Spanish-American War 1898 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Spanish-American contend 1898 - Essay Example chair McKinley finally had no choices in the division as a military issue of the sinking of the USS Maine. Foreign policy changed dramatically as a result of the consequences of this very short, very momentous contend that is often forgotten in view of the Civil fight. The Spanish-American War, one where Theodore Roosevelt and his Rough Riders earned their taper in history, brought about a great deal of change to the perception of the United States by others in the world. This war would cause major changes in the realm of American foreign policy in its wake.The war was brought on by these many factors and soon after the declaration for war was made, soldiers were headed for Havana and Santiago. The Yellow news media that began with Hearst and Pulitzer caused a great deal of grief as is relayed in several pieces. One very crucial accounting would be an eyewitness description by H. H. Kolsaat as he held in his hand a telegram from the forces in Manila Bay when the USS Maine had been lost. Eyewitness to Historys website states that H. H. Kolsaats recollection of the meeting with President McKinley included a conversation that ended with McKinley in tears saying, Congress is trying to drive us into war with Spain. The Spanish fleet is in Cuban waters, and we havent enough ammunition on the Atlantic seacoast to fire a salute. (1) H. H. Kolsaat continues on to say that he spent nearly half the night speaking with the President after the evenings activities. Only the first of many agonizing conversations that the President suffered through in the declaration of war, one he was quite reluctant to consider until there appeared to be no choices in the matter. The deciding factor for President McKinley came in a private letter written by Enrique Dupuy de Lme, the Spanish Minister in Washington, to a Spanish editor then traveling in the United States. It was this letter, described as part of the textbook from American Military History Army Historical Series Chapter 15 Emergence to World major power 1898-1902 and stating the following as the letter expressed de Lmes adverse personal reaction to McKinleys message to Congress in December 1897. The President was, he thought, weak and a bidder for admiration of the crowd . . . a would-be politician who tries to leave a door open behind himself while keeping on good legal injury with the jingoes in his party. (2) This outrage most Americans when it was published after a man stole it from the office where it had been sent. The outraged outcry from the United States caused what President McKinley considered to be the hardest decision of his career. This decision was to go to war with short-handed forces, inadequate supplies and terrible conditions to piss within. All of this had been sparked in the fervor of what has been termed Yellow Journalism, created by Joseph Pulitzer and John Hearst in their work to take the country to war using public opin ion as the impetus of the action. Their tactics, no matter how underhanded, managed the objective. The results were felt worldwide. The Spanish-American War of 1898 was one of the shortest wars America ever fought. Four months into the war, it was over. But, the consequences of that war were broad spectrum and felt worldwide. The Spanish-American War of 1898 did the one thing nothing else had managed. It proved that the