Clara Barton's Attack On The Maine

Finally, considering the attack on the Maine was an intentional attack by the Spanish, it could have been an assassination attempt. Clara Barton, founder of the Red Cross, was in Cuba during the revolt against Spanish rule (Remember the Maine). She was helping the medically-deprived people in the area when the Maine showed up in Havana harbor. Clara Barton boarded the ship, had dinner, and left hours before the Maine unexpectedly exploded. To think of this as a cause of the destruction of a U.S. battleship is too elaborate. The Spanish had no reason for trying to kill Clara Barton other than her meddling around in Cuba. Therefore, it is concluded that the destruction of the Maine was more than likely not caused by Clara Barton appearing upon the ship. After the government investigated the Maine, the next people to grab the story were the massive media juggernauts, Pulitzer and Hearst. These giants of the media world were hard at work using a system of writing called, yellow journalism.

They proposed that the nation had way too many social issues at the time to actually integrate these islands into the U.S. properly (Greenwood). The social issues that these people would be referring to are the Native Americans in the plains slowing being pushed to extinction and the African Americans still being treated as slaves despite their rights being granted through the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments. The inability of the U.S. to take care of the social responsibilities on these islands, especially the Philippines, led to revolt. A horrific guerilla war broke out between the inhabitants of the Philippines and the U.S. army that led to thousands being killed (Greenwood). This shows that the foreign response to U.S. imperialism was as bad, if not worse, than the domestic reaction within the United