Sunday, October 18, 2009

Blog #23 - Just War Theory applied to Spanish American War

This past week, we've examined the Just War Theory and discussed how America's entry into the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Opinions differed as to whether or not the U.S. has conducted itself in a just manner during the war - questions about torture, excessive force and the death of civilians made the issue a tough one to make a decision.


Here are the criteria we discussed:

The principles of a just war include jus ad bellum, the right to go to war, and jus in bello, right conduct in war. You will see these principles fleshed out in some of the following bullets below:
- A just war can only be waged as a last resort. All non-violent options must be exhausted before the use of force can be justified.

- A war is just only if it is waged by a legitimate authority. Even just causes cannot be served by actions taken by individuals or groups who do not constitute an authority sanctioned by whatever the society and outsiders to the society deem legitimate.


- A just war can only be fought to redress a wrong suffered. For example, self-defense against an armed attack is always considered to be a just cause (although the justice of the cause is not sufficient). Further, a just war can only be fought with "right" intentions: the only permissible objective of a just war is to redress the injury.


- A war can only be just if it is fought with a reasonable chance of success. Deaths and injury incurred in a hopeless cause are not morally justifiable.


- The ultimate goal of a just war is to re-establish peace. More specifically, the peace established after the war must be preferable to the peace that would have prevailed if the war had not been fought.


- The violence used in the war must be proportional to the injury suffered. States are prohibited from using force not necessary to attain the limited objective of addressing the injury suffered.
The weapons used in war must discriminate between combatants and non-combatants.

- Civilians are never permissible targets of war, and every effort must be taken to avoid killing civilians. The deaths of civilians are justified only if they are unavoidable victims of a deliberate attack on a military target. (http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/pol116/justwar.htm)



Given what we've read and seen about the Spanish American War, how does this war fit with the criteria that we'd discussed? Consider the following:

1. How did the war begin? - U.S.S. Maine exploded in Havana Harbor but the cause of the blast was unknown, though at the time, an official inquiry determined it to be a mine.1 American newspapers drummed up support for war (fueled by yellow journalism - sensational, if sometimes false, stories and attention grabbing headlines). President McKinley issued an ultimatum to Spain on March 29th to leave Cuba (which it didn't agree to do until April 1st). But when the war was declared, had the U.S. exhausted all options before going to war?

- When Congress voted to declare war on April 19 (311 to 6 in the House and 42 to 35 in the Senate), it adopted the Teller Amendment in which it stated that it had no intention: "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." 1

2. Was peace the ultimate goal? However, during that summer of 1898, business and political interests work on keeping the Philippines once the war is won w/ Spain. American interests brought Emilio Agunaldo, exiled Filipino leader, back to the islands and he heads a new Filipino government which declared its own independence in June and approved a Constitution in November. The American Anti-Imperialist League was created to fight the annexation of the Philippines.


A three year war with the Filipinos lasted until 1902 with 4,200 American dead and 200,000 Filipino civilians and around 20,000 soldiers dead. 1


Puerto Rico still remains in the U.S.'s hands. Cuba gained its official independence in 1902 after President Teddy Roosevelt decided to allow them to declare it earlier than expected. But the U.S. exercised control over Cuba to supervise its foreign and economic affairs b/c of the Platt Amendment. It did so in 1906 and then again later until President Franklin Roosevelt initiated the Good Neighbor Policy w/ Latin American countries in 1933. 2



Pick one of the two questions above and answer it using info from the websites, the video on TR, and your readings.


Due Tuesday, October 20, 150 words minimum.
Please note that there is a quiz on Wednesday, Oct. 21, on Ch. 11, Sec. 1. Take notes on the section - you can use them on the quiz. Same rules apply like the Ch. 7 quiz.


1. Library of Congress - http://www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/1898/chronology.html


2. Cuba by Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuba#Modern_history


Additional links:

3. http://www.spanamwar.com/ - A host of stuff
4. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/sawhtml/sawsp1.html - film footage from the Span-Am War and the Filipino War as well. However, Edison had some of the Filipino War footage "recreated" back at his place in New Jersey. This one in particular is rather amusing - http://memory.loc.gov/mbrs/sawmp/1355.mov
5. Anti-imperialism league writings by Mark Twain, Andrew Carnegie and others. http://www.antiimperialist.com/webroot/PEOPLEdocuments/Membership/publishingsAIL.html

65 comments:

Anonymous said...

Damien Dorre
5th hour/ Wickersham
October 19, 2009
The war began because of many different reasons. One of the reasons were because when president McKinley had sent the U.S.S. Maine to Cuba to bring home American citizens in danger from the fighting and to protect American property the war ship was blown up in the harbor of Havana over 260 men were killed. Another reason is what was published in the news papers; the news papers used yellow journalism to get readers were helping fuel the war, by tell stories about wells being poisoned, children being thrown to sharks, and of the U.S.S. Maine being blown into two pieces by the enemies secret infernal machine. One other reason was because the Vice President Theodore Roosevelt was pushing the President McKinley to go to war with Cuba. Another reason was because the people wanted revenge for the blowing up of the U.S.S. Maine and the killing of 260 men.

Anonymous said...

Keith Wright
3rd

#2
Peace was not the ultmate goal in the Spanish American War. From what we discussed in class I beleave that America only got involved with Latin American Countries is to get control of the countrys recorces such as oil. America also instagated the debts of the Lain American countries to where America looked like the good person helping the other countries. When really America is doing the same thing.

Anonymous said...

Jennifer Levin
1st hour

The main event that caused the war to begin was the explosion of the American ship U.S.S Maine in Havana Harbor. However, the reason why the U.S. sent the ship to Havana in the first place was because Cuba was fighting Spain in a revolution for its independence. The U.S.S Maine was sent to protect American interests and citizens. The explosion of the ship was what sparked peoples’ interest. Citizens became anxious about the war, yet President McKinley repudiated their demands. Over 200 U.S. soldiers were killed in the explosion, and two months later in April, the United States declared war (this was a result of Theodore Roosevelt’s strong support of intervention in Cuba). A second contributor that helped fuel the war was yellow journalism. Journalists exaggerated events that occurred in the war in order to attract peoples’ attention and sell more papers. Yellow journalists Joseph Pulitzer and William Hearst competed with outrageous and false stories in attempts to draw the public’s attention to the war. They were often blamed as one of the causes of the war. The yellow journalists also blamed the Spanish for the explosion of the U.S.S Maine.

