CHAPTER XXXIII

THE SPANISH WAR AND ITS RESULTS (1897-1907)

355. President McKinley. - Business was good after 1896. The bitter quarrels about free silver died down, and McKinley's genial character made him a strong and popular President.

No one else in his time knew so well how to smooth

William McKinley, 1843-1901

out difficulties in Congress, and even his political enemies admired him. His warmest personal friend was Senator Mark Hanna of Ohio, who had brought about McKinley's nomination, but who did not attempt to control the policy of the President. The strongest member of the Cabinet was John Hay, formerly private secretary to Abraham Lincoln. As McKinley's Secretary of State, he was very successful in smoothing out troubles in our relations with other countries.

356. Cuba (1895-1898). It will be remembered that Cuba was upset by a civil war from 1868 to 1878 (§ 318). Similar trouble broke out in 1895, when a revolution was set on foot by a group of educated and able people, aided by funds supplied

by Cubans living in the United States, and supported by white people and freed slaves. They set up what was called a "Cuban Republic," though it was without a capital, an organized government, or a real army.

The United States was stirred up by this revolution; first, because it disturbed the heavy trade between the mainland and Cuba, especially in sugar; second, because Cuba lay only a hundred miles from the southern end of Florida, and manyAmericans wanted to annex it.

The Spanish government sent over about a hundred thousand soldiers, and both sides raided and burned the towns and plantations and sugar-cane fields. The Spanish governor, General Weyler, issued an order for "reconcentration"; that is, he compelled the country people to come in off their farms and stay inside the Spanish lines. When thus taken away from their homes they had not sufficient food and many of these poor people died of hunger.

Most of the Americans felt a sympathy for the Cubans, who seemed to be doing what had been done by the Revolutionary patriots of 1775; and more than twenty little "filibustering expeditions were fitted out to carry men and military supplies to their assistance. President Cleveland did what he could to keep this country neutral by stopping the filibusters; but Spain took great offense, and some American newspaper correspondents and others who went to Cuba were arrested.

357. Outbreak of the Spanish War (1898). — President McKinley asked the Spanish government to give the Cubans "autonomy"; that is, the right to govern themselves in local matters. In February, 1898, the American battleship Maine, which was lying in the harbor of Havana, was blown up by a torpedo or mine from the outside. Though we now feel sure that the Spanish government neither desired nor supported such an act, it aroused a hostile feeling in the United States.

The home government of Spain offered to do almost anything to prevent war, but President McKinley and his advisers decided that this country must put an end to the Spanish control over Cuba. Hence, at his recommendation Congress voted (April 20, 1898) that the American army and

navy should turn the Spaniards out. Included in the resolution was the so-called "Teller Resolution," in which Congress promised that the island should be given back to its own people. Spain accepted the resolution as a declaration of

war.

358. Course of the Spanish War (1898).-The first fighting was in the far-off Philippine Islands (§ 14). Commodore (later .Admiral) Dewey was sent with a squadron of steel armored ships to Manila Bay, and found a weak Spanish fleet lying off the arsenal of Cavite. In a fight of a few hours (May 1, 1898) the Spanish fleet was destroyed.

A second fleet under Admiral Cervera crossed the ocean from Spain and put into the Cuban harbor of Santiago. A few weeks later a little American army of about 17,000 men under the command of General Shafter landed near Santiago. His force moved overland and fought the only land battles of the Cuban war, at El Caney and San Juan Hill. The total loss to the Americans was only 1500. Cervera's ships made a dash to the sea but were caught in a running fight by Admiral Sampson's fleet, and not a Spanish vessel escaped. Santiago then surrendered. An army sent out under General Miles occupied the island of Porto Rico, almost without firing a shot. A month later the city of Manila surrendered to troops sent out from the Pacific coast. Thus the Spaniards were defeated in every fight by land or sea.

Santiago de Cuba and vicinity

359. How the War was Carried On (1898). After war was declared, the American people learned that they were not prepared for even so small a contest. The American navy was in good shape and well drilled. But the American land forces before the war were only about 26,000 in all, and were so scattered that hardly one full regiment could be brought together. Just as in the Revolution, the War of 1812, and the Mexican War, the government depended on state militia. A few states had well-drilled regiments: from other states, men