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Interesting Questions, Facts and Information
- There are a total of 30 general entries.
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 Interesting Questions, Facts, and Information
 Spanish-American War
Theodore Roosevelt. Two days after San Juan Hill the Spanish fleet tried to escape the American blockade at the harbor of Santiago, but a naval battle that followed this ended in the destruction of the Spanish fleet. Roosevelt was said to be the hero of San Juan Hill because he had done so much during the war and it seemed to the American people that he should be the true hero because he was a great leader.
A volunteer cavalry unit. The "Rough Riders" were under command of Leonard Wood. Theodore Roosevelt also was a commander of this group.
George Dewey. George Dewey gave the command to open fire on the Spanish fleet in Manila, the Philippine capital on April 30th.
In the Philippine Islands. The Spanish were expecting the Americans to attack Cuba first because they had once tried to buy Cuba from them, but the Americans attacked the Philippines first.
April 20th 1898. On April 11th, McKinley asked Congress for authority to use force against Spain, but it took until the 20th of April for Congress to agree.
| What ship did President McKinley order to evacuate American citizens who were in danger from the fighting and also to protect American property in 1898? | The Spanish-American War
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U.S.S. Maine. The popular press claimed that the U.S.S. Maine had been blown up by the Spaniards and said, "The warship Maine was split in two by an enemy's secret infernal machine."
The use of sensationalized reporting in the popular press. The popular press ("yellow journalism"), which developed from about 1880 onwards, was loudly patriotic. It focused on events - allegedly as seen by "our man in Havana" - and discouraged critical thinking. In the Spanish-American war it whipped up nationalistic enthusiasm in America for the war.
| Who responded to the Cuban rebellion by putting Cubans from central and western Cuba into barbed-wired "reconcentration" camps? | The Spanish-American War
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Valeriano Weyler. In 1896, the Spanish sent General Valeriano Weyler (1838-1930) over to Cuba to suppress the rebellion. He soon came to the conclusion that the only way to suppress the rebellion was to cut off the guerrilla rebels from any source of civilian support. In order to do this, he had about 300,000 Cuban civilians deported to camps. These were very poorly run and many of the inmates (who, after all, had committed no crime) perished from hunger and disease. If he'd wanted to encourage popular stereotypes about "Spanish brutality" he could hardly have made a better job of it.
| Which country was once the most powerful colonial nation on earth, but by the end of the 19th century lost most of its colonies? | The Spanish-American War
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Spain. Spain had only retained the Philippines and the island of Guam in the Pacific and a few very small colonies in Africa. (Spain turned to parts of West and Central Africa as a source of slaves until slavery ended in 1873), the Caribbean islands of Cuba, and Puerto Rico in the Americas.
John Hay. In a letter to his friend Theodore Roosevelt, John Hay (future secretary of state) captured the public mood when he wrote that the Spanish conflict had been "a splendid little war." Pulitzer and Hearst used "yellow journalism" to popularize their newspapers during the war, creating jingoism. Jose Marti was a Cuban journalist who led their rebellion against Spain.
Teller Amendment. The Teller Amendment was attached to Congress' 1898 war resolution against Spain promised Cubans their independence. The U.S. pressured the Cubans to attach the Platt Amendment to their constitution, which declared that the Cuban government could not enter any foreign agreements, must allow the U.S. to establish two American naval bases on the island, and must give the U.S. the right to intervene whenever necessary. The Platt Amendment remained in force until 1934, save the establishment of the U.S.'s Guantanamo Bay Naval Base on the eastern end of the island nation. The Treaty of Paris officially ended the Spanish-American War, while the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty involved the establishment of the Panama Canal.
Explosion of the USS Maine. In early February, McKinley ordered the Maine into Havana Harbor to protect American lives and property. On February 15, an explosion aboard the ship killed in excess of 250 American soldiers. Americans pressured the president into war after this happened, due to their belief that the Spanish had bombed the ship purposely. More recently, it is believed that there was a fire, and the potent ammunition stored aboard the ship caused the explosion.
Cuba. In the treaty between American and Spain that ended their war, Spain gave the U.S. the Guam Islands, the Philippine Islands, and Puerto Rico for $20 million. Cuba was granted independence, yet remained heavily influenced by American government and business. Guam and Puerto Rico are still territories of the U.S., while the Philippines were granted independence in 1946.
Santiago. The Battle of San Juan Hill in July 1898 took place just outside of the southern and eastern city of Santiago. On July 3, in a desperate attempt to flee the harbor, the Americans sank every single Spanish ship, giving cause to celebrate Independence Day back in the States with an extra sense of jubilation.
Theodore Roosevelt. Theodore Roosevelt, future president of the U.S., organized a group of expert cavalrymen, from cowboys to polo players, to attack the Spanish. Unfortuantely, when the battle took place, their horses never arrived, so they fought as infantrymen, along with the under-appreciated "buffalo soldiers," whom were all African-Americans.
