Getting to California

1. Ch 12 Sec 1: Imperialism • Cuban Revolution– Cuban people looking to get their freedom from Spain largely revolved around sugar • Yellow journalism – exaggerated (sometimes blatantly false) stories made up by the press in order to sell newspapers • USS Maine – U.S. Navy ship in the harbor of Havana, Cuba in February, 1898. The explosion killed 266 Americans on board and blame was placed on Spain although later it was proven that they were not at fault. • Jingoism - extreme patriotism and confidence in one’s nation that leads to an aggressive foreign policy • “Rough Riders” – one of the groups that led the infamous charge up San Juan Hill during the Spanish-American War and helped create the legend of Theodore Roosevelt Getting to California

2. The Coming of War • Cuba, a Spanish colony, provided wealth for Spain with sugarcane plantations. (pages 399–401) Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information. Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information. Section 2-5

3. The Coming of War • In 1868 Cuban rebels declared independence and began a guerrilla attack against Spanish authorities. • After the attack failed, the Cuban rebels fled to the United States to plan a new revolution. • Writer and poet José Martí, an exiled leader of Cuba’s revolution, fled to New York City. (pages 399–401) Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information. Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information. Section 2-5

4. The Coming of War(cont.) • He raised money from Americans and began purchasing weapons and training troops to prepare for an invasion of Cuba. • In 1894, after the United States imposed new tariffs on sugar, the economy of Cuba was devastated. • Martí and his followers began a new rebellion in February of 1895. • They seized control of eastern Cuba, declared its independence, and set up the Republic of Cuba in September 1895. (pages 399–401) Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information. Section 2-6

5. The Coming of War(cont.) • At the start of the Cuban revolution, Americans were neutral. • But after reports in two newspapers, the New York Journal owned by William Randolph Hearst and the New York World owned by Joseph Pulitzer, Americans began to side with the rebels. (pages 399–401) Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information. Section 2-7

6. The Coming of War(cont.) • The newspapers, trying to outdo each other, began to use yellow journalism by running exaggerated stories of Spanish attacks on Cubans. (pages 399–401) Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information. Section 2-7

7. Language Arts “Yellow” journalism takes its name from the “Yellow kid” comic strip, which featured a scrappy little bald kid in a flashy yellow nightshirt. Drawn by R.F. Outcault, the comic strip first ran in 1895 in Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World. The bright yellow ink attracted readers. Therefore, yellow journalism came to refer to flashy, unsubstantiated news accounts. CC 2-1

8. The Coming of War(cont.) (pages 399–401) Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information. Section 2-7

9. The Coming of War(cont.) • The Cuban rebels attacked and destroyed American property, hoping for American intervention in the war. • The Spanish appointed General Valeriano Weyler to serve as governor. (Known to Cubans as “Weyler the Butcher”) • He caused the deaths of tens of thousands of Cuban villagers by sending them to reconcentration camps. • This led Americans to call for intervention in the war. (pages 399–401) Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information. Section 2-8

10. The Coming of War(cont.) • The Spanish ambassador to the U.S., Enrique Dupuy de Lôme, wrote a private letter, describing President McKinley as weak and seeking admiration of Americans. • The New York Journal printed the letter, causing Americans to become angry over the insult. (pages 399–401) Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information. Section 2-9

11. The Coming of War(cont.) • In February 1898, the U.S.S. Maine, anchored in Havana, Cuba, exploded, killing 266 American officers and sailors. (pages 399–401) Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information. Section 2-10

12. Strong Ego William Randolph Hearst sent artist Frederic Remington to Cuba to cover events after the explosion of the Maine. When the expected conflict between the United States and Spain did not immediately materialize, the artist asked if he should return home. Hearst called back, “You furnish the pictures, I’ll furnish the war.” You Don’t Say 2-1a

13. The Coming of War(cont.) • Although no one knows why the ship exploded, many Americans blamed Spain. (pages 399–401) Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information. Section 2-10

14. The Coming of War(cont.) • President William McKinley did not want to intervene in the war, fearing it would cost the United States too many lives and hurt the economy. (pages 399–401) Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information. Section 2-10

15. The Coming of War(cont.) • Within the president’s own political party, jingoism was very strong. (pages 399–401) Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information. Section 2-11

16. The Coming of War(cont.) • In 1898, after much pressure, McKinley authorized Congress to declare war on Spain. (pages 399–401) Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information. Section 2-11

17. When President McKinley asked Congress for a declaration of war, the House of Representatives voted 311 to 6 in support of the declaration. The Senate was more evenly divided, voting 42 to 35. To appease some reluctant members of Congress, the Teller amendment was added to the declaration. The amendment called for the United States to help Cuba become an independent country once the war had ended. FYI 2-1a

18. A War on Two Fronts • The United States Navy’s North Atlantic Squadron blockaded Cuba. • An American fleet in British Hong Kong was ordered to attack the Spanish fleet in the Philippines–a Spanish colony. • In May 1898, Commodore George Dewey led a squadron that destroyed or captured Spanish warships in Manila Bay in the Philippines. (pages 401–403) Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information. Section 2-14

19. A War on Two Fronts(cont.) • McKinley sent 20,000 American troops to the Philippines and, along the way, seized the island of Guam–a Spanish possession in the Pacific. • The American army was untrained and unequipped. • Poor conditions in training camps resulted in more Americans dying in training than in battle. (pages 401–403) Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information. Section 2-15

20. Most of the deaths in the Spanish American War were from disease and food poisoning, including a batch of tainted meat that Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders got from the Armor Meat Packing Plant, the same plant that will be the setting of Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle”. FYI 2-1a

21. A War on Two Fronts(cont.) • In June, American troops advanced toward Santiago Harbor in Cuba. • One group attacked the village of El Caney, and another group attacked San Juan Heights. • Both attacks were American victories. (pages 401–403) Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information. Section 2-16

22. A War on Two Fronts(cont.) • Among the American troops were the “Rough Riders” led by Colonel Leonard Wood, with Theodore Roosevelt (3 years before Presidency) as Second in command. (pages 401–403) Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information. Section 2-16