Spanish American War Perspectives

Perspective in history refer to the re-evaluation of a past event, and understanding the different social and cultural positions that define people’s actions in the past. Various outlooks help understand the motive behind the causes of a particular event and show the “truth” on how it occurred. In a global standpoint, different perspectives are important because they assess the incident and give a thorough understanding of the situation. During the Spanish-American War, there were many viewpoints from the Americans, Filipinos, and Spaniards in regards to the reasons the conflict transpired. The Spanish-American War was a conflict between the United States and Spain resulting in United States’ victory, Cuba’s independence, and the annexation of the Philippines, Puerto

This acquisition enabled the United States to globally present that they were dominating world power through its tenacious military. Prior to the war’s emergence, Cuba and Puerto were the only two Spanish colonies that had not gained their independence by 1980. Cuban fighters attempted to terminate Spanish control, but failed on numerous occasions; these uprisings induced sympathy from the Americans and supporters recognized that their renewed Navy could assist Cuba. Despite the renewal, President McKinley remained neutral until February 1898 where he ordered the USS Maine to Cuba. The war transpired through the influence of yellow journalism following the explosion of USS Maine on February 15, 1898 killing over 250 American sailors. Journalists proclaimed that the attack was an act of sabotage by Spain which gave United States a reason to declare war on them. The Spanish-American war proceeded for about ten weeks with United States assisting in Cuba’s liberation from Spanish control; however, the victory exhibited many challenges to the navy since the ships were untested. The first confrontation with the Spanish fleet successfully occurred in the Philippines by August 1899; subsequently,