Anonymous said...

Scott Crosthwaite
5th hour

Why did the Spanish American war start?

The Spanish American war started because of many reasons. One reason was because the U.S.S. Maine exploded in Havana Harbor and killed more than 260 men. President McKinley had ordered the U.S.S to go Cuba to bring back American citizens in danger from the fighting and to protect American property. The Americans thought the Spanish blew the U.S.S Maine up so they wanted to get revenge on the Spanish. Another reason is the American newspapers. No one really knew how the U.S.S exploded. The newspapers were claiming that the Spanish blew up the U.S.S Maine. In the newspapers was yellow journalism, which is very moving headings that grabs reader’s attention. One headline said “The warship Maine was split into two by an enemy’s secret infernal machine.” So the Americans read this and thought it was the Spaniards. Those are some reasons why the Spanish American war erupted.

Lizzy said...

1. I think that the war started when the U.S.S Maine blew up in Havana’s harbor. Whether a mine or a different means of blowing up the battleship was used, the yellow journalism’s headlines and many other factors caused this unofficial start of the Spanish-American war. The ultimatum President McKinley gave to Spain was the only chance, I think, for Spain to get out of the war. When Spain agreed to get out of Cuba on April 1st, I think that the yellow journalisms headlines plus a need for war and to “help” the Cubans was what pushed the war, even though Spain agreed to the ultimatum. I think that not all of the non-violent ways of solving this issue without the Spanish-American War were used. Also, I believe that Congress declaring war was the official start of the war, but the war really did start with the perhaps accidental blowing up of the U.S. battle ship.
- Lizzy 1st hour

Anonymous said...

The war started because the U.S.S battleship Maine blew up. It arrived at Havana to protect the American people on the island because Cuba and Spain were fighting for Cuba’s independence, but the Spanish viewed us offering protection to our people as bad. When the Maine blew up because of unknown reasons, the American population was mad, and the Spanish were to blame. When President McKinley agreed to the resolution, the war between Spain and the US started in late April. Another reason why the war started was because of Yellow Journalism. Writers exaggerated on the stories about the war, in order to get more people to read and make more money. A lot of people believe yellow journalism contributed to the Maine blowing up and killing over 200 of our men.

Melissa Pace 1st hour

Anonymous said...

I think the goal was to have peace in the spanish american war.America got interested in other couintries for their oil. America also wanted to look like they were helping other countires to make them self look better.People wanted revenge for blowing up and killing people on the u.s.s maine.

quinton furman
3rd hour
10-19-09

Anonymous said...

There are many reasons of why the war started. One of the ways that the war started is the u.s.s. Maine booing up. Even though no one knows who blown up the ship they lead to conclusions and thought it was the Spanish. That killed over 260 million men. Also I think that the yellow journalsimist made more and more people blame the Spanish for the explosion of the Maine. I think that since newspapers were raly big back then that people always believed that was in the papers and that the journalist put false information on the war and people believed the false information and sometimes retailiated. Also to get more views and money they would add on stories to make thier papers more popular. Another reason is president theodore Roosevelt beacaiae he was about teengw and wanted revenge on the explosion of the Maine so he forced mckinley to go to war with Cuba. But no one knew if Cuba did it could of been a problem with the boat which cause the accident.


Adam pauley
1st hour

Anonymous said...

The United States back during the Spanish-American war would probably say that their ultimate peace goal was to introduce democracy to Latin American nations. This was not the whole truth though. The U.S. had many interests in Cuba and the surrounding nations not only for their useful seaports, but also for their natural resources. The U.S. wanted to make sure that the Spanish would not be interfering with their affairs there so they decided fighting and eventually driving out the Spanish would be the best solution. The only true reason this war ever came to be was a ship blown up in a U.S. harbor. No one really knows who even blew up this ship, but the government was quick to blame it on the Spanish and then have an excuse to start this war. The U.S. showed why it was becoming an imperialist power by going to war with Spain. The parallels from this event to the beginning of the Iraq war are eerily similar as well.

Andrew Williams
3rd Hour

Anonymous said...

The Spanish-American was fueled by several events. One the bigger, more major events was the explosion of the U.S.S Maine. The reasons of the explosion are unknown, but it caused a great amount of controversy. When the U.S.S. Maine (which was sent to protect the citizens and interests of America) exploded, it got people, and governmental/political powers, excited about war. In April, 2 months after the explosion, the U.S. declared war. Yellow Journalism also made a big contribution to what sparked the war. When these exaggerated forms of news were released, people began to think about going to war and solving problems. One particular reason yellow journalism made such a huge contribution was because one writer blamed the Spanish for the U.S.S Maine exploding. I don’t think we exhausted nearly all options before proceeding to war. Because so many people were so eager to go to war, I think the war began prematurely. The United States could have taken different, more peaceful routes, and taken more time before going to war.
Bradley Benghiat 1st Hour

Anonymous said...

The first cause of the Spanish-American war was the explosion of the ship that was sent over to rescue the Americans from the fighting. There was never any real evidence as to why it exploded, only assumptions. Many Americans died on the ship, so the Ameticans wanted revenge on the Cubans. Another contributor to the war was the false and exagerated headlines made by the journalists. These yellow journalists had people believing that Cuba was the cause. The two involved with reporting the stories were trying to out do each other and had many people believing false things about Cuba. Many people died, but it was not a last resort for the U.S. They reacted off of what the newspapers had written and also from the pressure from the American people to go to war.
Ashton Botsford
1st hour

Anonymous said...

1. I think the Spanish American War was not fought for the ‘right’ reasons in the beginning, so the reasons to the start the war in the first place might not have been legitimate. One of the main reasons this war started was because it had so much support from the people of the United States, which came from exaggerated stories in the newspaper, the product of a technique called yellow journalism. Without so much American support the war might not have been fought at all. These papers accused the Spanish of oppressing in their colonies and held Spain accountable for the explosion of the U.S.S. Maine, an accusation which at the time had no evidence that led to any suspects or culprits. Senator Redifield Proctor made a speech in 1898 that concluded war was the only answer to end this debacle. Later President McKinley asked congress for permission to send American troops into Cuba to end the civil war there. While Congress was deciding to declare war, the senator of Colorado proposed the Teller amendment to make sure the U.S. wouldn’t establish permanent control over Cuba, and it was decided that war would be announced. This war would also help Cuba gain its independence from Spain.

Elyse Dumas - 5th Hour

Anonymous said...

