answersLogoWhite

0

The 1800s were a trendy time for Europeans, the fad of colonial empires; and the US was feeling those ideas too by 1898. Although the US under President Polk was accused of "expansionism" during the Mexican War of 1846 (which brought into the Union California, Utah, Nevada, Arizonia, and New Mexico) by 1898 the expansionism fad extended to OVER-SEAS empires, and the US wanted Guam, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Philippines, etc.

Spain possessed those territories during this time frame, and in order to "get them" they'd have to be taken by force of arms. A trigger was needed, and as Randolph Hearst (owner of Hearst Newspapers) told his war correspondents, "You get the photographs...I'll supply the war!" When the battleship USS Maine arrived in Cuba to protect US interests there (showing the flag) she was sunk by an accidental coal (fuel) explosion at her dock. As promised, the press supplied the war (spark or trigger) and quickly blamed the Spaniards for blowing the battlewagon up. The citizens of America quickly rallied under the battle cry of "Remember the Maine!" And war was quickly declared on Spain. It was "a splendid little war" (its official nick name) ending in only 4 months, with victories as easy as Operation Desert Storm (nicknamed by the press, "the 100 hour war" a hundred years later against Iraq in 1991. And with US casualties nearly the same. Spain quickly surrendered and gave up the Philippines, leasing rights to Cuba, Puerto Rico and Guam.

User Avatar

Wiki User

14y ago

What else can I help you with?