Spanish American War Research Paper

The Spanish American war was a product of Frederick Jackson Turner’s frontier thesis and the urbanization of America. In 1895, a rebellion broke out in Cuba, as Cuban patriots wanted independences from Spain. Through the yellow journalism, reports of Spain’s cruel military tactics lead to a public uproar in the U.S. However, most of these stories were exaggerated as a form to promote war. After an American battleship, the USS Maine, was destroyed, America was “forced” to start war and stop Spanish occupation. The war lasted from April 1898 till August 1898; through this war we took control over Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the islands of the Philippines. The end result of this war comes to show that the reasoning behind the war has more to do with

He believed that the only way to continue gaining such power was through the growth of our nations land. This very idea intertwines into imperialism, the policy of extending the power of a nation by taking control of other territories. Fredrick believed the success America was achieving was part of our move westward and the physical growth of our nation. However, we soon acquired all the land possible westward, which lead to the need for an expansion abroad. These two ideas being very similar and both followed us into the Spanish American War. Although, it appeared this war was to help Cuban patriots achieve their independence from the Spanish, in the end we took control over Cuba. Through this war, we took control over territories and became competition against the other imperialistic nations. This was the product of Fredrick Jackson Turners

America had a rapid urbanization which was results of the rapid industrialism. We had vast amount of industries and had the need for more resources. To gain more profit, we needed to look outside our country for business. We needed resources from other land to continue our growth. One country we invested for resources was Cuba. Cuba was our main resource for sugar as it had a large sugar production. The textbook states, “American businesses had more than $50 million invested in Cuban sugar, and the American trade with Cuba, a brisk $100 million a year before the rebellion, had dropped to near zero” (Roark 576). With this much money invested in a country, it’s hard to not get involved when a rebellion is breaking out. The causes of this war may be many, however, one thing remains certain Fredrick Jackson Turner and urbanization was a major