To What Extent Was the Spanish American War a Turning Point in Us Foreign History?

To What Extent Was The Spanish American War A Turning Point In US Foreign History?

Amy Dhillon
Sept.26.2012
History HL
Mr. McGuigan The Monroe Doctrine implied that the Unites States would no longer tolerate European advancement and colonization in the America’s. Cuba (Spain’s colony) however, was exempt from this. The situation in Cuba was being closely examined by the United States. Reports about villagers being forced into concentration camps began to emerge. When newspaper’s owned by William Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer started to publish largely exaggerated stories, the Unites States was appalled by the inhumane atrocities committed by the Spaniards in Cuba. Cuban insurgents encouraged these stories and it gained favorable press coverage that would encourage the United States to intervene. President McKinley tried to avoid getting tangled with Spain for a year, he finally gave in to political pressure and demanded Spain give Cuba the right to self govern it self. The president hoped that this would calm down he issue in Cuba. Spain however, was very slow and Cuban rebels soon demanded independence. Riots broke out, and the United States sent a battle ship to protect American people and property from the destruction. The battle ship mysteriously blew up killing 260 American’s. The mysterious sinking of a United States battle ship seemed to be the turning point in The Unites States- They had sent an ultimatum to Spain demanding them to surrender Cuba. When the Spanish rejected, Madrid declared war, The United States soon followed. The Philippines were a colony of Spain, because of this the United States sent warships to Manilla (the capital of the Philippines). The republic of Hawaii aided the United States by providing supplies, it became an important naval link for the United States. The United State’s navy arrived with 11,000 men. The Spanish surrendered the city on August 13 1898. The invasion of Cuba didn’t go as smoothly as the Philippine Invasion had gone. The United States was not as organized, there was much confusion when the ships set sail for Cuba due to large numbers, and important supplies was left behind. The Spanish army was even less organized then the United States. The Spanish army was spread out and dealing with guerrilla attacks. The United States army attacked Santiago. The attack on Santiago forced the Spanish troops to make a run for the open seas- the American army was prepared for this and sunk the entire Spanish fleet. On August 12 after the American army had captured the Spanish island of Puerto Rico, Spain agreed to leave Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Guam. Spain also allowed the United States to control Manilla until a peace treaty had been sorted out. One of the hardest question’s President McKinley had to face was - what to do with the Philippines? The president had four options- the first being he returned the Philippines to Spain, the second being her abandoned the Philippines and let another European power such as Germany take over, the third being leave them on their own, the fourth option was having the Unites States take over the Philippines. President McKinley felt that it would not be just to give the Philippines back to Spain when they did not want to be governed by latter. He did not want another power such as Germany to add them to it’s colonial power, and he felt that the Philippines was incapable of governing and protecting itself. The only option that was left was the United States taking over the Philippines and “civilizing” it. In the end Spain gave up Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines in return for 20 million dollars. There were many US citizens were against this decision, these anti-imperialists felt that the Unites States was going against the Deceleration of Independence because it was denying democracy to another country, the government was accused of loving power more then freedom. The Philippine's also felt betrayed by the United States because they had loyally fought against Spain with United States and in return were getting denied independence. The Philippines soon revolted. Atrocities were committed by both sides, the United States however was acting the same way the Philippine's previous oppressor Spain had acted. Cuba was a bit more lucky then the Philippines. Even though the United States had said that it would not annex Cuba, but only help it become free- the United States governed the island for three years. Finally Cuba was granted some independence in return for a promise. Cuba was not to make any foreign agreement’s that could harm it’s independence, not to bury itself in debits that could not be paid in time, that the United States could intervene at any time for the betterment of the country, and that the United States would have a naval base at the island. The United States had promised Cuba independence, and this fell short of that, Cuban nationalist however, knew that this was the best that they were going to get and accepted it. The United States invaded Cuba three times between 1902 and 1920 to maintain order and protect the property of US citizen’s. Before the Spanish American War the United Stated had only wanted to help Cuba because it felt that it was it’s duty to protect a weak neighbor from tyrants. The United States acted like it was only trying to help Cuba gain independence and that it would mind it’s own business after that. This however was proved false. Spain was considered a ruthless tyrant to the United States, the way it treated civilians appalled US citizens. When the United States won the Spanish American War they starting acting just like Spain-they no longer had the best interest of the country being “freed” at heart, instead they were hungry for more power as they only got a small taste of it from their victory against the Spanish. The United State’s character after the Spanish-American War became more imperialist and less like what President Washington described in his farewell address. It started to expand and gain more power globally, it started getting involved in global affairs instead of just minding it’s own business.