The Spanish-American War: The Fighting and Results US History
Spiconardi
Slide 3
The Teller Amendment Prior to the start of the war, Congress
passed the Teller Amendment Teller Amendment Under Sen. Teller of
Colorado, the amendment vowed that the U.S. would not annex Cuba
after the wars conclusion, but rather leave control of the island
to its people Based on what we have learned about the US this unit,
do you think the US followed through on its promise? Sen. Henry
Teller (R-Co)
Slide 4
The War Fighting occurred in Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the
Philippines Problems The U.S. Army was depleted after the Civil War
some 35 years earlier, as it only had 28,000 members. The U.S. had
to rely on the National Guard and volunteers to boost its numbers
to 263,000 This led to many untrained and undisciplined soldiers
Enter Theodore Roosevelt
Slide 5
The War The Rough Riders A group of volunteer infantry soldiers
who, as Roosevelt stated, were children of the dragons blood and
eager for war Many were too young to remember the horrors of the
Civil War and saw war as an adventure
Slide 6
Segregation in the army Black troops were segregated from their
white counterparts. When many white soldiers contracted malaria and
yellow fever, the were evacuated, but blacks were left behind to
fight under the belief that being use to the Souths climate would
make them immune from diseases.
Slide 7
The War: Casualties and Losses The United States 5,452 deaths
Only 379 from combat The rest died of malaria, yellow fever, and
food poisoning Embalmed beef Scandal A medical officer wrote, "Much
of the beef I examined arriving on the transports from the United
States... was apparently preserved by injected chemicals to aid
deficient cold storageIt looked well, but had an odor similar to
that of a dead human body after being injected with preservatives,
and it tasted when first cooked like decomposed boric acid..."
Slide 8
The War So despite disease and a predominately volunteer army,
how the heck did the U.S. win this war? The Navy The U.S. had a
superior navy U.S. blockaded Cuba to prevent Spanish from
reinforcing and resupplying its army on the island Rebels Cubans
and Filipinos teamed up with U.S. soldiers to fight he Spanish
Writer Sherman Anderson noted that fighting Spain was like robbing
an old gypsy woman in a vacant lot at night after a fair
Slide 9
Slide 10
The Treaty of Paris Spain, after being beaten so badly, agreed
to the following: Spain must give up all claims to Cuba The U.S.
will maintain peace and protect life & property on the island
Spain must give the U.S. control of Puerto Rico & Guam Spain
will sell the Philippine Islands to the U.S. for $20 million
Slide 11
The Platt Amendment The Platt Amendment replaced the Teller
Amendment In exchange for withdrawing U.S. Troops from Cuba: The
U.S. had an open door to intervene in Cuban affairs Cuba also
agreed to sell or lease to the United States "lands necessary for
coaling or naval stations Cuba leased Guantnamo Bay to the United
States
Slide 12
The Philippine-American War Like Cuba, the U.S. took control of
the Philippines and intended to uplift and civilize the Filipinos
In 1899, the Philippines declared independence and took arms
against the United States After 3 years of fighting, 200,000 dead
Filipinos, 5,000 dead Americans and unspeakable atrocities, the
U.S. had suppressed the rebellion U.S. promised Philippines self
government in 1916 Philippines was granted independence in
1946