The main reason the war began was because the U.S.S. Maine, which was a very large army ship exploded in Havana Harbor which left almost 300 men killed when they were on the ship. They think it was because of a mine but they don’t know. The war was basically started because the u.s thought that it was the Spanish that caused the explosion when the U.S. was over in the fight between Spain and the Spanish for independence. Once the journalists and the newspapers heard about the explosion yellow journalism came into play which made the “fire” which was already burning in the war even bigger. The journalists stretched the truth about the explosion and said that was way more dramatic than it already was. Some journalists even competed for who could draw the most attention, such as Joseph Pulitzer and William Hearst. These stretches of the war were very appealing to some but it made others think that it didn’t seem right because the starched the truth too much. These are the vents that started the war.

ALex allen p.5

Anonymous said...

Rudy Schreier 1st Hour
1.The main event that caused the war to begin was the explosion of the American ship U.S.S Maine in Havana Harbor. The U.S.S Maine was sent to Havana because Cuba was fighting Spain in a revolution for its independence. The Maine was sent to protect American interests and citizens such as sugar mills and planting fields. When the ship exploded, many Americans took interest and were furious. Citizens wanted the war more and more because of the explosion, yet President McKinley ignored their demands. Over 200 U.S. soldiers were killed in the explosion, and two months later in April, the United States declared war. This was partially and mostly caused because of Theodore Roosevelt’s strong intervention in Cuba. A second reason the war was initiated was yellow journalism. Journalists exaggerated events that occurred in the war in order to attract peoples’ attention and sell more papers. They were often blamed as one of the causes of the war. The yellow journalists also blamed the Spanish for the explosion of the U.S.S Maine, which was never found out what really caused the explosion.
2.I don’t think we exhausted nearly all options before proceeding to war because so many people were so eager to go to war, I think the war began prematurely. The United States could have taken different, more peaceful routes, and taken more time before going to war.

Anonymous said...

Matthew Brodley
5th Hour

The war began in many different ways. One of the many reasons was because when president McKinley had sent the U.S.S. Maine to Cuba to bring home American citizens in danger from the fighting and to protect American property. Another one of the many reason's is the specific thing that was published in the news papers; the different news papers used yellow journalism (lieing) to get readers that would help fuel the war by telling stories about wells being poisoned, children being thrown to sharks, and of the U.S.S. Maine being blown into two pieces by the enemies secret infernal machine. One other reason was TR was pushing Mickenly to go to war because he felt that we would have no problem winning.

Anonymous said...

Kevin Ross-5th Hour

I do not believe that peace was the ultimate goal. I believe that the United States of America did not care about peace; all that the United States wanted was more land. I think that after the U.S.S. Maine exploded, the United States wanted revenge on Spain and along with it they wanted to get more territory. They didn’t want to look like an imperialist country but they were. They needed an excuse to get more land, they didn’t just want to go into the Philippines and take their land; they needed a reason. The United States also took control of many Caribbean countries. They had control over Cuba, but they let them have their independence, but they still monitored all of their moves. I think back then; the united States were imperialist, they were just in denial. They wanted to spread their rule without anyone noticing so they found excuses to.

Anonymous said...

1st Hour
10/19/09
Natalie Hords

1. The war between the Spanish and the United States began when the U.S.S. Maine was sent to cuba to aid the Americans to safety and get the people away from the fighting that was occurring. Then, for some unknown reason, the U.S.S. Maine (2nd largest battleship created at that time) blew up, killing an estimate of about 260 men. No one really knew what to think or who to blame for the act, but that soon changed when yellow journalism began to become more and more popular. The press stated that the Spanish were the ones who did it and there was a $50,000 reward for there capture. The Americans were outraged by all the news and just like that, the war had begun.

Anonymous said...

The Spanish American War started for a few different reasons. One being how the U.S.S Maine exploded. McKinley wanted to protect American interests so he sent the ship out. The ship exploded for an unknown reason and caused a lot of tension although it was originally to help Cuba and Spain. Journalists used yellow journalism to spice up the events that were occurring, which made people a lot more interested. Around two months later the war was declared. It was mainly declared because of Roosevelt who supported intervention. The yellow journalists continued to exaggerate their stories about war and even blaming Spain for the explosion of the U.S.S Maine.

Rebecca Cook
5th Hour

Anonymous said...

1. There was one main reason of why the Spanish-American war started. The main reason was the explosion of the USS Maine. Even thought this explosion was caused by an unknown reasons. When papers, like, The New York Journal, got a hold of this story, they used yellow journalism by blaming the explosion on the Spanish. This really fueled the American resentment of the Spanish. Causing the spark to the war. The USS Maine exploded in Havana Harbor. The official inquiry was a mine, but yellow journalism said otherwise. After news of the explosion President McKinley gave Spain an ultimatum to leave Cuba, on March 29th. Spain did not accept, thus forcing President McKinley to declare war on the Spanish on April 19. The major goal was to defeat Spain and force them out of Cuba and the rest of the western hemisphere. That is how the Spanish-American war began.

Willie Beattie
3rd hour

Anonymous said...

There was lots of reasons why the war in Cuba started. One of the many reasons we that the war started is because McKinley had sent the U.S.S. Maine to Cuba to bring back American citizens in danger from the war. Another reason to why the war in Cuba happened is when the news publishers used yellow journalism in there newspapers. Yellow journalism got readers pumped and about the war. The publishers like Joseph Pulitzer and William Hearst told stories on how people were being poisoned, children have been thrown into oceans to be eaten by sharks , and of the U.S.S. Maine getting blown up by the enemies secret infernal machine. Another on the the reasons on the war happening in Cuba is because Theodore Roosevelt was pushing the President McKinley to go to have war with Cuba. Americans also wanted to get there revenge on Cuba for killing the 260 from the U.S.S. in Havana Harbor.

Muhannad Al-Bakkour
5th Hour/October 19th

Anonymous said...

Malarie French 3rd hour

There were a few main reasons for the war. One of the reasons was the explosion of the U.S.S. Maine in Havana Harbor. President McKinley had sent the ship to Cuba to fetch the American people, who were in danger from the fighting. In the process, the ship was blown up. Over 260 men were killed. The Journal exaggerated the event by saying the enemy split it in half with their “secret infernal machine”. People became furious and many wanted revenge for this incident. Numerous thought the Spaniards were the one who caused it. There was a reward of $50,000 for the capture of one who committed the outrage, even though they weren’t sure if it was really them. Another reason for the war was because of yellow journalism. People overstressed stories to get attention. They didn’t care about what the people thought, they cared about earning money. Some key people that did this include Joseph Pulitzer and William Hearst.

