Spam War

Analysis of Warfare

Spanish-American War

Location: Caribbean Sea: Cuba, Puerto Rico;

Pacific Ocean: Guam, Philippine Islands

Dates: April 25-August 12,1898

Causes

Long range

- Spain relinquished all claim of sovereignty over Cuba, cedes Puerto Rico, Guam, and other islands to the U.S., and cedes the Philippines to the United States for $20 million

- Start of the Philippine-American War

- ended Spanish colonial rule in the Americas and resulted in U.S. acquisition of territories in the western Pacific and Latin America.

-to spread Christianity

-teach lessons of American democracy to faraway peoples

-some people thought that the nation would not be secure without military bases in every ocean

Immediate Causes

- Riots in Havana by pro-Spanish "Voluntarios" gave the United States a reason to send in the warship USS Maine to indicate high national interest.

- Tension among the American people was raised because of the explosion of the USS Maine, and "yellow journalism" that accused Spain of extensive atrocities, agitating American public opinion.

- began after the American demand for Spain's peacefully resolving the Cuban fight for independence was rejected

- Growing Cuban struggle for independence from Spain that had been simmering off and on for over thirty years and which had captured the American imagination

- American newspapers had been agitating for intervention with sensational stories of Spanish atrocities against the native Cuban population

- McKinley asked Congress for authority to send American troops to Cuba for the purpose of ending the civil war there.

Course

Beginning

- Americans planned to capture the city of Santiago de Cuba in order to destroy Linares' army and Cervera's fleet. To reach Santiago they had to pass through concentrated Spanish defenses in the San Juan Hills and a small town in El Caney.

- under General William R. Shafter,US troops landed at Daiquirн and Siboney, east of Santiago, and established the American base of operations

- The Battle of Las Guasimas

Turning Points

- Battle of El Caney

- Battle San Juan Hill (where Rough Riders, under Leonard Wood and Theodore Roosevelt , won their reputation.); Santiago surrendered.

- Spanish forces at Guantбnamo isolated by Marines and Cuban .did not know

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