Background
The United States had investments worth 50 million dollars in Cuba with trade in sugar averaging about 100 million dollars per year. Businesspersons and traders who had their investments in Cuba did not like the Spanish administration, which was inefficient and corrupt. In 1895, a revolt started in Cuba, which resulted to destruction of American property and the incarceration of Cuban civilians in concentration camps. In addition, the United States did not support the Spanish dominance in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. Despite this, the Americans decided to refrain from the war.
In 1898, the United States President sent the Battleship Maine to Havana harbor in an effort to protect American lives in Cuba and at the same time send a message to the Spanish administration that the States was not going to sit and watch as the conditions in Cuba deteriorated. Despite the Battle ship exploding because of an onboard accident, many Americans saw that the Spanish military was responsible for the explosion.
Most of the soldiers who fought in the war were volunteers from different parts of the United States. On May 1 1898, George Dewey’s forces defeated the Spanish navy guarding the Philippines Manila Bay. In June 1898, Lieutenant Colonel Theodore Roosevelt attacked and captured San Juan Heights. In addition, the United States Navy destroyed Spanish navy in Cuba in July that year. The war was over by August. In the war, the United States lost about three thousand men and two-thousand five hundred men died from disease. One of the reasons why so many American troops died was because of the persistent yellow fever. In December, that year, the signing of Treaty of Paris symbolized the end of the battle.
This article provides an insight to the forces and reasons that led to the Spanish American war during the McKinley administration. The two main causes were domestic affairs and foreign affairs. One the main reasons why the McKinley administration went into war was because of the severe and inhuman conditions that were present in Cuba. Because of the Cuban rebellion between 1895 and 1898, the nation suffered a lot in terms of losses. The insurgents destroyed infrastructures such as telegraph lines and railroads in an effort to make the land inhospitable and unprofitable to convince the Spanish to leave (Offner 51).
In an effort to counter the insurgents, Spain sent more force that is military and adopted concentration camps to cut off food supply to the insurgents. This economic warfare between Spain and Cuba devastated the land leading to reduced foreign trade. In the concentration camps, necessities such as food and shelter were limited to the refugees, which resulted to some getting sick and others dying.
Another reason for the American invasion of Cuba was to protect the country’s investments in Cuba. The Spanish-Cuban war had adversely affected the U.S. economy leading to losses valued at100 million dollars. In addition, pressure from the American public to intervene also played a part in the Spanish-American war (Offner 52).
The article provides reasons why President McKinley did not want war. The president at the time pursued diplomatic channels in an effort to end the Spanish-Cuban war. Before McKinley came to power, the Spanish-Cuban war had played a significant role in shaping up the American political landscape, which brought the republican administration to power (Offner 53). The President sought diplomatic measures by preparing a Cuban policy that would seek to end the Spanish-Cuban war (Offner 55). Finally, after exploitation of all possible avenues, the president with Congress’s support decides to declare war on the Spanish navy in Cuba.
The Splendid Little Forgotten War
The article depicts South Carolina’s response to the Spanish-American war. In addition, the article gives a description of the preparations that South Carolina undertook in readiness for the Spanish American war. Only 27.9 percent of South Californians took part in the actual war despite having a high interest in the Spanish American war, The rest remained stateside (Bailey 191).
Prior to the Spanish American war, the South Carolina militia was organized into two components, one consisting of blacks and the other whites. These two components combined averaged about 4,974 men. However, by 1898 this number had dropped to about 3,310 men. In order to improve the condition and maintenance of the militia, the state provided about 8,000 dollars. The state of South Carolina owned 2,621 carbines and rifles. By 1897, the state had 20,000 rounds of ammo at hand and could provide an additional 20,000 at the point of concentration (Bailey 193).
Following the bombing of the Battleship Maine, the secretary of war wrote a telegram to the governor of South Carolina giving instructions on the division and use of the state volunteer troops in the war. This was because the number of volunteers from South Carolina did not meet the required number by the war department. The turnout in the recruitment of volunteers remained low despite calls to join the volunteer troops. Some folk in the Negro community viewed the war as a white man’s war. Since South Carolina maintained a segregated militia, some black leaders thought that the National Guard would be able to cope well with the warfare due to Cuban climate and tropical diseases (Bailey 201). Others, however, wanted to participate in the war as a sign of patriotism for the country. Nevertheless, most of the whites in South Carolina did not want the blacks to participate in the war since they despised mixing with them.
A surprising issue in the recruitment procedure was medical exams, which resulted to rejection rate of about 38 percent in South Carolina. Furthermore, there were only 704 surgeons serving a population of about 1.3 million in the entire south. The strict procedures caused unrest in the camps, and resulted to lack of organization in the regiments and reduced the number of men expected to fight in the war (Bailey 203).
Similarities and differences
Both articles bring out some of the challenges and issues that occurred during the Spanish-American war. The McKinley article focuses on both domestic issues and foreign issues. The splendid little forgotten article handles internal issues involved in preparation of the war in South Carolina. Both articles describe the attitude of the Americans in response to the bombing of the Battleship Maine. In the first article, the President was under pressure from congress, and the nation at large to respond to the explosion. This article provides justification as to why the American intervened in the crisis that was in Cuba.
The second article highlights some of the challenges that were experienced in South Carolina in the process of preparing for war. In addition, it highlights racism issues that are evident in the division of the South Carolina militia into two components the white militia and the black militia. The volunteer recruiters in South Carolina were reluctant to use the blacks despite having a shortage in the number of men to go to war. The blacks were ready to show their patriotism by fighting in the war. Furthermore, it provides details in the cost involved in funding the war. Further, it provides the amount of ammunition that was available at the time in the South Regiment.
Summary
The Spanish American war began in April 1898 and ended and July of that year. Americans wanted to fight against the injustices the Cubans were facing by engaging in the war. In addition, the Spanish-Cuban war three years earlier had deteriorated the living conditions in Cuba. The American businesspersons were incurring losses in their investments due to the war. These losses amounted to over 100 million dollars. This plus pressure from the Americans after the Battleship Maine was bombed in Havana accelerated the Americans intervention in the war.
The Republican administration came won the election during the Spanish-Cuban war. This was because of its strong advocacy against the Spanish rule in Cuba. President McKinley’s effort for a diplomatic solution for the Spanish-Cuban war did not bear any fruit. The Spanish military personnel in Cuba did not agree with the country’s diplomatic efforts. The Catholic Church efforts to intervene to stop the war did not result to any changes. President McKinley was under a lot of pressure from congress to declare war on Spain in Cuba, which he finally did after the bombing of the Battle Maine.
The paper gives an account of the preparations that were taking place in America during the war. Much focus was in South Carolina where many issues raised. For instance, separation of the volunteer army into groups of whites and blacks was quite evident. In addition, financial challenges and lack of ammunition were experienced in South California. Furthermore, some of the black folks wanted to show their patriotism for the country by participating in the war.
Bibliography
Bailey, Harris, Moore. “The Splendid Little Forgotten War: The Mobilization of South Carolina
for the War with Spain. The South Carolina Historical Magazine. 3 (1991). 189-224.
Print.
Offner, John. “McKinley and the Spanish-American War”. Presidential Studies Quarterly. 1
(2004): 50-61. Print.
