The Spanish American War :: American America History

The Spanish American WarHi Im doing my report on the Spanish American War. In the following pages I will be giving education on how and why the struggle started, major battles, and the results of the fight. I will as well as include stories from population on the battle enrapture Maine.Introduction The Spanish American War marked the emergence of the United States of America as a world power. The war which lasted only 10 weeks between April and August of 1898 took range over the liberation of Cuba. In the course of the war the U.S. won Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Filipino Islands. A large aspect to the begining of the war was the explosion and sinking of the Maine on February 15 1898 at 930 PM in capital of Cuba Harbor. 260 American naval personnel where killed or wounded. The USS Maine was the second second dissever battle ship constructed for the U.S. Navy. It took almost nine years to complete leash year took waiting for armor. The USS Maine was at the time the largest ship to be reinforced in a U.S. Navy yard. The USS Maine arrived in the Havana harbor in Cuba on Jan. 24 of 1898. The USS Manie was sent to Cuba in response to a smaller protest by Spanish officers. The ship was under the command of Captian Charles Sigsbee.When the Manie sank there where 2 separate explosions ammunition continuted to explode for hours after the blast. Some people say that the Maine was torpedoed or blown up with under water explosives by the Spanish Navy, others say that the 896 ton capacity coal bunker set off but most people at the time said that the ship was torpedoed and blamed Spain for the sinking of the ship. After the disaster an official court of interrogative sentence was held to determine the cause of the blast. The Navy said that the ship was sunk by a water mine, but stated that it could not fix responsibleness on any single person or persons.Declaration of war At the time of the sinking of the Maine U.S. President William Mckinley was in office. Pres. Mckinley had hoped to avoid press release to war with Spain but along with thousands of other Americans was swept up in the feeling to support war. In 1898 Pres. mckinley asked to declare war on Spain.The war begins At the begining of the war there were almost 200,000 Spanish troops turn up in Cuba.