The US Maine As A Turning Point In The Spanish American War

The war mainly started because of Cuba’s struggle for independence. Spain wasn't treating Cuba fair and equally, and that’s why they wanted to become independent; so General Valeriano Weyler was sent to stop the revolts in Cuba.The turning point in the Spanish American War is the sinking of the U.S.S Maine. The U.S.S Maine was a battleship sent to Cuba to protect American interest. The sinking of the U.S.S Maine is important because it served as a cause for the Spanish American War, which changed who properly owned Guam, Puerto Rico and let Cuba become independent. The Spanish American war, was an important turning point in the history of the united states, was also extremely significant to the Spanish.

In Cuba, then a Spanish colony, angry nationalists

The Spanish managed to calm the insurgency by promising refoms, but change was slow in coming slavey was not abolished until 1886 (schoolworkhelper.net). The worldwide depressioin of 1890s hit cuba hard because it was a one market econoy which was sugar and suffered more because of the American tariff act, which hiked the rate on Cuban sugar by 40 perent and this cutted off Cuban sugar grower from their biggest buyer (us.history.org). A Spanish general, General Valeriano Weyler, was sent to stop the revolts in Cuba. He put much of the Cubam population in concentration camps using violence in order to stop the Cuban revolution. In total, 100,000 Cubans died in the concentration camp including women and children. The united states was sympathetic to Cuba as they were fighting against the colonial old powers, just like America had fought its own revolution (schoolworkhelper.net). Many people in the United States, however, were irritated by the fact that the Spanish flag continued to fly in Cuba and Puerto Rico. Spain's brutal ways of putting down Cuban demands for some form of personal liberty aroused feelings of sympathy and