SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR

There were several long-term factors that contributed to the outbreak of hostilities in the Spanish-American War. One of these factors dealt with sugar production. Sugar production, the backbone of the island’s prosperity, was crippled when the American tariff of 1894 restored high duties on the toothsome product. (David M. Kennedy, Lizabeth Cohen, and Mel Piehl, The Brief American Pageant, 8th Edition, Wadsworth: Cengage Learning, 2012. 442) These sugar markets went sour in 1890 when the McKinley Tariff Act raised barriers against the Hawaiian product. White American planters’ mounting efforts to secure annexation by the United States were blocked by Queen Liliuokalani, who insisted that native Hawaiians should control the islands. Another long-term factor that contributed to the start of the Spanish-American War was the Explosion of the Maine in February 15, 1898. This explosion encouraged and amplified by the “yellow press” the outcry over the tragedy of the Maine, which helped to drive the country into an impulsive war against Spain. (David M. Kennedy, Lizabeth Cohen, and Mel Piehl, The Brief American Pageant, 8th Edition, Wadsworth: Cengage Learning, 2012. 442) Two-hundred and sixty sailors loss their lives when the Maine mysteriously blew up in Havana Harbor. There were two different open investigations inquiring about this explosion; one by U.S. naval officers and the other by Spanish officials. In 1976, the U.S. Navy Admiral H. G. Rickover confirmed the original Spanish finding with overwhelming evidence that the initial explosions had resulted from spontaneous combustion in one of the coal bunkers adjacent to a powder magazine. The American people never fully believed that these findings were accurate. During this time in history, sickness and disease were critical. American soldiers were jaundiced and running high fevers, also known as “yellow fever. In its advanced stages, victims often vomited dark blood, giving the deadly malady another nickname, "the black vomit". Secretary Alger ordered General Shafter wanted to separate his forces into two camps: the sick camps, and the well camps. The largest of the sick camps was the makeshift tent hospital at Siboney. Those who were well, did their best to keep a distance from those who were sick. http://www.homeofheroes.com/wallofhonor/spanish_am/15_closing.html The Spanish-American War was a kind of coming-out party. George Dewey’s thundering guns merely advertised the fact that the nation was already a world power. The war itself was short (113 days), spectacular, low in causalities, and theoretically successful. Secretary of State John Hay called it a “splendid little war.” (David M. Kennedy, Lizabeth Cohen, and Mel Piehl, The Brief American Pageant, 8th Edition, Wadsworth: Cengage Learning, 2012. 448

(David M. Kennedy, Lizabeth Cohen, and Mel Piehl, The Brief American Pageant, 8th Edition, Wadsworth: Cengage Learning, 2012) http://www.homeofheroes.com/wallofhonor/spanish_am/15_closing.html