Spanish+American+War

=Spanish American War= Some of the factors that caused Cuban's to rise up were the devastation of their cash crop sales, sugar, by the Wilson-Gorman Tariff, and also the concentration camps full of Cuban civilians that died by the thousands. The single most important factor in bringing America into the conflict was the incident involving the American battleship The //Maine// which exploded in Havana's harbor and also into the headlines of all the American newspapers. The incident caused 260 people to die, and people like Theodore Roosevelt to cry for war. || || Theodore Roosevelt also, later in the war after resigning from the Navy Department, was the real leader of an elite unit of cavalry called the Rough Riders. Although it was formally led by General Wood, Colonel Roosevelt led them in a courageous, and also reckless, charge up Kettle Hill that was part of the battle for the nearby San Juan Hill. ||  ||
 * The Spanish American War was sparked by misrule of Cuba by Spain that led to a Cuban revolt beginning in1895. America jumped into the conflict when yellow journalism swept America to its feet to fight the Spanish on behalf of the Cuban's.
 * The Philippines were, at the time of this war, a colony of Spain. Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and president to be, Theodore Roosevelt was an ardent imperialist and looked at these islands as a prime target. He instructed Commodore George Dewey to attack Spanish vessels there in the event of war, and he promptly did so on May 1, 1898 at the harbor of Manila. After this naval assualt that totally destroyed th Spanish fleet, an American expeditionary force marched in the city of Manila and caused Spain to surrender the city.
 * Yellow journalism was a new form of writing that was extremely sensationalistic from of writing that often exaggerated and pushed ideas into peoples heads. For instance when the American battleship //The Maine// was sank yellow jounalists immediatetly told the world that the Spanish had purposely destroyed the ship when actually there was an accidental explosion in the engine room. They pounded this idea into the mind of the public and enthralled the war spirit. || [[image:http://faculty.umf.maine.edu/walter.sargent/public.www/web%20104/maine%20explosion%20headline.jpg width="622" height="495"]] ||