Some of the long-term factors that encouraged the US to involve in foreign affairs during the late nineteenth century are geographic isolation of the country from Europe and Asia, diversities of ethnicities in the US due to greater migration, industrial and mercantile interests of US, European conditions in the 19th century and many others (Tucker 302). Other factors that influenced the US to engage in foreign affairs include indifferences to foreign relations during the late nineteenth century, such as abolition of the State Department, moral superiority of the US towards Europe, emergence of the US as the superpower of the world and George Washington’s idea that the US should not engage in political agreements with other countries (Tucker 302). Non-intervention in other countries’ conflicts, sacredness of international treaties, humanitarian concern, Monroe Doctrine and realization of de facto governments are also significant factors that led to the expansion of the US in foreign affairs during the late nineteenth century.
Yellow journalism refers to a unique style of newspaper reporting, which emphasizes exaggeration over facts. During the late nineteenth century, yellow journalism became one of the major factors that involved the US and Spain into war in the Philippines and Cuba, thereby leading to the US acquisition of territory in the overseas (Spencer 182). Yellow journalism mostly covered the revolutionary movements in Cuba, which had been an important Spanish colony for a long time. When the revolutionary movements in Cuba intensified in the 1890s, the US supported Cuba and urged Spain to withdraw its troops from the island. Yellow journalism paid attention to Cuban independence and accentuated the severity of Spanish rule, including the aristocracy of the revolutionaries by printing provoking stories that proved false (Spencer 143). The growth of yellow journalism facilitated the creation of a favorable climate, which led to the outbreak of global conflicts and expansion of the US influence across the world. Yellow journalism also enhanced the significance of the US foreign relations and captured the attention of the Spanish American War. The dramatic style of reporting induced through yellow journalism impacted the creation of public support for the war, which eventually expanded the global reach of the US (Spencer 205).
The Spanish-American War during the late nineteenth century revolved around the debate of honor and manhood since it largely captivated the political culture during the contemporary period. There was a consistent shift in the conception of manhood from an older version of virtue and self-restraint to aggression and militarism (Hoganson 19). By the end of the nineteenth century, a majority of American manhood was influenced by the assault from within as well as outside. The 1893 Depression weakened men as they failed to offer support for their families, while ending the opportunities for establishing manliness (Hoganson 32). Furthermore, the women’s suffrage movement transformed the presence of women in the political sphere and questioned manly confidence. With the advent of the Spanish-American War, anti-imperialists gradually favored the language of manhood by reorienting its definition towards an older version of morality, virtue and self-governance rather than imperialism. On the other hand, the imperialists widened their gendered arguments for embracing military intervention to increase manhood and build a matured nation on the global stage (Hoganson 58). Nationalists portrayed the revolutionaries of the Spanish-American War as loyal defenders in spite of their non-white identity as they succeeded in battling against the immoral Spanish empire. From the above arguments, it can be argued that the American notion of honor and manhood encouraged the US to indulge in war with Spain.
Works Cited
Hoganson, Kristin L. Fighting for American manhood: How gender politics provoked the Spanish-American and Philippine-American wars. Yale University Press, 2000.
Spencer, David R. The yellow journalism: The press and America's emergence as a world power. Northwestern University Press, 2007.
Tucker, Spencer, ed. The encyclopedia of the Spanish-American and Philippine-American wars: a political, social, and military history. Vol. 1. ABC-CLIO, 2009.
