Remember the Maine! To Hell with Spain!

Context: In February 1898, relations between the United States and Spain deteriorated. On the evening of February 15, a

sudden and shocking explosion tore a hole in the hull of the American battleship Maine, which had been on patrol in

Havana Harbor. The immediate assumption was that the sinking of the Maine and the concomitant deaths of 260 sailors

was the result of Spanish treachery. Although no conclusive results have ever been proven, many Americans had already

made up their minds, demanding an immediate declaration of war.

Directions: As a class, we will read and analyze the first article, “DESTRUCTION OF THE WAR SHIP MAINE WAS THE WORK

OF AN ENEMY” and discuss the questions on the board. Following, students will work together to analyze the article

“MAINE’S HULL WILL DECIDE” and answer the accompanying guiding questions. Students will then independently

complete a graphic organizer (attached) organizing their analysis of each document.

For homework, students will write a paragraph (7 - 9 sentences) which provides an argument for which news article they

think was more reliable and why. The following outline will provide a structure for the assigned paragraph.

Sentence One: Historical context leading up to the explosion of the Maine

Sentence Two: Topic sentence, direct response to the question

Sentence Three: Evidence from an article

Sentence Four: How does this evidence support your argument?

Sentence Five: Evidence from an article

Sentence Six: How does this evidence support your argument?

Sentence Seven: Closing – How does the above mentioned evidence support your overall positon?

Guiding Questions

1. How long after the explosion of the Maine was this article written?

2. What does the headline of the article suggest about the newspaper’s point of view?

3. Upon what type of evidence does the New York Journal base its claims?

Guiding Questions:

1. How does the date of this article compare with the date on the New York Journal?

2. According to these headlines, what happened to the Maine?

3. What kinds of evidence does the New York Times include to support its account of the incident?

Explosion of the Maine Graphic Organizer

Which account do you find more believable?

Do

cum

ent

Pu

blicatio

n

Date

According to this article, what

happened to the Maine?

What information is included to

support this version of the story?

Write a quotation that contrasts with

something written in the other

article.

A: The

Journal

B: The

Times

On a separate sheet of paper (or the back of the one you are writing on): Compare the evidence used by both newspapers to support their claims

about what happened to the Maine. Use evidence from each article to support your interpretation of who was responsible for the destruction of

the USS Maine. See the directions for a suggested paragraph outline.