Anonymous said...

Austin Rovinski 5th hour-Wickersham 10/19/09

2. I do not think that peace was the ultimate goal. If it was, then the United States would not have interfered because there is no gain for the United States by just peace. Also, the soldiers wouldn’t have been left there for several years if peace had been the goal. The United States imposed its rule and its own form of government on the people of other countries; I don’t see how that lands on the path to peace. The real reason why the United States seized control of the territories was for military strength, and new resources. “Christianizing” and educating people were other reasons, but they were definitely not the most important and many of the people were, in fact, already Christian. For example, in Cuba, the United States sent in troops to help liberate the Cuban people. Then the United States laid down its own government and used Cuba’s resources for its own gain.

Anonymous said...

Kendal Gumbleton
1st Hour


#1. There were many reasons for the Spanish-American war beginning, the most prominent one however was the U.S.S. Maine exploding in Havana Harbor. The ship was sent there to retrieve U.S. citizens but 260 people were killed in the explosion, and this although never proven, was a good reason to go to war with the Spanish. Another reason was yellow journalism in the newspapers. Many yellow journalists put the blame for numerous things happening with Cuba on the Spanish. This ended up fueling America’s interests to go to war with Spain. Some of these accusations were along the lines of, the Spanish poisoning wells, feeding children to sharks, and blowing up the U.S.S. Maine. President McKinley did try to issue an ultimatum on Spain to leave Cuba which didn’t agree until April 1st, but 18 days later the vote was in favor of the war and so we went. I think the U.S. could have expressed more non-military ways to get the Spanish to leave Cuba, but in the end I do think they made the right decision.

Anonymous said...

Ryan Williams
5th Hour

#1
The Spanish American War began with the sinking of the USS Maine, which was a US naval shipped stationed in Havana, to protect US citizens following a riot in Havana the previous month. Even though it was never proved this ship was sunk by an enemy mine, reporters had a field day and quickly blamed the explosion that killed over 200 men, on the Spanish. This outraged many Americans, especially those in the government, and led to the ultimatum that President McKinley issued to the Spanish. The ultimatum said that if the Spanish evacuated Cuba and gave the citizens their independence, war would be avoided, but when the Spanish did not comply the US declared war. And on April 24th Spain declared war on the US and the US declared war on Spain the next day, and the rest is history.

Anonymous said...

The main event that caused the war to begin was the explosion of the American ship the U.S.S Main in Havana Harbor that killed 266 people during the explosion. However the U.S.S Maine was in Havana in the first place because Cuba was fighting Spain for its independence. The U.S.S Maine was sent to protect the interests of America and its citizens. The explosion of the ship and the ignorant yellow journalism that followed was what made people war hungry so to speak. Without a cause for the explosion journalists automatically jumped to the conclusion that Spain attacked us which lead to U.S citizens becoming anxious for war. Two months later in April, the New York Journal issued a million copy press run dedicated to the war in Cuba. The newspaper called for the immediate U.S. entry into war with Spain. The newspaper didn’t have to wait long to get what it wanted, on April 11th U.S. President William McKinley requested authorization from the U.S. Congress to intervene in Cuba, with the object of putting an end to the war between Cuban revolutionaries and Spain. On April 25th Spain declared war between against the United States.

Jon Holland
5th Hour

Anonymous said...

Question 2
I do not think that the Spanish American war was aimed at peace. I believe that the war was fought for political gain, the attempt to expanded America, and business were what the war was really aimed at. The reasons I think this is because we did not leave the Philippians right after the war. Also, when a group called the American Anti-Imperialist League decided to fight the annexation of the Philippians, America started a war. This was just like what Spain did, and the so-called “peace” was not preferable to before America taking control. We also mostly killed more civilians then soldiers, with civilians the death count was 200,000 and the soldiers count was only 24,200. That is almost a one-to-eight ratio of soldiers to civilian death ratio, showing once again that America at the time did not really care for the islands population interest. This shows that the Spanish American war did not have peace as a primary objective, and was merely considered a way to justify the war.
Jacob Hasenau, 5th hour

Anonymous said...

How the war began was because the U.S. battleship Maine in Havana , with a loss of 260 men. Although Spanish complicity was not proved, U.S. public opinion was aroused by yellow journalism and people began demanding to go to war to get revenge.and another reason the war started was because roosevelt was pushing president Mckinely into going into battle. And also peace was not the ultimate goal because Due to tensions between America and Spain, plus American Imperialism/Colonialism. and an "excuse" to conquer, and the conflicts that followed and still continue on into today's era with Puerto Rico,

Anonymous said...

1. How Did the War Begin The war’s origin can be traced down to America starting to get involved in foreign affairs. Teddy Roosevelt’s foreign policy, called the Roosevelt Corollary, was based on the ideas of the Monroe Doctrine. It allowed the U.S. to make sure the Europeans weren’t going into Latin America, therefore the U.S. technically had access to control affairs in Latin America themselves. American troops were located in Havana Harbor when the U.S.S. Maine exploded. This raised a lot of tension and readiness to start a war in America. With the help of yellow journalism, the want for war was heightened. The journalists’ accounts made the explosion seem more like a sneak attack from the Spanish. They didn’t seem to consider that it may have been an accident caused by the Americans themselves. President Wilson considered the accident factor, because no one really knew the cause of the explosion. With the urging of Teddy Roosevelt and the American people, Wilson finally decided to announce war with Spain.
-Amanda 5th hour

Anonymous said...

Crystal Oropeza
3rd hour


The main event that caused the war to begin was mainly the explosion of the USS Maine in the Havana Harbor. The ship was sent because Cuba was fighting Spain. The point of the ship being sent was to protect and keep safe American citizens and soldiers. Then the ship exploded, even though there is no explanation many people pointed fingers at countries they thought that did it. Many people were killed, which did not make people any happier. This made Roosevelt wan intervention in Cuba. Another reason was yellow journalism. Journalists would exaggerate in the papers. This would boost paper sales, and increase the money the made. Also, this would really get peoples attention and encourage them to even pick different sides. By grabbing peoples attention this sparked war and made views different, even though they were mostly false.

Anonymous said...

