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The United States had an interest in Cuba for quite a while. President Franklin Pierce was advised to buy Cuba from Spain. Spain responded by saying they would rather prefer to see Cuba sunk in the ocean. Even though Spain felt this way, America did not lose interest in Cuba.
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Cuba's revolt was unsuccessful, but they did get the emancipation of slaves in Cuba. During the war, Americans sympathized with the Cubans. After the war, Americans were investing millions of dollars into the sugar companies.
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José was a Cuban living in exile in New York when he launched a rebellion against Spain. He used guerilla campaigns & other tactics. He ruined American owned sugar plantations because he knew Americans would get upset & do something to help. He also knew Americans would never side with Spain, so that would leave one option: help Cubans become independent from Spain.
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General Valeriano Weyler was sent to Cuba to stop the revolt. He put around 300,000 Cubans into concentration camps. This way rebels couldn't get help from civilians. While they were trapped inside the barbed wire fenced-in camps, thousands of people died.
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This newspaper was used to upset readers. The New York Journal & New York World used exaggerated stories to cause war fever for the reader. American's sympathy for the Cubans deepened.
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The Spanish minister wrote a letter to the United States saying President McKinley was "weak" and "a bidder for the admiration of the crowd." This letter was intercepted by a Cuban & leaked to the press. This caused the minister to resign, but American's were still rightfully upset over the rudeness to the president.
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President McKinley ordered the USS Maine to bring back U.S. citizens who were in danger in Cuba. 260 men were killed when the ship blew up on the harbor of Havana. The Journal published an article stating it was Spaniards who blew up the ship, even though no one actually knew who did it. The newspaper company offered a $50,000 reward to whoever caught the criminal.
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A formal declaration of war was announced. This started the Spanish American War.
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The Spanish fleet on the harbor of Santiago de Cuba was closed by Admiral William T. Sampson.
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Commodore George Dewey ordered to open fire on the Spanish fleet at the Philippine capital, Manila. Dewey's men quickly destroyed every Spanish ship in sight. This allowed troops to move into the Philippines.
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U.S. troops went to meet at Santiago. 17,000 men were ready to fight. This event led to the Battle of San Juan Hill, destruction of the Spanish fleet, & the invasion of Puerto Rico.
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During the first part of the battle, the Rough Riders & two African-American regiments. They won the battle, & made an easy way for the attack on San Juan Hill to be won. The newspapers deemed Roosevelt, leader of the Rough Riders, a hero; even though he did very little in the second attack.
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The American blockade kept the Spanish fleet in while they tried to escape. After this, a battle ensued. The battle ended in the destruction of the Spanish fleet.
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The destruction of the Spanish fleet, helped Americans to invade Puerto Rico. This made it possible for the U.S. to buy/get Puerto Rico from Spain.
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This truce stopped the fighting of the Spanish & Americans. The war had only lasted fifteen weeks.
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Spain sold the Philippines to America for 20 million dollars. This started a debate over the Treaty of Paris. Imperialism was the true issue during the debate, but was shadowed by if the U.S. had the right to annex the Philippines. President McKinley said, "there was nothing left for us to do but to take them all, & educate the Filipinos, & uplift & Christianize them," his ideas to Christianize the Filipinos were not correct; Filipinos had been practicing Christianity for hundreds of years.
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Quite a few Americans thought the Treaty of Paris bypassed self-government for new territories, which is in the Declaration of Independence. Booker T. Washington thought that America was not putting their countries race issues as the number one priority. He thought the U.S. should solve problems in the places they already own before moving onto something else. The Senate finally accepted the Treaty of Paris. The U.S. now was an empire with Guam, Puerto Rico, & the Philippines.
