The Story of the Spanish American War a.k.a The SP-AM

1
The Story of the Spanish American Wara.k.aThe
SP-AM
2
Once Upon a Time in a land not so far away

• There was a country called Spain which had
  expanded and owned many colonies.
• Two of those colonies were Cuba and Puerto Rico

3

Cuba
Puerto Rico
4
In Cuba

• There was a violent uprising by the Cubans.
• They wanted their own land and own leaders.
• Jose Marti led the Cuban rebels in a revolt
  against Spain.

5
However

• Spain sent General Valeriano Weyler aka The
  Butcher
• He set into place the system of
  re-concentration, in which various fortified
  areas were designated, and all inhabitants were
  given eight days to move in, including cattle and
  other animals. Anyone caught outside was
  considered the enemy and killed.

6
Life the camps was a death sentence
7
When the Americans heard about the death camps
they felt

• -Sympathetic towards the Cubans.
• -Leading to American support of the Cuban revolt.

8
Meanwhile back in the United States

• Two newspapers were reporting on the Spanish and
  Cuban uprisings.
• Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst were
  two newspaper owners writing stories about the
  revolt.

Joseph Pulitzer
William Randolph Hearst
9
They used a tactic called

• Yellow Journalism
• When a newspaper sensationalizes a story..

10
The de Lome letterdundundun

• The letter written by the Spanish minister to
  American stated that President McKinley was
  weak
• This outraged Americans and embarrassed Spain

11
The USS Maine

• The US battleship Maine arrived in Havana harbor
  on January 25th
• On February 15th the Maine exploded and took 260
  men with her.

12
With this explosion

• The United States prepared for war.
• On April 20, 1898 Congress issued a resolution
  that declared Cuba independent.

13
Attached to the resolution was the..

• Teller Amendment
• Declaring that the United States had no intention
  of taking over Cuba.
• Spain declares war on the US April 24th.
• President McKinley signs US declaration on April
  23rd.