Griffin Harms
1st Hour
1.) Several events increased tension between the US and Spain, but one event helped spark the war. This event was the explosion of the U.S.S Maine in Havana Harbor. Even though the true cause of the explosion is still unknown to this day, Spain served as an easy scapegoat for the US. The US had not exhuasted all of its options before going to war and war certainly hadn't been a last resort. But this event and all of the public support for a war had caused congress to declare war. The Spanish-American War was a short and successful one for the US just as predicted so the precautionary measures before the war weren't exactly neccessary.

Alex said...

The Spanish-American War took place between April and August 1898, over the liberation of Cuba. This war was started after the American demands for the Cuban independence were rejected by Spain. There were strong feelings in the United States to have the government motivated to develop a plan to join Spain’s remaining overseas territories that would include Puerto Rico, Philippines’, and Guam. The revolution in Havana initiated the United States to send in a war ship called USS Maine. The purpose of this was to increase the tension among the American people. The newspaper owners came to the conclusion that the Spanish officials were to blame. Along with the “yellow journalist” newspapers, the Americans accused the Spanish of causing oppression in their colonies. This in itself made the American public even more upset.

A speech was delivered in March, 1898 that analyzed the situation leaving that war was the only answer. Many people in the business and religious communities who were originally against the war, now switched their sides to be in favor of the war. On April 11 President McKinley requested to have the authority to send American troops to Cuba with the sole purpose of ending the civil war in Cuba.

Alex Victor
10-19-09
Hour 5

Anonymous said...

Margeaux Phillips
1st Hour

1. The event that mainly triggered the Spanish-American war was the explosion of the U.S.S. Maine in Havana Harbor. Though the real cause of the explosion was never truthfully known, many were thought to believe that the Spanish was responsible. The main source of this blame was centered around yellow journalism. The yellow journalists embellished the events they encountered in the war to draw in people’s attentions and make them conscious of the war. It’s important to state that the reason the U.S.S. Maine was initially sent to Havana Harbor was to protect American interests in Cuba while they were fighting for their independence against Spain. Once the U.S.S. Maine was exploded, much of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt included, believed that it was necessary to intervene. However, McKinley ignored their urge to intervene at first. Finally on April 1st, the U.S. declared war.

Anonymous said...

Peace was not the ultimate goal of the war. If the result of the U.S. winning the war was all of the territory it got, then maybe the intentions of the U.S. was to get that territory. The U.S. was obviously focused on keeping the Philippines, so they wouldn’t settle for less than that; but they ended up getting more. When the Filipinos fought against annexation, the U.S. fought back and won. Nobody started the war with intentions of a peaceful ending- their intentions were to gain more land. Since it was all in the work of the United States, Spain wasn’t thinking of peace either, because they were never thinking of war. Spain most likely did not want war because they were already fine, and they did not want any issues. Basically, America wanted land. They came up with a silly reason to start a war. They won, and they got the land.
Sydnee Cohen
5th hour

Anonymous said...

Ari Franklin
5th hour
Question 1:
One of the main events that started the Spanish-American war was the exploding of the U.S.S Maine in Havana Harbor. Though nobody knows why it exploded most people believe that the Spanish had something to do with it. The reason for this is yellow journalism. Yellow Journalism beefed up stories and was not always true. When news papers got a hold of this story they used yellow journalism to make people believe that the Spanish were at fault. This made the American People angry and want to go to war. On April 19th America declared war on Spain. At this time they hadn’t tried every non-violent option to resolve their issues with Spain making this an unjust war. America also adopted the teller amendment which stated it had no intention 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." The teller amendment was not followed because the U.S.S Maine was in Havana Harbor in the first place because America wanted to protect its interests in Cuba while it was fighting for its independence from Spain. These were the events that started the Spanish-American War.

Harshita Pinnamaneni said...

The main cause that sparked the Spanish-American War was the explosion of the U.S.S. Maine in Havana Harbor. Although the no one really knew how the ship exploded, many thought that the Spanish had done it; this belief was also strongly encouraged by the yellow journalists who were previously (before this event) exaggerating the cruelties of the Spanish treatment in Cuba, and who even further influenced peoples beliefs on how and why the Spanish blew up the U.S.S. Maine. Also when President McKinley issued the Ultimatum, the Spanish were probably urged more to fight in the war, which was also proved through the fact that they didn’t agree to leave until April 1st although they were told to on March 29th. The Teller Amendment which stated that the, “U.S. had no intention on exercising control or jurisdiction over Cuba, and would leave Cuba as soon as the war was over”, went against the fact of U.S. being an imperialist nation and this event probably triggered the start of the war since Congress officially agreed.
Harshita Pinnamaneni

Anonymous said...

Dustin Oakwood
October 19/20, 2009
3rd Hour
Mr. Wickersham
For the Spanish-American war, I believe that peace was not the ultimate goal. I believe that the main goal of the US was its outward expansion. We discussed in class how America is like an imperialist nation (without declaring imperialist, calling it democracy instead) and wanted to expand its borders, so perhaps this war is over new territory. What sparked this war was the explosion of the U.S.S. Maine; this ship spontaneously exploded and there are various theories as to why it blew up. We, as America, decided that it was the Spanish that exploded our ship, which is what started the war. We took this as an opportunity to get more land through war. We eventually won the war with Spain, obviously, and received Guam, Cuba, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico. So, I can conclude that this war is NOT a just war, and is favored to the Americans, allowing us to get more land and expand our “imperialist” nation.

Anonymous said...

Alice Turner 1st hour

I think that peace was the ultimate goal. During the T.R. presidency, the U.S. only used force and militate power when unrest was present. He only let the U.S. play a part in things when it was really needed. The U.S. was looking for peace in Cuba, and tried to urge Spain into restoring this in the territory. Spain refused the polite words and encouragement from the U.S. and when the U.S.S Maine exploded, Spanish officials in Cuba were blamed (although it’s still unknown whether they really did it) and the U.S. struck back as what they saw as self – defense, which - if the ship was destroyed by the Spanish – fits into the just war guidelines. The U.S. was doing its best to help out another country and restore their peace and help them establish a government – it was for the good of another county rather than our own corrupt motives

ian frederik 3rd hour said...

In my opinion, the war began because the American government had too big an ego to let a probably accidental explosion of the U.S.S. Maine (although Two hundred and sixty-six died and eight more died from their wounds, there were only 89 survivors.) throughout history the USA has overreacted and retaliated. The real start of the war was the journalist writing about the U.S.S. Maine being attacked by the Spanish. If the journalists hadn’t wanted to just sell papers instead of actually getting correct information, the war might have never happened.
I do not believe that peace was the ultimate goal when America invaded the Philippines. Back then America wanted to expand. They did this by buying land, but also by invading the country and taking over its government. They would arrange for the people to gain independence, but their independence would be modeled after the American independence. The us also gained a military base that is active today by invading.

