Spanish-American War (1898)

Causes: How did each of the following help to cause the outbreak of the Spanish-American War?

1. American business owners
American business owners had ahd an interest in Cuba for a long time. They offered to buy Cuba from Spain - Spain responded to this with a violent and resounding "no". Even after this, Americans tended to lend sympathy to the Cubans during their revolutions against Spain. After Cuban slaves had been freed, America invested large amounts of money in Cuban sugar cane fields.
2. José Martí
A Cuban journalist and poet who had been exiled to New York, Marti helped to launch a campaign against the Spanish in 1895. He used guerrilla tactics and destroyed a lot of property, focusing particularly on American owned property. He hoped that this would drag America into the war, helping to gain freedom for Cuba.
3. Valeriano Weyler
A general sent by Spain to crush the revolution, Weyler's solution was to force Cuba's rural population into concentration camps. Food was scarce and disease ran rampant, but in Weyler's eyes, at least now the civilians would not be helping the rebels. News of this soon got out, and it caused a strong negative reaction, especially in the U.S.
4. Yellow journalism
Newspaper tycoons such as Hearst and Pulitzer published exaggerated accounts of the way things were playing out in Cuba, especially of the atrocities that Weyler was committing. These scintillating stories generated even more sympathy from Americans, and served to drum up even more war fever than before.
5. De Lôme letter
Things seemed to be going well in President McKinley's negotiations with Spain, up until 1898 when the New York Journal published a letter from the Spanish minister to the U.S. The letter, which had been leaked, insulted president McKinley, calling him weak. Although the minister resigned and Spain apologized, the damage had been done - Americans were outraged at this insult to their President.
6. U.S.S. Maine
On February 15, 1898, the U.S.S. Maine exploded in the Havana harbor. More than 260 men were killed. It had originally been sent there to bring home U.S. citizens in risk of danger. Although no clear cut cause of the explosion has been uncovered, American newspapers blamed it on Spain, and the public listened, becoming even more angry than ever before.

Effects: What happened to each of the following territories as a result of the Spanish-American War?

7. Cuba
Cuba was granted its freedom via the Treaty of Paris.
8. Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico became a U.S. territory.
9. Guam
Like Puerto Rico and the Phillipines, Guam was annexed by America.
10. Philippine Islands
The citizens of the Phillipines were also fighting for their freedom. After the U.S. victory against Spain in the Phillipines, 11,000 U.S. troops joined Fillipino rebels in protesting for their freedom. The Phillipines were annexed to the U.S., although this launched great debate over whether this was the right thing to do or not.