Did the Press Cause the Spanish-American War?
The Spanish-American War started April of 1898 and ended August of 1898. There were many things that led to this war. Some things that led to the Spanish-American war were things like the civil war against Spain and Cuba, the sinking of the Maine, and the DeLome letter. The United States press had a lot to do with beginning this war. The United States press took things like the DeLome letter, the sinking of the Maine, and the war itself to extremes. The thesis of this paper is that the United States press was a main component of causing the Spanish-American War, by using propaganda (1). There were comics like the below one that showed Uncle Sam holding back the American flag and underneath the flag it shows a star that says “Free Cuba,” and the sinking of the U.S.S. Maine. It also shows that underneath Uncle Sam’s sword is a Joint Resolution of Congress. The Joint Resolution is obviously a resolution for war. This picture shows most of the elements that caused the Spanish-American War. This is a very good example of propaganda in this time period (2).
In 1895 the Cuban people were revolting against the rule of the Spanish for 100 years but the final war for independence happened in February 1895. At this time Cuba and Puerto Rico where the only colonies of Spain that had not gained independence (3). Spain responded to the Cuban insurgency by sending 100,000 soldiers to Cuba in 1895. When the United States got really involved in 1898 the end of Spanish rule became a reality. The leading journalists William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer were very interested in the Cuban struggle at the time. They took the story of the Cubans trying to gain independence and sensationalized it to sell millions of newspapers (4). These leading journalists wrote many papers that sensationalized many events at this time. These two journalists used their newspapers to somewhat start the Spanish-American War.
On February 9th 1898 the New York Journal published bits and pieces of a letter written by Señor Don Enrigue Dupuy de Lôme, the Spanish Ambassador to the United States. This letter was being sent to Don José Canelejas, the Foreign Minister of Spain. In the letter DeLome criticizes President William Mckinley and says “it once more shows what McKinley is, weak and a bidder for the admiration of the crowd besides being a would-be politician who tries to leave a door open behind himself while keeping on good terms with the jingoes of his party (5)." The letter was intercepted by Cuban revolutionaries and was given to the Hearst Press. The releasing of this letter into the press caused many people to become very upset. This letter helped fuel the country’s aggressive warlike foreign policy (6). Eventually, DeLome resigned and stated that the letter showed his views and not the views of his government. This event also made Mckinley reconsider his view on the conflicts in Cuba (7).
On February 15th 1898 a United States battleship called the U.S.S. Maine exploded while it was anchored at the Havana harbor. The ship was riding quietly when it suddenly exploded because of a mine. The bottom was tore out and the ship sank killing 260 officers and men on board. The United States press after the sinking of the U.S.S. Maine started making a lot of propaganda about how this sinking was actually caused by a bomb or a torpedo. The United States papers used Yellow Journalism to scare the United States citizens into thinking more happened to the Maine then what actually happened. Yellow Journalism is when papers are written without truth and the facts are missing or twisted. Yellow journalism is also when the paper is written in only one point of view and is usually bias (8).
On February 9th 1898 the New York Journal published bits and pieces of a letter written by Señor Don Enrigue Dupuy de Lôme, the Spanish Ambassador to the United States. This letter was being sent to Don José Canelejas, the Foreign Minister of Spain. In the letter DeLome criticizes President William Mckinley and says “it once more shows what McKinley is, weak and a bidder for the admiration of the crowd besides being a would-be politician who tries to leave a door open behind himself while keeping on good terms with the jingoes of his party (5)." The letter was intercepted by Cuban revolutionaries and was given to the Hearst Press. The releasing of this letter into the press caused many people to become very upset. This letter helped fuel the country’s aggressive warlike foreign policy (6). Eventually, DeLome resigned and stated that the letter showed his views and not the views of his government. This event also made Mckinley reconsider his view on the conflicts in Cuba (7).
On February 15th 1898 a United States battleship called the U.S.S. Maine exploded while it was anchored at the Havana harbor. The ship was riding quietly when it suddenly exploded because of a mine. The bottom was tore out and the ship sank killing 260 officers and men on board. The United States press after the sinking of the U.S.S. Maine started making a lot of propaganda about how this sinking was actually caused by a bomb or a torpedo. The United States papers used Yellow Journalism to scare the United States citizens into thinking more happened to the Maine then what actually happened. Yellow Journalism is when papers are written without truth and the facts are missing or twisted. Yellow journalism is also when the paper is written in only one point of view and is usually bias (8).
The United States press released a lot of papers that were/are considered Yellow Journalism. They released a paper that had an “officer’s” account of what actually happened on the U.S.S. Maine the day it sank. This paper states that he remembers seeing missiles shot towards him from the quarter-deck of the ship (9). The reason this is so wrong is because after investigation into the sinking of the ship it was discovered that the explosion came from a mine explosion. The cause of the mine exploding has never been discovered (10).