Anonymous said...

2. Was peace the ultimate goal?

It seems that peace would not be the ultimate goal. This is proven during 1898, when business and political interests worked on keeping the Philippines’ once the war was over. Congress voted for war with a vote of 311 to 6 in the House and 42 to 35 in the Senate, war was declared on April 19th. Although, this may have not been the intentions of the president or the people of the USA. The American Anti-Imperialist League was created to fight the annexation of the Philippines; therefore, showing that the people did not want to annex the Philippines after the war. 220,000 Filipinos were killed in the three year war that lasted until 1902 with only 4,200 Americans dead, if peace was the goal then why didn’t we try to gain peace first instead of declaring war and mindlessly killing other people? Because peace wasn’t the goal, were those stereotypical Americans. We were fat, greedy businessmen that just wanted to profit in wealth, not welfare of the world. Even though President Roosevelt allowed Cuba to declare its official independence, we still had control over their foreign and economic affairs with the use of the Platt Amendment.

Ezra Woodard
Hour 3

Anonymous said...

alex wong 3rd hour

Was peace the ultimate goal? I don’t think so because as the U.S. entered the war we sent in troops and just showed them we were better. If peace was the ultimate goal then it did not show very much when we made a point of them in the battle. The entire war was us trying to get back at the Spanish for allegedly destroying our battle ship. The war was a slaughter by the United States and we were victorious in a matter of days. Peace was not the ultimate goal because if it was we would not have beaten them so badly and we would have been more modest about the victory and the united state usually is not modest in defeat or in victory. When the United States started the war the Spanish were not ready and were probably caught off guard because they did not probably scuttle the ship

Anonymous said...

The Spanish American War started when the U. S. S. Main exploded in Havana Harbor in Cuba. Even though we will never know the real cause, at the time the Spanish were the only ones America thought could be responsible for the explosion. These thoughts came from yellow journalism. Yellow Journalism over exaggerated newspaper stories to sell more papers. This attracted the readers to buy the newspapers and believe the lie that these writers portrayed. The lie was that the Spanish started the war, when really; no one knows who started it. The teller Amendment, which stated 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, was issued shortly after congress voted to declare war. This amendment was issued to help Cuba gain independence from Spain, which they later did gain.

Kristina Ndrejaj
U.S. History - 5th

Anonymous said...

Jimmy McCafferty
5th hour


1. How did the war begin?
The Spanish American war began for many reasons all of which were caused by over exaggeration and false assumptions. The root of these assumptions was the explosion of the U.S.S Maine in the Havana Harbor. Although the cause of the explosion was unknown American journalists pushed the blame toward the Spanish through yellow journalism in American newspapers. This started a large support for war throughout the US. Among those suddenly calling for war Theodor Roosevelt also pushed President McKinley to declare war on Spain.

Anonymous said...

The war started because a U.S ship had got bombed in the Havana. No one knew who bombed the ship but they assumed someone did it. It also occurred because the Cuban’s tried to win independence over the Spanish. As a result the U.s ships defeated the Spanish fleets in the Philippines. After the defeat the Philippines expected independence from the Spanish but, in exchange the U.S gave them 20 million dollars to have total control of the of the Philippines. Peace wasn’t the ultimate goal, to conquer a nation and gain land was the goal. The US helped this nation not for peace, but for land. If it was for peace, then they would have never asked for any land. We had no intentions on doing this for free. It was as if I scratch your back, and you scratch my back.

Jalen S. -3rd

Anonymous said...

There are many different reasons why the war began. The first reason is due to the fact that when McKinley was president, the U.S.S. Maine had blown up while killing over 260 men. Because of this, McKinley demanded the U.S.S. to go to Cuba and bring home American citizens that were in danger from the fighting and also to protect American property. The second reason is from reading the newspapers. Writers used something called yellow journalism to attract readers which over exaggerated the explosion of the U.S.S. The newspaper authors were saying the Spanish exploded the U.S.S. This is neither here nor there. They just wanted to start a war, and make more money by selling more papers. To this day, the U.S.S. Maine explosion is to be remained unknown. I think that the U.S. exhausted all options before going to war. We wanted revenge, and we got it!

Norell

Anonymous said...

The war began when the U.S.S. Maine exploded in Havana Harbor and Teddy Roosevelt wanted to go to war against the Spanish and he had now found a reason to. We may never know the exact cause for the U.S.S. Maine exploding, but with yellow journalism fueling what happened, most Americans believed that the Spanish had purposely destroyed the U.S.S. Maine. The U.S.S. Maine went to Havana earlier in 1898 because it was protecting American interests and citizens. When the U.S.S. Maine was blown up it killed over 200 U.S. soldiers. When Congress decided to adopted the Teller Amendment to Teddy Roosevelt wanted a war, so he immediately started to prepare for war. He cabled the commanders to prepare for war on the Spanish. Roosevelt wanted to go to fight in war that he resigns his position and signs up to go war. Choose 1,000 men that are similar to him to serve under his command. He called them Children of the Dragon’s Blood but the newspaper called them Roosevelt’s Rough Riders. Roosevelt thought that every generation should fight in a war. The truth of everything is that we may never know what really caused the U.S.S. Maine to blow up, it could have been that in the firearms some gun powder was spilled and a flame sprung up and caught the gun powder just a second before it went out. Some other country could have blown it up. We just assumed that it was the Spanish because they were closes. It could have been, but who knows?

Kayleigh

Anonymous said...

The reason why the Spanish American war started was when the U.S.S. Maine exploded in Havana harbor killing 260 us navy solders people think it was Cuba and some people think it was the Spanish and some people think that it was a inside job but now we think what caused it was a spark the and the blame back them was placed on the Spanish Cuba because of yellow journalism scaring everyone so people in the government used the just war theory to place the blame on them so they can use that as a excuse to kick the Spanish out of Cuba so they could talk to the Cuban government and convince them to let them build the panama canal to get the navy to san Francisco faster Roosevelt claimed that it was the Spanish so the Spanish American war was started because people said there was a good reason to

B.T.

Anonymous said...

