Spanish American War

By jpeng

  • Ten Years' War in Cuba

    Carlos M. Céspedes issued the Grito de Yara and initiated the Ten Years' War in Cuba (1868-1878), the independence movement that served as the forerunner of the 1895 Insurrection and the Spanish American War.

  • Mahan writes The Influence of Sea Power Upon History

    1890 U.S. foreign policy is influenced by Alfred T. Mahan who wrote The Influence of Sea Power upon history, 1660-1783 which advocated the taking of the Caribbean Islands, Hawaii, and the Philippine Islands for bases to protected U.S. commerce, the building of a canal to enable fleet movement from ocean to ocean, and the building of the Great White fleet of steam-driven armor plated battleships.

  • Cuban Revolutionary Party formed

    José Julián Martí y Pérez formed El Partido Revolucionario Cubano (Cuban Revolutionary party). This Cuban political party was organized first in New York City and Philadelphia and soon spread to Tampa and Key West, Florida.

  • Cuban Independence Movement

    Cuban independence movement (Ejército Libertador de Cuba) issued in the Grito de Baire, declaring Independencia o muerte (Independence or death), as the revolutionary movement in Cuba began. It was quelled by Spanish authorities that same day.

  • President Cleveland declares neutrality

    U.S. President Grover Cleveland proclaimed U.S. neutrality in the Cuban Insurrection.

  • Cuban Revolutionary Party formed

    The Cuban Revolutionary Party (Cuban Junta), under the direction of chief policy leader Tomás Estrada Palma, was formed to encourage and to support the Cuban insurgency and to campaign for U.S. recognition of the Cuban belligerency.

  • U.S. recognition of Cuban belligerency

    The U.S. Senate recognized Cuban belligerency when it passed overwhelmingly the joint John T. Morgan/Donald Cameron resolution calling for recognition of Cuban belligerency and Cuban independence. This resolution signaled to President Cleveland and Secretary of State Richard Olney that the Cuban crisis needed attention.

  • U.S. House of Reps supports Morgan-Cameron Resolution

    The U.S. House of Representatives passed decisively its own version of the Morgan-Cameron Resolution which called for the recognition of Cuban belligerency.

  • Spain unsupported by Europe

    Great Britain foiled Spain's attempt to organize European support for Spanish policies in Cuba.

  • President Cleveland threatens U.S. intervention

    U.S. President Grover Cleveland declared that the U.S. might take action in Cuba if Spain failed to resolve the crisis there.

  • Yellow Journalism

    Both William Randolph Hearst's New York Journal and Joseph Pulitzer's New York World, through its sensational reporting on the Cuban Insurrection, helped strengthen anti-Spanish sentiment in the United States. On this date the execution of Cuban rebel Adolfo Rodríguez by a Spanish firing squad, was reported in the article "Death of Rodríguez" in the New York Journal by Richard Harding Davis. On October 8, 1897, Karl Decker of the New York Journal reported on the rescue of Cuban Evange

  • McKinley becomes President

    Inauguration of U.S. President William McKinley.

  • Spain grants limited autonomy to Cuba

    Spain granted limited autonomy to Cuba.

  • Spanish Ambassador's letter to McKinley published

    New York Journal published the confidential letter of Spanish Ambassador Dupuy de Lôme critical of President McKinley. This letter's revelation was one of the incidents to push Spain and the United States towards war.

  • explosion of U.S.S. Maine

    Explosion sank the battleship U.S.S. Maine in Havana harbor.

  • U.S. refuses removal to U.S. Counsel General Fitzhugh Lee

    Spanish government called for the removal of U.S. Counsel General Fitzhugh Lee from Havana; United States refused request.

  • U.S. pushed by Senator Redfield Proctor to war

    Senator Redfield Proctor (Vermont) pushed Congress and the U.S. business community toward war with Spain. He had traveled at his own expense in February 1898 to Cuba to investigate the effects of the reconcentration policy and returned to report on his findings before the Senate.

  • U.S.S. Maine destroyed by mine

    U.S. Naval Court of Inquiry published its findings that the U.S.S. Maine was destroyed by mine.

  • Spain rejects U.S. ultimatum

    The United States Government issued an ultimatum to the Spanish Government to leave Cuba. Spain rejected the ultimatum on April 1, 1898.

  • Yellow Journalism calls for war

    The New York Journal in a press run of 1 million copies dedicated to the war in Cuba and called for the immediate entry of the U.S. into war with Spain.

  • President McKinley requests war

    The President of the United States William McKinley requested authorization from the U.S. Congress to intervene in Cuba, to stop the war between Cuban revolutionaries and Spain.

  • Congress approves war

    The U.S. Congress agreed to President McKinley's request for intervention in Cuba, but without recognizing the Cuban Government.

  • Joint Resolution for war: Teller Amendment

    The U.S. Congress by a vote of 311 to 6 in the House and 42 to 35 in the Senate adopted the Joint Resolution for war with Spain which included the Teller Amendment, named after Senator Henry Moore Teller (Colorado) which disclaimed any intention of the U.S. to exercise jurisdiction or control over Cuba except in a pacification role and promised to leave the island as soon as the war was over. President McKinley signed the resolution on April 20, 1898 and the ultimatum was forwarded to S

  • Declaration of War

    A formal declaration of war recognized between Spain and the United States.

  • Treaty of Paris

    The Treaty of Paris was proclaimed.