The Spanish-American War was a turning point for the United States. After the Spanish-American War, the United States was considered a world power. The Spanish-American War is also sometimes called the “Newspaper War.” The reason for that is because the press had so much involvement in pushing the war along (11). The United States newspapers used Yellow Journalism to influence the United States citizens. Yellow Journalism is definitely something that helped cause the Spanish-American War. Yellow Journalism and the press definitely wasn’t the only thing that caused the Spanish-American War but it was a big part of it (12).
- Bill Jackson, “Why did the United States go to War with Spain?,” SocialStudiesHelp.com, accessed 11/18/15, http://www.socialstudieshelp.com/Lesson_60_Notes.htm
- Bill Jackson, “Spanish American War Drawing,” SocialStudiesHelp.com, accessed 11/17/15, http://www.socialstudieshelp.com/Lesson_60_Drawing.htm
- Jerry Sierra, “The War for Cuban Independence,” HistoryofCuba.com, accessed 11/17/15, http://www.historyofcuba.com/history/scaw/scaw1.htm
- “1895: Cuban War for Independence,” Great Projects Film Company, published 1999, accessed 11/17/15, http://www.pbs.org/crucible/tl3.html
- “Transcript of De Lome Letter (1898),” OurDocuments.gov, accessed 11/17/15, http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=53&page=transcript
- “De Lome Letter (1898),” OurDocument.gov, accessed 11/17/15, http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=53
- “The De Lome Letter: A Factor in the Spanish-American War,” USHistory.com, accessed 11/17/15, http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h817.html
- Kathryn Mott, “Yellow Journalism-Present and Past,” AmericanHistoryUSA.com, published 02/13/13, accessed 11/17/15, http://www.americanhistoryusa.com/yellow-journalism-present-and-past/
- “New York World Feb 18 1898 Sailor acct of Maine Explosion,” Newspapers.com, accessed 11/17/15, http://www.newspapers.com/clip/432073/new_york_world_feb_18_1898_sailor_acct/
- Richard Cavendish, “The Sinking of the Maine,” History Today, published 02/02/1998, accessed 11/17/15, http://www.historytoday.com/richard-cavendish/sinking-maine
- John Baker, “Effects of the Press on Spanish-American Relations in 1898,” Users.Humboldt.edu, accessed 11/17/15, http://users.humboldt.edu/jcbaker/spanwar.shtml
- “U.S. Diplomacy and Yellow Journalism, 1895-1898,” History.State.gov, accessed 11/17/15, https://history.state.gov/milestones/1866-1898/yellow-journalism
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Bush, C.G. “Free Cuba.” The World. Accessed 11/17/15. http://www.socialstudieshelp.com/Lesson_60_Drawing.htm.
Cavendish. Richard. “The Sinking of the Maine.” History Today. Published 02/02/1998. Accessed 11/17/15. http://www.historytoday.com/richard- cavendish/sinking-maine.
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“The De Lome Letter: A Factor in the Spanish-American War.” USHistory.com. Accessed 11/17/15. http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h817.html.
Jackson, Bill. “Spanish American War Drawing.” SocialStudiesHelp.com. Accessed 11/17/15. http://www.socialstudieshelp.com/Lesson_60_Drawing.htm.
Jackson, Bill. “Why did the United States go to War with Spain?” SocialStudiesHelp.com. Accessed 11/18/15. http://www.socialstudieshelp.com/Lesson_60_Notes.htm.
“Lieut. Blandin’s Story of the Disaster.” New York World. Published 02/18/1898. Accessed 11/17/15. http://www.newspapers.com/image/?spot=432073
Mott, Kathryn. “Yellow Journalism-Present and Past.” AmericanHistoryUSA.com. Published 02/13/13. Accessed 11/17/15. http://www.americanhistoryusa.com/yellow-journalism-present-and-past/.
“New York World Feb 18 1898 Sailor acct of Maine Explosion.” Newspapers.com. Accessed 11/17/15. http://www.newspapers.com/clip/432073/new_york_world_feb_18_1898_sailor_acct/.
Sierra, Jerry. “The War for Cuban Independence.” HistoryofCuba.com. Accessed 11/17/15. http://www.historyofcuba.com/history/scaw/scaw1.htm.
“Transcript of De Lome Letter (1898).” OurDocuments.gov. Accessed 11/17/15. http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php? flash=true&doc=53&page=transcript.
“U.S. Diplomacy and Yellow Journalism, 1895-1898.” History.State.gov. Accessed 11/17/15. https://history.state.gov/milestones/1866-1898/yellow- journalism.
“Who Destroyed the Maine.” New York Journal. Published 02/17/1898. Accessed 11/17/15. http://www.americanhistoryusa.com/yellow-journalism- present-and-past/