Blog #23


1. The war began because of many different reasons. One of the main reasons is the explosion of the U.S.S. Maine in the Havana Harbor, which killed many men. Because of yellow journalism, many Americans believed that the Spanish caused the explosion. This was an outrage to every America, and many called for war. Up until then, yellow journalism also reported on the many cruelties that the Spanish commited against Cuba, which made Americans hate Spain even more. Another factor to the start of the war was the involvement of Assistant Secretary to the Navy Teddy Roosevelt. He heavily encouraged President Mckinley to start the war. Also, one day when Roosevelt was temporarily put in charge, he put all the capels of the Navy on high alert. This was another event that helped persuade Mckinley, who was reluctant at first, into starting the war. However, many question that Roosevelt and the rest of America could have been too eager to start the war. Various people believe that America didn't have a reasonable enough motive to start the war, that they were just playing the part of an international police power.

Isaac A

Anonymous said...

Matt Baker
3rd Hour
2.) Was peace the main goal? Yes and no, but mostly no. The Main interest of the government was simply to control the Philippines, but one of the reasons that America wanted to control the Philippines was in order to stop another country from starting a war against the Philippines in order for them to control it. But then again would that be a last resort attempt to protect the Philippines or just a way of covering up the governments intentions, which would make it an un-just war. Also the American government must have been thinking about, killing off a part of a countries population in order to protect them is not a very good idea, there has to be a simpler way than that. So, no, I don’t believe that the American government was intending to take control of the Philippines in order to protect them, but rather to gain political power and show the world that America was the most powerful country.

Anonymous said...

Erin R. -1st hour
1. The Spanish-American War started because of many reasons. The biggest reason was because the U.S.S. Maine blew up. The U.S.S. Maine was stationed in Havana, to help protect American citizens following a riot when it suddenly blew up. Sadly, more than 200 people perished in the explosion. The Newspapers (Yellow Journalism) exaggerated the truth so that more people would read their newspapers. They said that the Spanish had intentionally split the U.S.S. Maine in two, but to this day no one has been able to find out the real reason why it blew up. Americans saw the headlines and believed them. Americans were furious at the Spanish and pushed for a war with Spain. This worked and in April 19th, war was declared. This was not the only event that caused the Spanish-American war but it was the main reason and the “last straw” and American citizens were desperate for war.

Anonymous said...

We are spending or money on things like prisons, schools, and military. We also spend a lot of our money on our roads and on bailouts. I think that bailouts are the main thing that we spend our money on because we spend such a vast amount of money at a time on bailouts.
The government needs to spend money so that they can provide services for the public like the ones mentioned in question number one. If the government didn’t fix up roads then we couldn’t drive from place to place because no one would spend there own money to fix it. Also if the government couldn’t fund our jails they would fall apart and eventually close.
We have a huge national debt because we spend more then what we get from taxpayers and we got in an expensive war in Iraq and more recently got involved more in Afghanistan. Also we had to bailout companies that failed in the economic recession that we just went through otherwise they would of gone broke and thousands of people would of lost there jobs.
I think that we should look into what the government really spends there money and see if any of are debts were unnecessary. And I will join this muckraking project.

Nick P

Anonymous said...

Adam Egrin 5th period
I believe that the Spanish American War was not a just war. All options were not exhausted before war was declared. The US government could have investigated the bombing of the USS Maine before just believeing what the yellow journalism papers said. This would have saved money and many lives as well. The Teller Amendment was a lie. The US stayed in Cuba after the war was over and in fact did not ever leave Puerto Rico. Peace was not the ultimate goal of the Spanish American War. The US had its own personal interests (financial and political) in mind - not those of the country it was going in to help. In conclusion, the Spanish American war was not a just war according to the definition that we were given.

Anonymous said...

David Hoffman
3rd period

1. How did the war begin? –
The definition of a just war states that “A just war can only be waged as a last resort. All non-violent options must be exhausted before the use of force can be justified.” The US had not exhausted all the options before declaring war on Spain. The US could have sent ambassadors to Cuba to talk to the Spanish leaders before declaring war. The US could have threatened to close off trade to the Spanish in order to put pressure on them. The US could also have gotten the other countries in the area to put pressure on them.

Anonymous said...

1. 1.The day of when the USS Maine was patrolling the waters of off the shore of Havana. Then a huge explosion occurred. The people thought the war started when the USS Maine exploded in Havana the newspapers made it out to be that the Spanish bombed the ship, then that lead to war. Yellow press blaming for the disaster, lead to the liberation of Cuba. Destruction of Maine did not cause the United States to declare war on Spain, but it served as a catalyst. “November 1897, U.S. President William McKinley got Spain to grant Cuba limited self-government within the Spanish empire. Nevertheless, the move did not satisfy the Cuban rebels, who were determined to gain independence” (Enotes.com)
2. American leaders thought that the rebellion would neither end in a win for the Cubans or nether would the Spanish be tuff enough to put down the rebel army.

Blake

Anonymous said...

1. All classes are mainly spending their money on housing. At the bottom of the scale most unemployed Americans are spending their money on social security, and public assistance. The middle class of the population are spending their money on retirement funds and some social security. Finally the richest of the population have been spending their money respectively. But transportation is the second biggest expense for the Americans. More families nowadays are spending less on groceries the more they get paid. Another very big spending problem in America is on Health Care. The amount American’s pay for Health Care is way to high. Not too long ago I was in Canada talking to the man who fixes my skates every year ad he was explaining to me that American’s pay 23% more for Health Care then the Canadians do, and that’s when it really hit me that American’s are in deep trouble with their spending.
2. We ARE the American people, and people over spend their on living but to an extent where it’s a bit ridiculous, with the economy the way it is.
3. We are in an extreme national debt because as time goes on prices continue to go up, and while prices are going up more people are losing their jobs and others aren’t able to find jobs. As this continues we begin to get in a deeper, and deeper mess. When will it stop?
4. What we can do is share our ideas and get them down on paper (it’s a start!) and, yes, I am willing to take on the Muckraking project with you. 

Abby

Anonymous said...

How the war began was because the U.S. battleship Maine in Havana , with a loss of 260 men. Although Spanish complicity was not proved, U.S. public opinion was aroused by yellow journalism and people began demanding to go to war to get revenge.and another reason the war started was because roosevelt was pushing president Mckinely into going into battle. And also peace was not the ultimate goal because Due to tensions between America and Spain, plus American Imperialism/Colonialism. and an "excuse" to conquer, and the conflicts that followed and still continue on into today's era with Puerto Rico.

