Henfry Alvarez
11/11/13
ENG 103
Research Paper
The
Spanish American War
The United States throughout the
years has gone to war with so many countries. They want to gain control, never
aiming to lose. They have always been a dominant force, looking for victory
when they enter the battlefield. The United States have always been portrayed
as the bad guys, but they helped lead Cuba to victory against Spain. They
weren’t going to let Cuba be overrun by Spain, while they had a feud going on
between them. All of this leads to the Spanish American War.
During the Spanish American War,
it was considered a great cause for Cuba. They didn’t want to be controlled by
Spain, so they decided to fight back and defend themselves. If it wasn’t for
the United States helping out the smaller countries like Cuba, Puerto Rico, and
the Philippines, circumstances could have ended a little differently. The
United States is viewed to only want more power and money for helping out
smaller countries, but if it weren’t for them, Cuba would be in another rule.
There were three main battles occurred during the war and were important
because of the outcome.
No
matter what the cause, people will fight for what they believe in. No matter
how hard the situation nobody should ever shy away. “Although one rebellion had
been squashed in 1878, Cuba insurgents tried again in 1895 to overthrow their
European masters”.(Wetzel 1) Right before the Spanish- American War started,
Cuba tried to fight back. They tried to defend what was theirs. Even though
they tried several times, they never shied away from their rebellion. If this
didn’t happen, the United States wouldn’t have helped Cuba. Cuba may have been
outnumbered but they defended what was theirs and didn’t shy away.
All of this started with Spain trying to
put a Spanish rule on Cuba. This has been going for several years now; Cuba was
getting tired of being controlled. They tried to fight back for what they
believed was right. Even though they were a small country, nobody wants to be
controlled by anyone. Cuba did what they did, form a rebellion, go against
invaders trying to take away what was theirs. They weren’t going to stand there
and just hand over their country to another; they stayed and fought.
Cuba wasn’t the only country being over
run by Spain. They tried to move on to the Philippines trying to see if they
were able to gain control over them. “The next year similar uprising against
Spanish colonial authorities broke out in the Philippines”. With them trying to
get Cuba, Spain kept their options open to see if they could be able to gain
more power trying to take over another country. Spain is like a bully, trying
to pick on the smaller countries. This happened to become a known battle
throughout the war. It was considered a key battle for the United States. If it
weren’t for the Untied States stepping into help, Spain would be a whole different
country with a lot more power.
During the battle for Cuba, in the Santiago
Bay, a squadron under the demand of William T. Sampson led his troops to
battle. “When these forces finally met off Cuba’s Santiago Bay, the Americans
warships utterly destroyed their outgunned Spanish opponents.” The squadron was
destroying ships here and there, but things would get a little difficult when
they came upon new fleets from Spain and their new tactics. “Maritime
communication or supply lines would be vulnerable to Spanish attack.
Furthermore, along the East Coast, the news that Cervera’s Squadron had put to
sea led to fears that the Spanish warships might raid coastal cities.” Nothing
ever came easy when it comes down to war, but if you have all of your forces and
patience, things will come you way. “Costlier than initially expected, the land
campaign, directed by Major General William R. Shafter, would eventually
succeed. On 1 July, the American forces seized the San Juan heights overlooking
Santiago and began a siege of the city.”
The battles
for Cuba, Philippines, and the fight for Manila Bay, each of these were factors
to the war. That’s what leads to the victory for the United States. They enter
the war defending Cuba, all because Spain didn’t want to sign a treaty to agree
on. But not only have that leaded the United States to interfere, in the year
1898 “A mysterious explosion sinks the Maine in Havana Harbor with the loss of
260 of ship’s 354 officers and men.” The United States weren’t going to sit there
and be taken advantage of when they by other countries, after they feel like
they almost took control on Cuba. The United States wasn’t going to stand by
and let some other country try to attack them.
The United States has had its fair share
of battles, having so many different types of wars with other countries.
Throughout all of these wars, the United States have always been considered the
good guys, defending what’s theirs and protecting other countries. The Spanish
American War is the total opposite, the United States, were portrayed as the
bad guys. Reports say the United States tried to take control of vulnerable
countries like Puerto Rico, so they can be under their rule. They just made it
look like the United States wanted to get more power, even though they were
having some problems of their own. That’s why there were three battles; they
had their reasons for trying to take over the Philippines. Just because the
United States kind of overtook some countries, to have some type of insurance
for themselves, doesn’t really proclaim them to be the enemy. All of this
happened because of the explosion in Manila Bay, and so many different points
of views happened.
The Spanish government
rejected the U.S ultimatum and immediately severed diplomatic relations with the United States. McKinley
responded by implementing a
naval blockade of Cuba on April 22 issued a call for 125,000 military volunteers the
following day.
(history.state.gov 1)
They
broke off a diplomatic relation and it was disputed about Cuba’s independence.
So there are different reasons, motives, and cause to why the United States
went to war with them.
