EXAM #2
2. The mind set of Americans during the decade prior to the Spanish American war, the influence of the Americans during the war. Expansionism and imperialism and the causes of the war and what did the Americans gain and lose. The Americans had a long history of imperialism from the expulsion of the native Americans, the Mexican American war, the Spanish American war, the control of cuba and the Philippine, the annexation of Hawaii and Samoa and also the occupation of much of latin America between 1890 and 1930. Their tendencies were outgrowth of ethnocentrism which was the belief in manifest destiny.
Expansionism was the control of another country’s market or political system through the use of trase and diplomacy and imperialism was the control of another country’s market or political system through the use or threat of use of force.
The causes of the American Spanish war, united states had little interest in economic cuba and the south had yet to regain its stature. The Cuban rebels began to attack Americans owned properties, McKinley sent the battleship maine to Havana to protect the American interests, the battleship blew up due to coal dust or the magazine too close to the boiler room, Theodore Roosevelt also wanted war, he dispatched dewey to the Philippines with out the knowledge of the secretary of navy or the president of united states. America was in the mood for war to demonstrate its strength, and what better nation to go to war with, manifest destiny, racism and imperialism were also cause to the war.
The United States gained almost all of Spain's colonies, including the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico. Cuba was granted independence, but the United States imposed various restrictions on the new government, including prohibiting alliances with other countries, and reserved for itself the right of intervention. Cuba remained technically independent but was required to submit its foreign policy to American