Cuban Calvary Unit

THE SPANISH AMERICAN WAR

(CONTINUED ON PAGE 2)sinking of the Maine, an American war ship. want for revolution, the use of yellow journalism, and the main causes of the Spanish American War included the Cuban’s America sided with Cuba in the revolt against the Spanish.  The Cuba was owned by America. Along with other interests, due to economic interest in Cuba. Much of the sugar grown in in the war, allying with the Cubans. The Americans got involved Spain, so they revolted. The Americans also played a large role the Spanish. The Cubans were trying to gain independence from American War. The key conflict in the war was the Cubans and There were many events that led to the Spanish

By: Alex St.Clair

What Events Led to the Spanish American War?

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One of the major causes of the Spanish American War was the Cuban’s desire to revolt against the Spanish. The desire for Cuban independence had existed for 100 years prior to the revolt. One of the key reasons that Cuba wanted independence was because of their marketing situation. Instead of Cubans selling goods directly to the people, their only legal customer was the Spanish government. The government then set the price of the goods, sold it to the people, and then kept the revenue, leaving the Cubans “out to dry”. This economic system angered the Cubans, and made them desire a revolution.

Another leading factor of the revolution and the war is yellow journalism. Yellow journalism is a writing style used in newspapers in the late 1880’s, which exaggerated the truth of the stories of the writers. The truth was “stretched” to make the readers more intrigued and want to read these stories. The stories were often stretched in a way that made the general populous detest the Spanish. This was due to some false accusations that were written in the paper about the Spanish. This was a way for the American Journalists to control the thoughts of the people about the Spanish American war.

The final event that led to the Spanish American war was the sinking of The Maine, an American ship sank in the Havana harbor in Cuba. The forward gunpowder magazines were responsible for the explosion, but the culprit of this event is undefined. But according to some of the yellow journalism stories, the Spanish is responsible for the sinking of the ship. This made Americans think that the Spanish were responsible for this attack, and was a final event that led to the US getting involved in the war.

REMEMBER THE MAINE

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The Spanish American War was consisted of United States, Republic of Cuba, and The Kingdom of Spain. The first battle of that war was called the Battle of Aguadores

On July 1 1898 at the banks of Aguadores River near Santiago de Cuba, it all started when the armored cruiser USS New York naval artillery barrage on a Spanish fort. The artillery units in the fort waited for the barrage to stop. In the meantime a Spanish Mauser Troop and artillery were firing at American troops at the railroad near Morro Batteries. Even with the American troops hiding in thick bush the .45/70 Trapdoor Springfields gave themselves away because when the weapon would fire it would give off a thick white smoke and the fact that it was a rapid firing weapon made even more smoke. The Spanish on the other hand preferred weapons that would not give off smoke.

Another Battle in the Spanish American War was the Bombardment of San Juan. The bombardment was a battle between American Battle Ships and Spanish fortifications along San Juan Puerto Rico. The American troop’s mission was to intercept the Spanish commander Manuel Macias y Casado who was visiting San Juan Bay. On May 12, Battle Ship DETROIT and a number of other ships have made a battle line heading for San Juan. When they arrived, no Spanish troops or Artillery have fired upon them. William T. Sampson had ordered the ships to stop because he feared that they were getting too close. The USS DETROIT didn’t receive the message so the kept heading closer in the bay so have the other ships. Sampson had noticed movement on Castillo San Felipe which was at the Tip of the bay. Sampson had ordered the Ship closest to the fort to fire a warning shot. The closest ship USS IOWA has fired a warning shot in the water right in front of the fort. The Spanish troops in the fort were

Battles of the Warthinking that they were under attack and fired back. The next shot the IOWA fired hit the battery in the fort, which was reported to blow away the whole wall. All other battle Ships were aware of the shooting so that’s when the bombardment began upon San Juan. Most of the shots fired were stray shots because the seas were rough and swaying the ships back and forth which lead to civilian buildings being damaged. The Spanish surrendered so there would be no more damage or loss of life.

The Final battle of the Spanish American War was the Battle of Santiago De Cuba. The Battle was a land and sea assault from America and the Cuban Resistance against Spain. The battle was the battle that ended the Spanish navy, which gave the Cubans and Americans a window to take Santiago. After the Capture of Santiago all other cities had no shots fired while being captured by American troops. The Treaty of Paris was what had ended the Spanish American War.

By: Sal Mannino

CREDITSEVENTS LEADING UP TO THE SPANISH AMERICAN WAR BY:

Alex St.Clairhttp://www.spanamwar.com/Americanview.htm http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h3617.html http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/history/spanish-american-war-causes-war.html http://www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/1898/intro.html http://www.historyofcuba.com/history/scaw/scaw1.htm http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/events/spanam/events/maineskg.htm

BATTLES OF THE WAR BY: Sal Mannino

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/armistice-ends-the-spanish-american-warhttp://www.military.com/Resources/HistorySubmittedFileView?file=history_spanishamericanwar.htm