Tim W

Anonymous said...

Jared Monchnik

2. Peace was not the goal in any of the Spanish American wars. I can infer this because of how we basically enslaved the Philippians in the war, and took all of their recourses such as wood, oil and other recourses needed to keep America alive and well. America wanted the credit of acting like they were helping, but in the reality they didn’t do much to help. They also fought in the wars just to fight and win to make them selves look stronger and more powerful, and would start war with small incidents, and large incidents as well.

Anonymous said...

Brittney Jernigan
5th Hour

1.) The war began from the U.S.S. battleship Maine explosion, which the American goverment wasn't even sure if it was the Spanish that did it or not but they jumped to conclusions. All the yellow journalism going on just got America even more fired up. All of this led to the ultimatum that President Kinely gave out that said that if the Spanish had to evacuate Cuba and gave the citizens their independence, or else war. On April 24th Spain declared war on the US and the next day the U.S. did the same.

Anonymous said...

The Spanish American war was started because the battleship USS Maine blew up in the Havana harbor. The reason it was there is because it was protecting American people from the fight between Cuba and Spain. It was also in the harbor to show how advanced our country was or to flex our muscles. This enraged many Americans and they wanted to pace the blame on someone. The Spanish were eventually blamed for the attack because of yellow journalism, although no one knows how it blew up. Another theory is there was a manufacturing problem and that cause it to blow up. This is a more realistic answer but people wanted someone to place the blame on so they choose the Spanish. The US declared war on April 2 fueled by yellow journalism. And mad Americans. The goal of yellow journalism was just to get attention and have sometimes untrue articles, so people shouldn’t have listened to them.
Luke R. -1st

Anonymous said...

Blog # 23 Just War Theory Applied to the Spanish American War
The Spanish American War began because the USS Maine exploded in the Havana harbor. The reasons that the ship exploded, no one knew. Because nobody who exploded the ship the American thought it had to be the Spanish. This was caused by yellow journalism which led to a letter to Spain. The letter told Spain to leave Cuba. After trying everything America declared war on Spain. Congress voted to declare war on April 19. This was after congress adopted the new amendment called the Teller Amendment. The Teller Amendment stated that to exercise jurisdiction over Cuba except in pacification role and promised to leave the island as soon as the war was over. That is basically the reason that the Spanish American war began in a nutshell.
Liam Rush

Anonymous said...

The Spanish American war started for a various amount of reasons. The explosion of the U.S.S. Maine in was a key factor that triggered the war. In Havana harbor over an estimated 260 men were killed explosion. No one really knows who started the explosion, but was suspected to be the Spaniards. Two large money rewards were posted for the people who committed this crime, although Americans weren’t sure who the suspects were. American newspapers and journalists over exaggerated the event out of greed for money, creating more American support for the war. This could have falsified views toward the war, which could have possibly made America feel more attacked which would be a quality of a just war. This was a just war because the U.S. had exhausted all options including the loss American lives and the ultimatum given by President McKinley to Spain to leave Cuba. The end result was that the legitimate authority in charge voted to declare war on April 19.

Keon C.

Anonymous said...

The war began because the U.S.S. Maine was blown up in Havana Harbor. It was believed that the Spanish blew up the ship. Some journalists, called yellow journalists, exaggerated/stretched the truth when they said that the Spaniards did this. They thought that the Spanish might have done this so they put it in their newspapers right away. They did this because they wanted to be the first newspaper to have this news. Also, they did this in order to sell more newspapers because they would be the only newspaper to have the biggest headline in America at the time. This was not a just war because it was not a last resort. The only reason we had was because some people guessed that the Spaniards blew up the ship. The war was not started to re-establish peace, it was started to begin violence. Many civilians were killed in this war, and we did not take every effort to spare their lives.

Alex Valente
5th Hour

Anonymous said...

1. The Spanish American war began with the explosion of the U.S.S Maine in Havana Harbor. They weren’t sure what caused the explosion, but Yellow journalism persuaded Americans to think the Spanish caused it. The war was declared over the liberation of Cuba. Yellow Journalism concluded that Spanish officials in Cuba were responsible for the horrible conditions of the Cubans. This convinced Americans to turn against Spain. The tension between America and Spanish resulted in war. It is possible they did not analyze other options enough, before deciding on war. President Roosevelt was fixed on war, even though people believed that war should have been a last resort. Roosevelt rushed into the war without a rational motive. There wasn’t really a practical objective to start the war. It ended well for America but I believe there could have been a more peaceful way of resolving the issue.
Randi -1st

Anonymous said...

1. The war started because the uss Maine was sunk by the Spanish (at least the news papers said so this was never proven) this war was mostly the news papers faults because they were practicing a type of journalism that can cause problems called yellow journalism and that means that the media is making up stories that they think will sell better and in this case yellow journalism started a war by not reporting fact only
2. The ultimate goal wasn’t peace in this war it was more on revenge and spite.

Jake ryan
3rd hour

Anonymous said...

The main reason the war started was because of the explosion of the U.S.S. Maine in Havana Harbor. This explosion resulted in more than 260 casualties. When this detonation occurred, President McKinley assumed right away that it was Spain. This caused the U.S. to become angry at Spain, which caused the war. Another reason for the U.S. believing it was Spain that exploded the U.S.S. Maine was because of the newspapers and the exaggerated articles that were in it. The newspapers were blaming Spain and telling the American citizens how bad Spain was and that we should start a war with them. These so-called “yellow journalists” made this event seem so much worse than it actually was. Peace was not the ultimate goal of this war. The war against Spain was meant for revenge and not to become friends with Spain. The U.S. wanted to get back at Spain for the explosion of the U.S.S. Maine.

Jake Balicki
3rd Hour

Anonymous said...

How the war began did not support the just war theory because it was not waged as a last resort. Yellow journalism helped the war begin because they blamed the U.S.S. Main sinking on the Mexicans before there was any evidence that the Mexicans did blow up the U.S.S. Main. Yellow journalism was a big cause why the war began because it was in every newspaper, which almost every one in the congress, senate, and the president read one. It was not waged as a last resort because the spark that set it off, the U.S.S. Main may not have been blown up by the Mexicans so we wouldn’t need to go to war. The United States still had options that did not involve going to war, like, a discussion with the Mexican leader about the events that had happened. A conference with the leaders may not have worked and then war could be waged as a last resort supporting th just war theory.


Sarah Knoll 3rd