American Imperialism

Part II

Yellow Journalism

•Reporting exaggerated stories.

•National Inquirer / Tabloids.

•Hearst and Pulitzer

Isolationists• People (like

President Cleveland) who thought that the US should not get involved in the affairs of foreign nations.

Cuba v. Spain•Cuba was a Spanish

colony.

•Cuba’s main crop is sugar.

• 1895 Cuban rebels launch a rebellion against Spain.

Initial US Reaction to Cuba

•McKinley does not want US to intervene militarily.

•Many in US including T. Roosevelt want US to get involved.

Sinking of the Maine

• Battleship Maine explodes off the harbor of Havana, Cuba.

• Explosion is blamed on a mine set by the Spanish.

•Weeks earlier - the de Lome letter was leaked.

•McKinley asks Congress for war funding.

Motives for War•Desire for stability

in Cuba (only 90 miles from US).

•Huge exports of cheap sugar ($1+ billion dollars worth in 1890’s).

• Some saw war as a national unifier.

Results of War with Spain.

• Treaty of Paris 1898

•Cuban independence (kind of)

• Puerto Rico, Guam, Philippines ($20 million)

Panama Canal• Roosevelt encourages,

and backs with the Navy, Panamanian rebels to break away from Columbia. 1901

• 1903 Panama declared independent, canal construction begins.

•Canal opens in 1914.