What caused the Spanish-American War?

The Spanish-American War had many causes. One was American imperialistic fever. The United States wanted to get into the colonial race quite badly, and taking possessions owned by the weakened Spanish Empire seemed like the easiest way to acquire valuable assets in the Caribbean and the Pacific. A war for imperialism would not go over well with the American people, so yellow journalists focused on Spanish atrocities being committed in Cuba, where Cuban rebels were...

The Spanish-American War had many causes. One was American imperialistic fever. The United States wanted to get into the colonial race quite badly, and taking possessions owned by the weakened Spanish Empire seemed like the easiest way to acquire valuable assets in the Caribbean and the Pacific. A war for imperialism would not go over well with the American people, so yellow journalists focused on Spanish atrocities being committed in Cuba, where Cuban rebels were fighting for their independence and Spanish authorities were trying to stop the resistance. Though the Spanish rounded up friendly Cubans into crowded camps, there were no cases of wanton human rights abuses. Frederic Remington, noted Western painter, went to Cuba to report on the human rights abuses. He wired back that he could not find any. His boss, William Randolph Hearst, told Remington to supply the pictures and Hearst would supply the war. The stories about Spanish atrocities moved newspapers even if they were not true. Another point to consider was that the United States went to war to protect American sugar interests in Cuba and Puerto Rico.

The final incident that led to the war was the sinking of the U.S.S. Maine in Havana Harbor in 1898. The American press claimed that it was due to a Spanish mine, when in reality it was caused by an explosion from within the ship, probably a boiler explosion. When the harbor was later dredged it was found that the hole in the ship was convex rather than concave, thus implying an internal explosion. The United States went to war and a few short months later found itself the owner of new colonies.