What was the cause, or what were the causes, for the war with Spain?

Spanish-American War was a brief conflict between Spain and the U .S that lasted from April to August of 1898 , following years of antagonism over the growing struggle for the independence of Cuba . Though to the considerable degree the war was brought about by the attempts of American expansionists , these were not the only reasons that were instrumental in triggering the war

Among the other reasons were the demands by Cuban patriots for independence from Spanish rule . In 1895 , the Cuban patriot Jose Marti waged a guerrilla war that eventually brought about

U .S . intervention The Spanish government tried to suppress the insmanaged to remain in the field . After the failure to suppress guerrilla activity the Spanish general , Valeriano Weyler , adopted a policy of reconcentration of the civilian population in detention camps

Weyler 's actions instigated upheavals among American sympathizers . These sentiments were heated up by the U .S . yellow press , which fed biased and distorted information from Cuba . Besides , the U .S . government was disturbed that guerrilla warfare had caused loss of investment in Cuba aimed for building isthmian canal there . Moreover , U .S . felt its power in the affairs of the Western Hemisphere . The threat of intervention was impending . This became more obvious after the insurgents ' refusal to accept partial autonomy and their decision to fight for full freedom

Most of the American citizens as well as President McKinley proved reluctant to go to war and counted on peaceful settlement of the Cuban question . Nevertheless , an array of events occurring in 1898 enhanced U .S . determination against Spain . The first drop was the publication of a stolen letter which implied contempt for McKinley supposedly expressed by the Spanish minister . The last straw was the mysterious sinking of the US battleship Maine in Havana Harbor on 15 February 1898 that led to vast popular support for armed intervention on behalf of the Cubans . The supporters of war explained this intervention as induced by the reports of the U .S . Congress members on the effect of the reconcentrado policy in Cuba . In fact , the U .S . supported Cuban liberals because of the island 's strategic position , American financial interests in Cuban agriculture and industry . These motives and the feeling of manifest destiny ' led to U .S . intervention . The U .S . government regarded Cuba not only as a precious source for raw materials and market for American products but also as an important beachhead for U .S . capital expansion into Asian and Latin American countries

Reference

Feuer , A . B (1995 ) The Spanish-American War at Sea : Naval Action in the Atlantic . Westport , CT : Praeger Publishers

Manifest Destiny is a doctrine used to rationalize U .S . territorial expansion in the 1840s and 1850s . The phrase expresses the belief that the United States was destined to expand from the Atlantic seaboard to the Pacific Ocean it has also been used to advocate for or justify other territorial acquisitions . It asserted that expansion of the United States throughout the American continents was both justified and...