Mr. Thomas
U.S History Period 9
3 March 2015
Why the United States Invaded Cuba
History is often murky and unclear. Bits and pieces of times gone past have been recovered and assembled, but many pieces still remain a mystery. Fortunately, it is fairly simple to see why the U.S invaded Cuba. Though some events leading up to the invasion are not clear, the underlying reason is very apparent: yellow journalism. The underhanded tactic of embellishing or completely fabricating news to sell papers was the catalyst that started our war with Spain.
Many Americans (among them Theodore Roosevelt) already wanted the war with Spain. Spain was an easy target that many Americans believed based on Ratzel's organic theory was essential to defeat in order to establish America as an Imperial power. Ratzel's theory basically stated that "A nation needs to consume to survive." As if this was not reason enough, America saw much of itself in Cuba, a group of rebels that wanted freedom from their oppressive leaders. They sided with the Cuban revolutionists and all they needed now was a reason to attack. This is why after the Spanish-American war, the United States established the Teller amendment, promising not to annex Cuba, and thus ensuring that, like America, it got the freedom it fought so desperately for.
This opportunity came with the mysterious destruction of a United States battleship destroyed in Havana harbor. When this ship,called the Maine, mysteriously exploded on February 15, 1898 over 200 American lives were lost. This is where yellow journalism comes in. Even before the incident, fabricated horror stories were already creating a rising fury in Americans against the Spanish. One of yellow journalism's best perpetrators was William R. Hearst. It is even alleged that he said,"You furnish the pictures and I’ll furnish the war." When the Maine exploded, rumors immediately sprang up that it was no accident, and was in fact caused by a mine planted by the Spanish.
William Hearst was not the only yellow journalist to work in this time. An article by the New York Journal further implied that the explosion was caused by the Spanish. It's headline read, "DESTRUCTION OF THE WAR SHIP MAINE WAS THE WORK OF AN ENEMY." Though the New York Times negated this even using a quote from Secretary Long stating,"I should think from the indications, however, that there was an accident – that the magazine exploded," the damage had already been done. America was ready for war. There was yet another that showed yellow journalism at work. This article described in gruesome detail Cuban Reconcentration camps that the Spanish implemented. A quote from the article said, "Among the many deaths we witnessed there was one scene impossible to forget. There is still alive the only living witness, a young girl of 18 years, whom we found seemingly lifeless on the ground; on her right-hand side was the body of a young mother, cold and rigid, but with her young child still alive clinging to her dead breast; on her left-hand side was also the corpse of a dead woman holding her son in a dead embrace . . ." Such a powerful portrayal of what supposedly was happening in Cuba was sure to rile the spirits if the American people.
Yellow journalism was the spark that ignited the flame in Americans that lead them to invade Cuba. Though the Maine's destruction may have been the primary event that sparked the invasion, it not have been such an inflammatory event were it not for the embellishments made surrounding the issue. We could even argue that yellow journalists were the true evil masterminds . The war may not have even come to pass were it not for their incendiary articles. Yellow journalism is truly a great example of how the pen can often prove to be mightier than the sword and that the press can manipulate and influence politics just as much as politics influences the press.
Source
http://historicalthinkingmatters.org/spanishamericanwar/
