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U.S. attempt to purchase Cuba
President Franklin Pierce's diplomats talked him into buying Cuba. They had tried to get Spain's king Pierre Soulé into selling Cuba. All these attempts had failed though. -
Cuba's first war for independence
Cuba has fought for independence before. Their wars have been mainly unsuccessful. This because they were facing a major country and the Cubans' did not have a decent army. However after their first war managed to abolish slavery. -
José Martí led Cuba's second war for independence
José Martí was a Cuban journalist and also a poet before the second war. He had lanched the revolution and organized the rebellion. He decided to used guerrilla tactics for this war. His resistance went around Cuba destroying U.S. property to get their attention. -
Valeriano Weyler was sent to Cuba by Spain
Initially Valeriano was sent to Cuba by Spain to bring order. He tried to do this by seperating the population into concentration camps. He did this to stop the population from aiding rebels. In these camps thousands of them died. -
The Yellow Press begun to shape American public opinion with respect to Cuba's Civil War
Yellow Press or Yellow Journalism was a type of writing designed to lure readers. These readers were often enraged about the contents of these articles. The Yellow Journalism technique began in the time of the Spanish-American War to spark the war. -
Publication of the De Lome letter
The New York Journal published a letter written by Enrique Dupuy de Lome. De Lome was the Spanish minister to the United States. This letter included insults to President McKinley which outraged the citizens. The Spanish government apologized for this and De Lome resigned his position. -
Explosion of the USS Maine
A few days after the De Lome letter the USS Maine was deployed. The ship was sent to Cuba to take U.S. citizens away from the warfare. However the ship exploded in Havana's harbor. This was blamed on Spain and was the turning point for the U.S. -
U.S. declares war on Spain
With all the newspapers and press pushing for war there was not much the government could do. Then the USS Maine exploded. It would have been very non-patriotic to avoid this war. All the president could do was declare war on Spain. -
U.S. forces invade Cuba
After the De Lome letter and the USS Maine explosion the U.S. had finally declared war on Spain. Their first move was to invade Cuba. The started by using the navy to perform blockades and destroy Spanish fleets. -
U.S. attack on Manilla Bay
Spain was expecting the first attack at Cuba, but America landed its first in the Philippines. George Dewey commanded his fleet at Manilla taking the capital. His fleet won an easy victory destroying the whole Spanish fleet within hours. -
Battle of Kettle / San Jaun Hill
Teddy Roosevelt led the Rough Riders up into a battle on Kettle Hill. This clear the way for a even more strategic battle on San Juan Hill. With these battles won, it would be easy to take over Santiago. Teddy ended up being named the hero of Jaun Jaun Hill. -
naval blockade of cuba
Spanish fleet tried to escape the American blockade of the harbor at santiago. -
Capture of Puerto Rico
Nelson Miles had led an expedition to Puerto Rico on July 17th. When he got there he sent three columns to the north to converge with San Juan. News came back to him about a peace settlement however. -
Destruction of the Spanish Fleet
Spanish fleet tried to escape the American blockade of the harbor at santiago. The naval battle that followed, along the Cuban coast, ended in the destrution of the Spanish fleet. -
Spanish surrender the Philippines
Dewey had the support of the Filipinos who, like the cubans, also wanted freedom from spain. Over the next two months, 11,000 Americans joined forces with Filipino rebels led by Emilio Aguinaldo. In august, Spanish troops in Manila surrendered to the Untied States. -
Armistice is signed between the U.S. and Spain
After the 15 weeks of fighting the United States and Spain signed an armistice on August 12. This was a cease-fire agreement, ending what Secretary of State John Hay called "a splendid little war." This led to the Treaty of Paris being signed and the increase of the United States' empire. -
Treaty of Paris
On December 10, 1898, the United States and Spain met in Paris to agree on a treaty. At the peace talks, Spain freed Cuba and turned over the islands of Guam in the Pacific and Puerto Rice in the West Indies to the Untied States. This increases the United States' empire and showed Europe how powerful the U.S. has become since splitting from England.
