Question: "The explosion of the U.S.S. Maine caused the United States to invade Cuba in 1898." Use the documents provided and your own knowledge to evaluate this statement. Do you agree with this explanation of the causes of the Spanish American War? Why or why not? Use and cite evidence from the documents to support your analysis of this statement.…
The simple explanation as to the cause of the Spanish-American war is that it was due to the way the Spanish were treating the Cuban people. But things are rarely that simple and the war between Spain and America is no exception. Leading up to the war American’s began to feel that we did not have enough room to grow and American journalists fed the desire for foreign adventure by romanticizing it, much the way the frontier had been romanticized. Huge Naval ships were built and Darwinism convinced politicians that the earth belonged to the strongest country.…
In the end, the annexation of the Philipines caused unhappiness in the both the Philipines and in the United States. Filipinos wanted idependence and Anti-Imperialist didn't want to take this from them. The United States should not have annexed…
At the time the decision to annex the Philippines was made, there were other countries waiting and ready to attack and takeover the control that Spain had lost to the Americans. American rule allowed human rights, freedoms and quality of life that would not have been possible had America walked away and allowed the fledgling country try and rule itself. Germany, England, Japan and even Spain would have jumped at the opportunity to take over control of the Philippines and its many resources. Many important and profitable trade routes utilized the Philippines as a gateway to trade their goods and wares. Although it was profitable for the Americans to control this area and have access to the trade routes and resources, they were helping prepare the Filipinos to one day self rule and govern themselves as a free and independent country. Definitely not an opportunity they would…
The Spanish-American War was a four-month conflict between Spain and the United States, provoked by word of Spanish colonial brutality in Cuba. Although the war was largely brought about by the efforts of U.S. expansionists, many Americans supported the idea of freeing an oppressed people controlled by the Spanish. At war's end, America emerged victorious with newly acknowledged respect as a world power.…
On May 9th, 1846 President James K. Polk delivered a war message to Congress, stating that "Mexico has passed the boundary of the United States, has invaded our territory, and shed American blood upon the American soil." Four days later, Congress declared war against Mexico, and across the nation large shows of support for the action followed. So began the Mexican-American War that resulted in acquiring of lands that today make up the American southwest; the states of California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and parts of Colorado and Wyoming.…
In 1898, the U.S. wanted to take over the Philippines, a Spanish colony. U.S. businesses saw the Philippines as a good source for raw materials as well as a key to new markets for imports and exports. The islands were in a good strategic position for access to the markets of China. McKinley concluded that the best choice was for the U.S. was to “take and educate the Filipinos, uplift, civilize, and Christianize them.” Even though the Philippines revolted against the U.S. rule with a three year…
The physical beginning of the Mexican-American war between the United States and Mexico began with a Mexican attack on American troops who were stationed on the southern border of Texas on April 25, 1846. The swift conclusion to the war took place as General Winfield Scott occupied the Mexican capitol city, Mexico City on September 14, 1847. Within a few months, the Treaty of Guadalupe was signed with Mexico recognizing the US annexation of Texas as well as Mexico succeeding from California and New Mexico.1 The causes of the Mexican-American war varies from historian to historian. Some blame a dictatorial Centralist government of Mexico beginning the war by continuing to claim Texas even after its establishment of an independent republic. Others argue the United States provoked war with Mexico by annexing Texas as well as stationing troops at the Mexican border. A final thought is that the greed of United States President James Polk who “forced Mexico to war in order to seize California and the Southwest”.2 The most likely cause of the Mexican-American War is a combination of the three.…
Something they felt behind other countries thus far. The Spanish - American War ended with the Treaty of Paris signed. The treaty granted independence of Cuba, along with Spain handing over Guam and Puerto Rico to the United States. They United States also paid Spain 20 million dollars for control of the Philippines.…
“America’s wars have often been controversial” (Roden 317). The Mexican- American War was not an exception to this rule. Many Mexicans felt that they were cheated their land. On the other hand, the US felt it was their destiny to conquer the whole North American continent and Mexico was in the way of their greatness (Roden 317). The belief in Manifest Destiny, that the USA started the conflict, and that the US had no right to Texas are all reasons that the US was not justified in taking about half of Mexico.…
Moving on, in 1898, the Spanish American War came into existence under the leadership of President William McKinley. A few years before McKinley came into office, Cuba attempted to overthrow Spanish colonial rule, and in return, the Spanish rulers started using harsh policies that included concentration camps. The rebels received financial assistance from private U.S. interests and used America as a base of operations from which to attack. McKinley originally tried to avoid an armed conflict with Spain, but the American media, lambasted McKinley as weak and ignited an intense reaction to what was taking place in Cuba. The convergence of anti-Spanish public opinion and the government's desire to protect American economic interests in Cuba prompted…
1. How did the Philippines become a major headache for America? Filipinos erupted into an open insurrection in 1899 under Emilio Aguinaldo. The war/ conflict was sordid and prolonged. Instead of quietly assimilating, they objected.…
Between 1846-1848, two nations, the United States and Mexico went to war with each other. This was an important battle because it would transform a continent and would form new identities for all the people inhabiting the nations. The Mexican-American War was the first major conflict driven by the idea of “Manifest Destiny”; which is the belief that American had a God-given right, or destiny, to expand the country’s borders from ‘sea to shining sea.’ There were a few other driving forces for war and the outcome ended with a treaty. One cause of the war was the United States desire to expand all the way across to the Pacific Ocean. This caused conflicts with all of the U.S. neighbors such as the British in…
The Spanish-American War originally started off as The United States protecting Cuba from its Spanish rulers essentially, but quickly evolved into colonial expansion. The war became a war of imperial expansion in the late 1800’s due to America’s new “outward” focuses on global markets and growing concerns of economic competition/expansion from other world powers. America, once a colony itself was now looking to expand its influence into other parts of the globe as its European cousins had been doing for quite some time.…
when annexation was proposed. Indeed the Philippine insurrection against the U.S. was more costly in terms of money and American lives lost than had been the Spanish-American war. Nor was everyone in the U.S. in favor of Philippine annexation. Anti-imperialists claimed that the Philippines might involve us in a war in the Far East, and that forced annexation violated the traditional American belief in "government by the consent of the governed." American labor leaders joined in opposition to acquisition lest it lead to the introduction of cheap Philippine labor. American racism also rallied against acquiring…