
Cummings to announce intentions to launch a congressional
inquiry into the incident. Soon, however, the
story unraveled. The World quickly produced
one of the young women who contested the Journal’s version of the incident. Eventually the Journal was forced to correct the story. The search had been
appropriately conducted by a police matron with no men
present. Among the most popular stories often cited
as evidence of the meddling influence of Hearst and
Pulitzer is the story of Remington's attempt at returning
from Cuba because there seemed to be not much going
on. As the story goes, when Remington telegraphed to
his boss to report that conditions in Cuba were not
bad enough to warrant hostilities, Hearst allegedly
cabled back , "Please remain. You furnish the pictures
and I'll furnish the war." In reality, yellow journalism
probably had little influence outside of New York. Much
of the pro-war reporting came of the the American Midwest. |
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Weyler's policies met with some
opposition in Spain. Although the Conservatives
supported him, the Liberals denounced the inhumanity
of the reconcentrados. When Weyler's
main supporter, Prime Minister Antonio Cánovas
del Castillo was assassinated in June 1897,
Weyler resigned his post and returned to Spain.
Meanwhile, the US Consul-General, Fitzhugh Lee
(the nephew of Confederate General Robert E.
Lee), cabled Washington with fears for the lives
of Americans living in Havana. The U.S.S. |
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| Maine under the command of Captain Charles Sigsbee
was sent to Havana Harbor as a show of force
and to protect American citizens and American
interests. Then, on the evening of February
15, 1898, the Maine exploded, killing 268 American
sailors. Not waiting for the results of official inquiries,
Hearst and Pulitzer reported that Spanish officials
in Cuba were to blame, and they widely publicized the
conspiracy. The pro-war reporting and editorializing
across the country soon had its effect on American public
opinion. Memorial images of the Maine, and the
anti-Spanish slogan, "Remember the Maine!"
(sometimes accompanied with "To Hell with Spain!")
soon graced popular culture items as diverse as buttons,
plates, and tobacco pipes. Popular music also reflected
the tragedy of Maine explosion with such songs
as, "My Sweetheart Went Down With The Maine." |
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| Despite the public
outrcry, President William McKinley, Speaker of
the House Thomas Brackett Reed and the business
community opposed the growing public demand for
war, fearing it would disrupt the recent upward
turn in the economy. One song, "Uncle Sam,
Why You Waiting?" reflected the frustration
about what the public perceived as McKinley's
inaction on the issue. The turning point came
when Senator Redfield Proctor (R-VT) delivered
a speech before the Senate on March 17, 1898. In this speech,
Proctor carefully analyzed the situation on the
ground in Cuba, and concluded that war was the
only answer. The business and religious communities,
which had opposed war, switched sides, leaving
President William McKinley and Thomas Brackett
Reed almost alone in their opposition to the war.
On April 11, McKinley asked Congress for authority |
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| to send American troops to Cuba for the purpose
of ending the civil war there. On April 19, Congress
passed joint resolutions supporting Cuban independence,
disclaiming any intentions in Cuba, demanding
Spanish withdrawal, and authorizing the president
to use as much military |
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force as
he thought necessary to help Cuban patriots gain
independence from Spain. Included in the resolution
was an amendment proposed by Senator Henry Teller
(D-CO), guaranteeing that Cuba would remain in
the control of its people. The Senate passed the
amendment, 42 to 35, on April 19, 1898, and the
House concurred the same day, 311 to 6. President
McKinley signed the joint resolution on April
20, 1898, and the ultimatum was forwarded to Spain.
In response, Spain broke off diplomatic relations
with the United States and declared war on April
23. On April 25, Congress declared that a state
of war between the United States and Spain had
existed since April 20 (later changed to April
21). |
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