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The resources in this primary source set are intended for classroom use. If your use will be beyond a single classroom, please review the copyright and fair use guidelines.
Teacher’s Guide
To help your students analyze these primary sources, get a graphic organizer and guides: Analysis Tool and Guides
The Spanish-American War lasted only about ten weeks in 1898.However, the war had far-reaching effects for both the UnitedStates and Spain.
Causes of the War
The conflict had complex beginnings. By the1890s, Cuba had unsuccessfully battled Spain forindependence for many years. In 1895, the Cubanrevolutionary José Marti led an expedition to theisland, attempting to seize power from Spain.As a result of U.S. economic interests in Cuba, theU.S. government sought to stabilize the situation.An agreement was negotiated between the UnitedStates and Spain by which Cuba would becomeself-governing on January 1, 1898.
Events derailed this plan. Following a January riotin Havana, President William McKinley sent theUSS Maine to Havana to protect U.S. citizens andinterests. On February 15, an explosion sank theMaine, killing 266 men on board.On April 19, Congress passed the Teller Amendment, which said that the United States would notestablish permanent control over Cuba. The UnitedStates declared war on Spain on April 25.
The War
Although Cuba played a key role in the start of thewar, battles between the U.S. and Spain took placearound the world. In fact, the first hostilities tookplace in the Philippines on May 1, in the Battle ofManila Bay. Fighting did not occur in Cuba untilJune; a key battle took place on July 1. One of theleaders of U.S. forces in this battle was LieutenantColonel Theodore Roosevelt, who led a cavalryregiment known as the Rough Riders.
In May, U.S. troops landed in Puerto Rico, wherethey faced little Spanish opposition. By August 2,the Spanish and the Americans began to negotiatean end to the conflict, with the Spanish acceptingthe peace terms laid out by President McKinley.
Hostilities formally ended on August 12, 1898.The Treaty of Paris, ending the Spanish-American War,was signed on December 10. Spain gave up Guam,Puerto Rico, its possessions in the West Indies, andthe Philippines in exchange for a U.S. payment of$20 million. The United States occupied Cuba but,as provided for in the Teller Amendment, did not tryto annex it.
Media Coverage
The war helped fuel major changes in U.S. newsmedia. U.S. newspapers covered the war with gusto.Technological innovations changed reportage anddocumentation. New technology that made it easierfor newspapers to publish photographs allowed thepapers to publish more illustrations and less text.Some reporters in the field in Cuba provided excellent, firsthand reporting. Reporters who usedtelegraphs as the basis for their stories, however,typically relied on secondhand information.
Major newspaper owners—including Joseph Pulitzerof the New York World and William Randolph Hearstof the New York Journal—viewed public interest inthe war as an opportunity to sell newspapers. Thepapers, in a circulation war, featured sensationalcoverage and attention-grabbing photographs ofevents in Cuba. Although the cause of the explosion of the USS Maine was unknown, for example,New York newspapers blamed Spain. Historiansonce held that biased coverage of the war, oftenreferred to as yellow journalism, was a cause of thewar. Today, however, historians find less evidencefor that claim.
At the time of the war’s outbreak, film was a newmedium, and the conflict became a popular topic.Short films showed such scenes as servicemenexercising, Theodore Roosevelt and the Rough Riders on their horses, and funeral processions of deadsoldiers. Motion pictures began to move from beingseen as a fad to an accepted method of documentinghistorical events--even though some films depictingevents from the war were actually re-enactments.
Aftermath
Victory in the Spanish-American War transformedthe United States, a former colony, to an imperialpower. Many Americans saw this development as anatural part of the nation’s “Manifest Destiny”--thebelief that expansion of the United States was bothright and inevitable.
Opposition to this new role also existed. In June1898, the American Anti-Imperialist League wasformed to fight annexation of the Philippines. Itsmembers included former President Grover Cleveland,industrialist Andrew Carnegie, author Mark Twain,and labor leader Samuel Gompers.
A recognized war hero, Theodore Roosevelt instantlybecame credible as a political candidate. Rooseveltwas elected governor of New York in 1898 and vicepresident of the United States in 1901. He becamethe youngest president to date later that year, whenPresident McKinley was assassinated just monthsinto his second term.
Suggestions for Teachers
These primary sources may help students understand key aspects of the Spanish-American War, including itscauses, the role of journalism before and during the war, Theodore Roosevelt’s participation in the war, andopposition to the war.
- Focus students’ attention on primary sources about the USS Maine. Compare and contrast treatments ofthe sinking in different documents. How did people respond to the sinking of the Maine? How were eventsinvolving the Maine covered in the media? Ask students to think about what claim or argument eachdocument makes about the sinking of the Maine. What evidence does each document present as support?What evidence do students find to evaluate whether media coverage was sensationalized or factual?
- Focus on the “The Big Type War of the Yellow Kids” cartoon. What can students infer from this cartoon aboutthe role of newspapers in the war? Challenge students to determine its creator’s point of view or purpose,and to explain how it is conveyed in the cartoon. Students might also look at other documents in the set tofind evidence that supports or contradicts the point of view in this cartoon.
- This set includes a short film of Roosevelt’s Rough Riders. Students might compare and contrast this film toSkirmish of Rough Riders, a reenactment made in New Jersey, according to the catalog record. What cluesare there to indicate which film is an actuality and which is a reenactment? Why is it important to be able toidentify when a film is a re-creation of a scene? For additional reenactments, search The Spanish-AmericanWar in Motion Pictures using the term “reenactment.”
- Ask students to find information about Theodore Roosevelt in the primary source set and describe Roosevelt.How is he presented in each primary source? What aspects of Roosevelt’s life or character would lead peopleto believe that he should run for public office? Students may research other military heroes who went intopolitics. Would students conclude that the American people have found military heroes to be good government leaders as well?
- What evidence can students find in the primary source set that some people were opposed to the war orsome aspects of the war? What arguments can be made for or against the new role of the United States asan imperial power? Have students integrate the information from a number of primary sources and preparea pamphlet or editorial responding to the Anti-Imperialist League’s leaflet.
Additional Resources
- Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers
- The Spanish-American War in Motion Pictures
- An American Time Capsule: Three Centuries of Broadsides and Other Printed Ephemera
