The Story of the Spanish American War

Once Upon a Time in a land not so far away…

• There was a country called Spain which had expanded and owned many colonies.

• Two of those colonies were Cuba and Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

Cuba

In Cuba…

• There was a violent uprising by the Cubans.

• They wanted their own land and own leaders..

• Jose Marti led the Cuban rebels in a revolt against Spain.

However… • Spain sent General Valeriano Weyler aka “The Butcher”

• He set into place the system of “re-concentration,” in which various fortified areas were designated, and all inhabitants were given eight days to move in, including cattle and other animals. Anyone caught outside was considered the enemy and killed.

Life the camps was a death sentence…

When the Americans heard about the death

camps they felt sympathic towards the Cubans.Leading to American support

of the Cuban revolt.

Meanwhile back in the United

States…• Two newspapers

were reporting on the Spanish and Cuban uprisings.

• Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst were two newspaper owners writing stories about the revolt.

They used a tactic called…• Yellow

Journalism.• When a

newspaper sensationalizes a story..

The de Lome letter…

• The letter written by the Spanish minister to American stated that President McKinley was “weak”

• This outraged Americans and embarrassed Spain

The USS Maine• The US battleship

Maine arrived in Havana harbor on January 25th

• On February 15th the Maine exploded and took 260 men with her.

With this explosion…

• The United States prepared for war.• On April 20, 1898 Congress issued a

resolution that declared Cuba independent.

Attached to the resolution was the…

• Teller Amendment• Declaring that the

United States had no intention of taking over Cuba.

• Spain declares war on the US April 24.

• President McKinley signs US declaration on April 23rd.