American Interventionism And The War Drive
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America has long been associated with the “expansionist” drive of its people. This drive was re-interpreted by its people as a reason for going to war in the largest conflicts of its people. The three largest conflicts in the last half of American history are great examples of this “interventionism.” The Spanish-American War is an extraordinary example of American Interventionism and its motivations.
From 1868 to the beginning of the Spanish American War, Cuba had been contested ground, beginning with the Ten Years War. (Library of Congress 2011) The independence movement formed during this conflict formed the basis for the insurrection of the native Cubans in 1895. American attention was drawn to the conflict, however, when Alfred Mahan wrote his book The Influence of Sea Power upon History, in which he mentioned the Caribbean islands as a location which could be used to endanger our commercial advancement.
Commercial advancement has served as part of the force behind expansionistic thinking for decades, even prior to the Spanish American War (Sage 2010). Financial gain was the drive for several colonies to expand beyond their borders, and was one of the primary disagreements between the early colonists and the Native Americans to whom the land originally belonged. Capitalism had an early start in our nation, as many early colonists would take advantage of the Natives for financial gains in property or wealth. Again, later, the state government of Georgia found motivation to drive the Cherokee Nation out of the Qualla Boundary and other Cherokee lands in their search for gold in what the Cherokees considered sacred lands (U.S. Park Service 1992).
There are several other instances where one can demonstrate the history of American abuses of foreign powers and find their roots in the desires related to commercial and economic gain. Thus, it is no small surprise that the commercial bottom line be the beginning foundation of the motivations to attack the Spanish in Cuba. Even in those days, trading settlements were long established on the American coast of the Gulf waters with ports. One notable port is the port in Pensacola, which the Pensacola Port Authority claims has been an active port since the 1700s when Spain had control of the ports at what was then called Santa Rosa (Port of Pensacola n.d.). These port cities received many ships, which followed trade routes that would take them dangerously close to Cuban waters. Should the Spanish navy desire to hamper our imports and exports, all they would be required to do would be to remain stationed in Cuba and from there they could attack our ships with relative impunity.
This held strong in minds alongside the growing distaste for the actions of Spanish forces, which broadcasted on the new technologies of moving pictures, or movies to the public. In two short years, by 1892, groups began to form in response to the rising distaste in the American people. El Partido Revolucionario Cubano (the Cuban Revolutionary Party), La Liga Filipina, and the Katipunan all formed by 1892 (Library of Congress 2011). These groups all garnered support among the people against the Spanish people. Despite the capture and execution of the leader of the Liga, anti-Spanish sentiments rose among the Philippines, the Cubans and here in America.
All of these events culminated in the official beginning of the insurrection in Cuba. The revolutionary natives of the Cuban island shouted loudly for the whole world to hear, “Independencia o muerte!” (Independence or death!). The Spanish government managed to quell the initial conflicts. However, the revolution had begun, and Jose Marti and other Cubans returned to Cuba to aid in the native insurrection to fight back the Spanish. Despite all of this, and the public desire to go to war driven by the sensationalized video footage, President Cleveland would refuse to go to war and officially declared that America would be a neutral state in the affairs of Cuba and Spain.
After several years of allowing the Cuban crisis to continue, the war is triggered by the destruction of the U.S.S. Maine. Though the official cause of the explosion was that a Spanish mine had detonated on the hull of the Maine, the actual cause had been hidden. This claim stoked the fires that had long burned in the public from kindling, to blazing. The American public demanded action, and action they got. Nearly immediately upon the release of the investigation details, recruitment for military skyrocketed, and men were taken into the armed forces almost faster than the military could provide guns for them.
Now the pieces had fallen into place. The people had been exposed to media coverage of the atrocities committed by the Spanish against the natives for years, fears had been planted that continued conflict could jeopardize American commerce, and now an entire crew of Americans were dead. Resolutions for war all but flew through the congressional