George Dewey. On February 25, while his boss was absent, Assistant Secretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt sent cables to the Pacific to prepare for military action with Spain. When McKinley found this out, he countermanded all the cables except Dewey's, who was told to attack the Spanish fleet in the Philippines if war broke out with Spain. On May 1, Admiral Dewey launched a surprise attack on Spanish ships anchored in Manila Bay, destroying Spain's entire Pacific fleet in about 5-7 hours.
William Taft. McKinley declared that rebels in the Philippines were on edge with one other and that the Filipino people were "unfit for self-government." He placed Taft there to maintain stability in the island nation. Taft became a president later in his career.
1898. Surprisingly enough, the war lasted a mere 4 months, from April to July! Because of this short war, the Spanish-American War became known as "a splendid little war."
1898. After many attempts to avoid war, McKinley, because of jingoism (sense of national pride), public and political pressure, finally gave in to the majority, and sent a war message to Congress on April 11, 1898.
| The official end of hostilities against Spain did not bring peace and tranquility to one of the newly acquired American territories. In which territory did armed warfare by natives continue against the U.S. for several more years? | The Spanish-American War: Birth of an Empire
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The Philippines. Feeling they had only exchanged one colonial master for another, Filipino guerrillas intensified their attacks on American forces. The Philippine-American War cost the lives of at least 200,000 Filipinos and over 4,000 Americans before its conclusion in 1902. Ironically, some forty years later they would fight side-by-side with U.S. forces against the Japanese in World War II.
Ninety percent. Nearly all of Cuba's sugar growing and processing was controlled by American corporations. The so-called "sugar kings" had contributed large amounts of money to President McKinley's 1896 election, and lobbied him hard to do something about the civil unrest in Cuba. McKinley sent the USS Maine partly to watch over their sugar businesses. The Maine blew up, which led to the Spanish-American War.
| Newspaper owners William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer did much to stir up war fever in America over the sinking of the USS Maine. Their sensational stories blamed Spain without proper evidence. What were these types of newspaper stories called? | The Spanish-American War: Birth of an Empire
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Yellow journalism . The phrase yellow journalism, or sometimes yellow press, was applied to newspaper and magazine stories that often deliberately played fast and loose with the facts of a particular event. The more scandalous the stories and headlines, the more newspapers Hearst and Pulitzer would sell. Ironically the Pulitzer Prize -- one of the highest honors for quality work in print media, literature and music -- is named for Joseph Pulitzer.
| The U.S. Army was very small at the start of the Spanish-American War, prompting the formation of many volunteer units. One of those was a cavalry division commanded by an ex-Confederate Army officer from the American Civil War. Who was this remarkable soldier who served two different armies in two wars decades apart? | The Spanish-American War: Birth of an Empire
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Joseph Wheeler. "Fighting Joe" Wheeler was a dashing young Confederate cavalryman in the American Civil War. Following the war Joseph Wheeler was elected to the U.S. Congress. Upon outbreak of the conflict with Spain, and while still a sitting Congressman, Wheeler volunteered for Army service. Appointed a Major General, Wheeler commanded the cavalry division that included Teddy Roosevelt's' Rough Riders. Actor Gary Busey turns in a wonderful cameo appearance as Wheeler in the 1997 movie "Rough Riders".
| One of the U.S. Navy's greatest heroes commanded forces that defeated the Spanish in the Philippines at the start of the Spanish-American War. He's famous for saying "Gridley, you may fire when ready." Who was this famous sailor? | The Spanish-American War: Birth of an Empire
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George Dewey. George Dewey was a U.S. naval officer in both the American Civil War and the Spanish-American War. At the Battle of Manila Bay on May 1st, 1898 he caught the Spanish fleet by surprise and destroyed them in a six hour battle with very few American casualties. Standing on the bridge of his flagship, the USS Olympia, Commodore Dewey uttered those famous words "Gridley you may fire when ready" to the ship's captain to start the battle.
William McKinley. At first fending off public and Congressional pressure to go to war, McKinley finally gave into the so-called war fever that swept the nation following the loss of the USS Maine. Grover Cleveland was McKinley's predecessor in the White House. Woodrow Wilson would later inhabit 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue as a wartime President during World War I. Theodore Roosevelt was elected Vice-President in 1900 and became President after McKinley's assassination in 1901.
Ten weeks. Ten weeks is the generally accepted length, from April 23rd to August 12th, 1898. However two more months of difficult negotiations elapsed before a peace treaty was signed in December, 1898. U.S. Ambassador John Hay, in writing to his friend and future President Theodore Roosevelt, is quoted as calling it "a splendid little war."
A U.S. battleship that blew up in the harbor of Havana, Cuba.. The battleship USS Maine was destroyed by an explosion on the night of February 15, 1898 while at anchor in Havana harbor, resulting in the deaths of 266 Americans. The ship had been sent there to protect American lives and property during civil unrest in Cuba. It was unclear at the time whether the explosion was accidental or the work of a Spanish mine.
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