CHAPTER 19, SEC. 3 SPANISH AMERICAN CUBAN WAR

1. CHAPTER 19, SEC. 3 SPANISH AMERICAN CUBAN WAR War with Spain

2. Problems in Cuba…. • US had been interested in Cuba for a long time. • Even back in 1823 John Quincy Adams called it a “natural appendage” of the US • In 1868, just after the US Civil War, rebels began agitating for independence from Spain. • In 1895 Cuban Rebels finally declared independence but the Spanish general Valeriano “Butcher” Weyler was brutal in response. (aka things like Cuban towns becoming concentration camps – anyone found outside was shot. Torture, murder, disease, etc.)

3. The Yellow Press • American press was very favorable to American responses to the Spanish. • They wrote very pro-US articles and a lot on the Butcher’s atrocities. • Articles were often sensationalized and dramatic to incite readers

4. The Yellow Press continued… • Joseph Pulitzer, a Hungarian immigrant had worked hard and made a fortune in the Newspaper business. • He invented the ‘comic strip’ in his New York World. • He, along with William Randolph Hurst of the New York Journal, hired a budding artist, Richard F. Outcault.

5. Yellow Kid makes the Yellow Press • Outcault drew a bald boy character called the “Yellow Kid”. • Soon the two papers (who wrote sensational stories and pro-American articles) were called the Yellow Press. It has become a phrase to mean when the press gives sensational stories.

6. The US readies for War… • Hoping to prod the US into Cuban affairs, the rebels destroyed much of the sugar plantations which the US had over 50$ mil invested in. • In 1896 McKinley was elected President with 2 promises – Protect American business and Free the Cuban People.

7. DeLome Letter • The ‘yellow press’ pushed the US into War when New York Journal printed a letter from a Spanish ambassador Dupuy de Lome calling McKinnley weak. Americans were angered and ready for war.

8. The sinking of the Maine • The US warship the Maine was sitting in Havana Harbor and on Feb. 15, 1898 at 9:40pm was blown to pieces by a terrorist bomb exploding. 260 officers and men were killed by an underwater mine. No one could say for sure if it was the Spanish but the Yellow Press had a field day, the new rally cry was “remember the Maine!”

9. Roosevelt did what…. • “The President has no more backbone than a chocolate éclair” • On Feb. 25, the Sec. of the Navy took the afternoon off and the Asst. (Roosevelt) cabled his friend Commodore George Dewey in the East to ready to attach Spanish ships in the Philippines. • * After lunch when he came back, the Sec. wrote in his diary… “Roosevelt has come very near causing more of an explosion than happened to the Maine”

10. US Goes to ‘Unnecessary’ War… • This was actually an “unnecessary war” on April 11, the day after McKinley learned that Spain would agree to do everything the Americans wanted (including Cuba’s independence), the US still declared war.

11. The US really didn’t know what they were doing and still they seemed to do it well. • Lots of unprepared troops were shipped to Florida and haphazardly prepared to go to Cuba. • In Asia, the Navy was at least better. Dewey attacked and defeated Spanish ships in the Philippines in 7 hours.

12. Roosevelt and the Rough Riders… • T.Ros. was named lieutenant colonel of a new regiment of cavalry. They were a rag tag group of cowboys, sheriffs, and desperadoes (along with a few random playboy polo players and steeplechase riders from back East).

13. Battle of San Juan Hill • In the famous battle of the war, Roosevelt’s RR charged up San Juan Hill without their horses • In a bloody affair they took the hill following the charging Roosevelt and a legend was born.

14. “A Splendid Little War” • The ‘war’ only lasted four months and while not great in American History standards for sizes, deaths, etc. It was a hallmark event in US History. We were now on the world stage, and looked pretty good out there.

15. Was it worth it. Costs Benefits • The splendid little war still costs the US a quarter billion dollars and several thousand deaths from disease. • Cuba gained independence • US acquired Puerto Rico, Guam, the Philippines (were sold to the US ($20 mil.). • Perhaps most importantly the US gained a spot on the world stage.

16. Anti-Imperialist Some Americans were against the imperial expansion going on. People were especially disgusted over the Philippines who didn’t want to be ruled over. Slowly over time the US through capital projects and assistance would begin to win over the Philippines opposition.

17. President McKinley was re-elected in 1900 easily. • He chose the new New York governor and war hero, Teddy Roosevelt as his VP. • Roosevelt’s boyish vigor was both contagious to some and repulsive to others. Either way Teddy wasn’t going to worry about the “mollycoddles”

18. Put pic. From page 216 here. ‘declined with thanks”

19. The Teller Amendment • Basically the US said in an amendment to a war resolution – it said that the US would not exercise sovereignty over Cuba and leave the governing up to the people of the island. • Sovereignty- who is in charge, the independent ruler

20. US Still helps out though… • But the US did not leave, the ruins of war were repaired. • Major Walter Reed of the Army Medical Corps proved yellow fever was carried by mosquitoes breeding in stagnant water. Reed helped stamp out disease so Cuba could prosper.

21. Platt Amendment • Says 1.) Cuba could make no treaties to limit its independence. 2.) no foreign power can acquire Cuban ter. 3.) Cuba should sell or lease US land for naval bases. 4.) Cuba couldn’t make debt that couldn’t be paid by the current revenue

22. A New Status for Puerto Rico • The 1 mil. Pop of PR wanted to be under US rule. The Foraker Act of April 1900 organized PR as a compromise between a colony and a territory. Pres. Appoints a Gov. and council of 11. Many public work projects took place.

23. The Open Door in China • China lost the Sino-Japanese War in 1894-1895 and the country was somewhat weak and at the mercy of outside influences. The Chinese gov’t began to finally open up and grant leases. The country became cut up by foreign powers trying to protect their interests.

24. Boxer Rebellion • The Chinese were frustrated and angered at the foreign influence. • “the Righteous Fists of Harmony” (Boxers) was a patriotic society aiming to drive the ‘foreign devils’ out • The Boxers killed missionaries and their families in May of 1900. • Eventually a makeshift army of US, GB, France, German, Russia, and Japan stopped the mob.

25. The Boxer Rebellion was a reminder to many that while the US was entering a new world outside our doors, there was still much to learn and it would be important to proceed with caution.