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President Franklin Pierce was talked to by diplomats to buy Cuba from Spain. Spain responded to this by saying that they "would rather see Cuba sunk into the ocean."
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Americans sympathized with Cubans after Spain attacked, because they understood what Cuba was going through. The US had gone through the same exact thing with Britain in the late 1700's.
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After slavery was abolished, Americans invested in sugar mills. Americans had waited until now to establish the sugar mills because they thought that slave labor is immoral. So after slavery was abolished, many Americans became very wealthy off of these Cuban sugar mills.
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Jose Marti organized rebels to resist Spain, and burned US sugar mills. He thought if he could burn the American sugar mills, the American investors would get upset and want their property protected, which would ultimately get the US involved, and led to the Spanish American War.
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Spain thought that if they sent this General to Cuba, that it would end the rebellion and order was restored. Wyler ended up putting Cubans into concentration camps so they couldn't support the rebels.
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Objects that led the US into war with Spain
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De Lome, a Spanish minister, had his private letter stolen from a Havana Post Office. In the letter, he angred Americans because he called President McKinley "weak" and "an average politician."
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The US sent the USS Maine to Cuba to bring endangered Americans home and to protect the US investment. It ended up exploding in the harbor in Havana. Americans thought that Spain had put mines in the harbor, so this was a main factor in the start of the Spanish American War.
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During the Spanish American War, the US sent 11,000 troops the Philippines, led by George Dewey. Over the next two months, the US, with aid from the locals, took control of the islands from Spain.
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America goes to war with Spain
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The first major event in the war in the Caribbean, the US fleet met the Spanish fleet in the harbor of Santiago de Cuba. The US ended up winning this battle, which later led to Spain's demise in the war.
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San Juan Hill was the last Spanish stronghold around the city of Santiago. The US thought that they needed to take it to win the war. The US forces, "led" by Theodore Roosevelt and his Rough Riders, helped take San Juan Hill, and take the city of Santiago.
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The United States Navy had set up a blockade of Santiago Harbor, which prevented the Spanish fleet from fleeing Cuba, the US destroyed any Spanish ships which tried to escape.
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The US and Spanish Ambassadors met up in Paris to discuss a peace treaty. The details of the treaty are in the next event.
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The consequences of the Spanish American War
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The US gained Guam, Puerto Rico, and purchased the Philippines for $20 million, and Spain freed Cuba.
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The United States Senate approved the Treaty of Paris, which allowed for the aquistions of Guam, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico.
