Prelude to War

• Prelude - any action, event, comment, etc. that precedes something else.

• It is important to understand how the United States found themselves in a position to fight in World War I.

• There are many contributing factors that led the US to war – including another war

Manifest Destiny

• Manifest Destiny – The belief that Americans had the right to settle from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans.

By 1890 – the American West is settled and the pioneer spirit of the US is looking to expand and explore outside of the country.

Imperialism

• Imperialism – controlling foreign colonies for a country’s own use.

– When the US decided to expand and explore, they began to look around to see which empires of the world were occupying which countries.

Colonial Africa

Colonial Asia

World Empires 1890-1914

Who Owned What?

• Most of African and Asia were occupied by other Empires.

• In order for US to catch up, they will have to take another country’s territories to build their own Empire.

• The US traded a lot with Asia so gaining more territories would help facilitate this trade

Alfred Thayer Mahan

• Author of the book The Influence of Sea Power Upon History: 1660-1783

• He felt a strong US Navy could protect and expand foreign trade

Prelude to War – Key Vocabulary

• Revolution – to change a government through violence

• Instigate – to start

• Yellow Journalism – Writing newspapers that were aimed at inflaming public opinion without heed to truth or accuracy. Named for the cheap paper many newspapers used

Continued Vocabulary

• Cuba – a large island in the Caribbean south of Florida

• Spain – A European country on the Iberian Peninsula . They controlled Cuba, Guam, Wake Island, and the Philippines

• Havana – the capital of Cuba. Located on the northern coast of Cuba.

Havana, Cuba and Spain

Spain and Cuba

• Spain’s days as a world power were failing

• The countries King and Queen held on tightly to their colony in Cuba

• The Cubans were ready for a revolution (felt the urge like USA in 1776). They wanted independence.

America’s Part in the Saga

• At the time that Cuba was attempting a revolution, the US was engaged in a different type of battle: a newspaper war!

• The US papers were splashing crazy and untrue headlines that frightened readers but increased their circulation.

An Explosion Occurs

• The US sent a ship, the USS Maine over to Cuba as a precautionary measure. Really as a strong force

• They wanted the ship there in case Americans in Cuba needed to be picked up and returned home.

• One the way there, the USS Maine exploded and killed 260 soldiers

Newspaper War

• The New York Journal was one of the papers involved and capitalized on the events and the explosion of the USS Maine

• The owner of the paper was William Randolph Hearst

• Hearst made up and exaggerated stories from Cuba to sell papers

The HeadlinesStories that the USS Maine was

sabotaged by Spain caused huge unrest

in the US

Newspaper Wars – The Other Side

• Joseph Pulitzer (who has the Pulitzer Prize named after him) was the owner of the paper The World

• He competed with Hearst for Headlines to pull in readers and to gain advertisers for his paper

The Headlines

The Effects of the Newspapers

• The followers of both papers were constantly enraged about what they “thought” was going on in the world.

• Americans were insisting the President McKinley get involved and go to war

Reality???!!!!

• No one really knows what happened to the USS Maine.

• Was it sabotaged?

• Did it have internal issues?

• The papers DID NOT care! They gave their opinions. This is the definition of yellow journalism.

The People of the US and US Leaders

• People of the US were so fired up by the papers that they were demanding war

• Teddy Roosevelt, the assistant secretary of the Navy wanted war.

• President McKinley was refusing. He had been in Civil War and knew the awfulness of battle

Pressure

• McKinley crumbled under the pressure of the people in government and the nation and proceeded to take the nation to war with Spain over the explosion of the USS Maine – The Spanish – American War

• Roosevelt resigned from his position and formed a cavalry, the Rough Riders, and went to war

The Spanish American War

• U.S. troops engaged: 306,760

• American battle deaths: 385

• Spain declared war on the U.S. because the U.S. supported Cuba's wish to be independent of Spanish rule.

• The war lasted 113 days.

Major Players/Key Figures

• Admiral Dewey – Commander of the US Pacific Fleet

– His ship, the USS Olympia led the Battle of Manila

– The US fleet annihilated the Spanish Pacific Fleet

Major Players/Key Figures

• “Blackjack” John Pershing– Led the 9th and 10th cavalry

regiments– Charged San Juan and Kettle Hill

with the Rough Riders– 9th and 10th regiments were all-black

regiments known as Buffalo Soldiers– Pershing went on to lead troops in

WWI

Events/Battles

• USS Maine – US battleship sent to Cuba as a show of force (to

pick up people if need be was the cover for US)– February 15, 1898, USS Maine explodes in Havana

Harbor– Newspapers started media scandal over causes of

the explosion– Causes still not 100% known

Events/Battles

• Manila Bay– Main port for the Spanish Pacific Fleet– Under the direction of Roosevelt, Adm. Dewey

steamed in bay and took out every one of the Spanish ships

– Only one American died due to heatstroke not battle

– In seven hours, the US fleet took out 300 years of Spanish control of the Philippines

Events/Battles

• San Juan and Kettle Hills– These hills were Spanish strongholds blocking the

US from the city of Santiago– July 1, 1898, the Rough Riders and the 9th and 10th

Regiment Cavalry attacked the hills– Eight hours later, the hills were in US control– 1,572 Americans were killed and wounded– TR became a hero

Acquisitions Made by US

• During the Spanish-American War of 1898, the US acquired several areas adding to their Empire and becoming a major player (power) in the world.– Philippines – Puerto Rico– Wake Island– Guam

Irony1. According to research done in 1976, all evidence leads to the fact the USS

Maine had an explosion on board and internally combusted.

– The newspapers had caused a lot of hype

2. Roosevelt was a hero after the war

– He was loved so much he became governor of NY

– He was disliked by political bosses in NY because he did such a great job and made VP of US to get him out of NY

– Became president of US when McKinley was assassinated

– Political bosses of NY were NOT happy