Essay #8: Spanish-American War

On April 11, 1898, McKinley asked Congress to declare war with Spain. They responded with the Teller Amendment, which essentially did just that. Many American soldiers were killed in the war by diseases such as malaria, which were common in the tropical climate. However, the United States managed to win the war, as the treaty signed in Paris in December of that year clearly showed. Cuba gained its independence, as America had wanted, and Spain relinquished many of its territories. The United States was justified in going to war with Spain for moral reasons, because of Spain’s brutal treatment of the Cubans; for economic reasons, because of its desire for Cuba and its resources and because it needed to protect its business investments there; for diplomatic reasons, because of the DeLome letter and the sinking of the Maine; and for political reasons, because of the American population’s clear demand for war as a result of the Yellow Press.

Before the war, Cuba was a Spanish territory. One main reason that the United States had for declaring war was that they wanted to remove Cuba from Spanish rule. The Spanish government treated the Cubans harshly and with a disregard to human rights. The Cuban people revolted against the Spanish government multiple times without success. The Spanish general “Butcher Weyler” went so far as to put Cuban civilians into reconcentration camps. These camps were surrounded by barbed wire and were used to keep the civilians from aiding the “insurrectos” in their revolt. These camps were very unsanitary, so most of the civilians in them died very quickly. The American government had justification in attempting to free Cuba from Spanish control because, no matter what plans the US had for Cuba, they would still be putting an end to these atrocities.

During the years before the war, many Americans had begun to desire that their country become a world power. These people were called imperialists. They sought to gain resources by gaining control of new territories. They took control of Samoa and Hawaii, but were not yet considered a global power. However, they had held interest in Cuba for a very long time. Before the Civil War, the South had wanted Cuba as a slave territory. Now, it became the object of America’s desires yet again, this time for its resources and location. As Lodge described it, Cuba was “right athwart the line” that led to the all-important Panama Canal. Lodge said that whoever controlled Cuba “controls the Gulf.” This gave America great reason to want some power over Cuba, which they managed to achieve after the war, even while Cuba also technically had its independence. Also, America had economic reason to support Cuba’s interests because US business had about a $50 million stake in Cuba and twice that much of an annual trade stake. There would be negative economic consequences for America if there was an upheaval caused by Spain, so America had good reason to want Cuba and Spain separated.

Relations between Spain and America were not incredibly strong to begin with and two events caused them to deteriorate completely. The first was the DeLome letter. The Spanish minister, Depuy Delome, had written a letter that included insults directed at President McKinley. The letter was stolen in Washington and published in a newspaper. The people of America were outraged upon reading it and, although DeLome resigned, anti-Spanish sentiment stayed strong. A week later, the second incident occurred when the American ship the Maine sent to Havana Harbor was blown up. The obvious culprit was believed to be Spain. It could have been an accident, but the relations between America and Spain were still destroyed and America still saw Spain as a threat, giving them reason for war.

A major factor in the decision to go to war with Spain was the sentiment of the American people, who not only supported it, but demanded it. In the time before the war, the newspapers of William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer, also known as the “Yellow Press,” greatly exaggerated the Spanish faults, believing that a war would increase their newspaper sales. They sought to out-do each other in their sensationalized reporting on the atrocities in Cuba, making up stories when no real ones were horrific enough. After the sinking of the Maine, they helped to greatly increase the anti-Spain sentiment to the point where the American people were convinced that waging war was the only answer. When McKinley did not do so immediately, he was called spineless and some people began hanging him in effigy. Eventually, the government chose to follow the political will of the people and McKinley asked Congress to declare war.

The American government was justified in going to war with Spain in 1898. There was moral justification in that America would be separating Cuba from the Spanish government, which treated the Cubans brutally. There was economic reason because America wanted to gain resources from Cuba and because it was protecting the business investments there. There was diplomatic reason because of the deteriorating American-Spanish relations as a result of the DeLome letter and the sinking of the Maine. Finally, there was political justification because the anti-Spain sentiment caused the American people to demand war. In all, these reasons provided more than enough justification for the Spanish-American War.