American War Causes

“The taste of empire is in the mouth of the people even as the taste of blood in the jungle,” means that as well as the animals in the jungle taste blood they continue to desire it, and once the people know it is to rule other they would want to expand their power to others. Unlike other countries, for Americans the surplus of goods was the problem. Farmers complained that the excess production resulted in declining crop prices and profits. For the military, Mahan assserted that great nations had owed their greatness to powerful navies, and called upon America to follow. Influenced by Mahan’s ideas, the United States expanded and modernized its Navy, and by the 1900, the U.S. had the third largest navy in the world. Imperialists also used Social Darwinism to justify their actions. It felt that certain nations and races were superior …show more content…
This cause Americans to worry that if the U.S. remained isolated America would not survive. Americans started to embrace Social Darwinism because they believed God granted them with the right and responsibility to settle the frontier. Josiah Strong, a religious missionary, argued that Americans had a responsibility to spread their Western values. American missionaries who shared their beliefs with Strong journeyed to foreign lands to gain converts to Christianity. The reasons for the outbreak of the war started in 1879, when American entrepreneurs invested $50 million in ventures in Cuba. Cuba was seen as a growing market for American products, however the island was very unstable and yearned for freedom, repeatedly rebelling against Spanish rule. During their war, the Cubans and Spanish destroyed American property, causing many Americans to intensify their affection and sympathy toward Cubans. Almost two decades later, Cuban rebels stole and leaked the “Journal” publication of a private letter written by the Spanish