Tensions between the U.S and Spain were
increasing and weren’t looking so good either. According to History.com, the
explosion that occurred in Manila Bay, reports say that it was a mine exploding
and that’s what leads to the deaths of so many workers. The United States had
little thought it was Spain that had anything to do with it. But they let time
go by, and the United States had some suspicions to think something just wasn’t
right. “That night, under cover of darkness and with the lights aboard the U.S
warships extinguished the squadron slipped by the defensive guns of Corregidor
Island and into Manila Bay. After the dawn rose, the Americans located the
Spanish fleet: 10 out of date warships anchored off the Cavite naval
station.”(1)
Once they realized what was going on, the
United States entered the bay armed and ready for their counter attack. Commander
Dewey led them, hand picked by Theodore Roosevelt himself, triumphed to victory
over Spain by the Bay.
Throughout the war, there have been many
heroes that helped out the United States help Cuba fend off Spain. There was
Theodore Roosevelt, President McKinley (who took it upon himself to declare war
against Spain) “On 25 April, President William McKinley asked congress for a
formal declaration of war”. And there was also MacArthur. But none of these men
had a big impact as George Dewey had. “At 5:41AM on 1 May 1898, sixty-year-old
Commodore George Dewey cemented his place in history books with his famous
command to the captain of his flagship, protected cruiser USS Olympia”.
(Granger 2) Commander Derek B. Granger felt encouraged when he wrote “Dewey At
Manila Bay”, he felt that he was a true hero and he stuck to what he believed
him. Dewey with his strong leadership and confidence in his crew felt it was
the right time for his counter attack. But all of this took some time to figure
out what was he going to do. He needed to set up the right plan for the attack.
“Adopting these general plans, Dewey realized his forced would be operating
more than seven thousand miles from his nearest base, which meant it would take
nearly two months to transport coal, ammunition, and reserved into the
theater.”(Granger 3) He wanted to make sure that everything was going to fall
in place. Even though the United States just declared war against Spain, Dewey
wanted to make sure his guys were prepared for the traveling they were set on
doing. “Dewey’s operational leadership and his practice of operational art are
relevant to twenty-first-century practitioners of the operational level of
war.”(Granger2) Because of this man, Cuba was would forever be thankful to the
United States; this man did so much more then he was asked to do and it led
them to the right direction. That’s why Commander Granger this article, he felt
inspired in what type of man Dewey was and respected his leadership.
The United States had some great commanders
lead them to battle throughout the war. MacArthur, just like Dewey had led his
forces to victories. But when time passes, he had his series of ups and downs
and he isn’t mentioned as much as Dewey was. Brigadier General Arthur
MacArthur, then a colonel in the Adjutant General’s office, was given command
of the 1st Brigade of General Wesley Merritt’s 8th Army Corps, which arrived in
Manila on July 31. His involvement in the War would be the highlight of his
public career, and offers a useful lens on what happened there.” There was a time when he got promoted, he
didn’t feel like the spotlight was for him, “newspapers headlines in the United
States proclaimed that in the Philippines, Tis Dewey on the Sea, and MacArthur
on the Land. But unlike his son, Arthur MacArthur refused to court the press,
and his fame never grew.” This was happening leading up to his next battle.
When he enters his battle in the
Philippines, victory after victory, I think got into MacArthur’s head and
really didn’t give him any time to think. He tried to lead his forces into the
area. He had some help here and there getting into enemy territory with the
help of some Spaniards renegades, not knowing what he was getting into,
MacArthur faced defeat, “Although they had failed to destroy Aguinaldo’s army,
the American government-- against MacArthur’s objections-- declared the
rebellion officially over in November 1899. Despite his personal defeat,
MacArthur’s belief in the importance of the Philippines never wavered.” All of
the pressure, almost getting famous with the publicity coming along with it,
times he went into battle and trying to be perfect following the footsteps of
Dewey, kind of got in the way of MacArthur. Since he’s recent battle, he’s
always question Spain’s motive for the things they did and it just hit him
really hard.
This stops the United States strong push
against Spain, when they were so close to victory. The United States took back
what was theirs, they seized back control of San Juan, Kettle hills and by the
time they knew it, they had totally gained controlled Santiago Bay. “United
States annexes Hawaii. With U.S warships in the Caribbean freed up after
Cervera’s defeat, Spanish authorities become increasingly fearful for the
security of their own coast and recall Camara’s squadron.”
The United States had all the forces at
full attack near the ending of the war to capture and defeat the rest of the
enemy. It may have taken some years to happen but the United States were able
to convince and have Spain to sign a treaty with them, “In Paris a Spanish-
American peace treaty is signed in which Spain renounces all rights to Cuba,
cedes Puerto Rico and Guam to the United States, and sells the Philippines to
America for $20 million.” Even though the smaller countries were handed over to
the U.S, the smaller countries are in good hands. The U.S wouldn’t try to turn
themselves in their masters, they would treat them in the utmost respect and
make sure they are all treated the same.
In the end of the war, the United States
ended up gaining more power their armies expanded more. They were also looking
out for themselves while helping some other countries in need. Spain never
overlooks the U.S and in the future they became allies, and trusting each
other. Even though the United States were looking out for what was best, they
ended up doing right things, and Cuba is doing a whole lot better now.
