The SPANISH-AMERICAN War [APUSH Review Unit 7 Topic 3] Period 7: 1898-1945

Heimler's History2021-01-25

353K views|3 years ago

💫 Short Summary

The Spanish-American War was a turning point that thrust the United States into the forefront of global politics, leading to the acquisition of territories such as Cuba, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam. This expansion marked the U.S.'s emergence as a global imperial power and had significant effects on its foreign policy and territorial influence. The war also resulted in the establishment of the Open Door Policy with China, allowing the U.S. to maintain trading rights in the Chinese market.

✨ Highlights

📊 Transcript

✦

The Spanish-American War was fueled by American industrialists and politicians' desire to expand the American empire.

00:00

Cuba was a territory the US wanted to acquire, and the renewal of the Cuban struggle against Spain in 1895 sparked American interest.

Yellow journalism, characterized by sensational and exaggerated stories, influenced the American public to believe that intervention in Cuba was necessary.

The explosion of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor further escalated tensions, with yellow journalists blaming Spain for the incident.

The US issued an ultimatum to Spain, leading to the declaration of the Spanish-American War, which the US won.

✦

The Spanish-American War had significant effects, including the qualified independence of Cuba, the annexation of the Philippines, and the initiation of American imperialism.

02:27

Cuba gained independence but was heavily influenced by the US through the Platt Amendment.

The US acquired the Philippines from Spain, leading to a conflict with Filipino nationals who sought independence.

The annexation of Hawaii also occurred, further expanding American territories.

The Open Door Policy with China was a result of the war, allowing the US to maintain trading rights in China.

✦

The United States expanded its empire through the acquisition of Hawaii and the implementation of the Open Door Policy in China as a result of the Spanish-American War.

04:13

Hawaii was annexed by the United States in 1898, adding to the territories gained from the war.

The Open Door Policy in China was established to maintain American trading rights in the Chinese market amid the economic takeover by European powers.

00:00 hey there and welcome back to heimlich

00:01 history now in the last video we started

00:02 unit seven of the ap us history

00:04 curriculum and in this video we're gonna

00:06 keep right on going in unit seven and

00:08 that means it's time to talk about the

00:09 spanish-american war so if you're ready

00:11 to get them brain cows milked let's get

00:13 to it so if we're gonna talk about the

00:14 spanish-american war we need to begin by

00:16 remembering what we learned in the last

00:18 video namely that there was a whole

00:20 group of american industrialists and

00:21 politicians eager to expand an american

00:24 empire so one of the territories they

00:26 very much wanted to acquire was cuba now

00:28 cuba at this point was a spanish

00:30 imperial colony and in 1895 cuban

00:33 nationalists renewed their struggle

00:34 against spain but as it turned out the

00:36 spanish crushed the rebellion now what

00:38 does that have to do with america well

00:39 here's where i introduce you to yellow

00:42 journalism now this was a group of

00:43 journalists competing with each other

00:45 for greater and greater readership under

00:46 the competing leadership of joseph

00:48 pulitzer and william randolph hearst and

00:50 the way they tried to get people's

00:51 attention was by publishing increasingly

00:53 sensational stories that danced on the

00:55 outer edges of truth and responsible

00:58 journalism now these yellow journalists

00:59 began publishing stories which

01:01 exaggerated the atrocities committed by

01:03 the spanish against the cubans and as

01:05 people read about this they came to the

01:07 conclusion that america must intervene

01:09 in cuba because it was the only

01:11 humanitarian thing to do now historians

01:13 debate how much influence yellow

01:14 journalists actually had in the ensuing

01:16 conflict but everyone agrees that it was

01:18 at least some of the influence so now

01:20 that the american public was riled up

01:22 over spanish atrocities the u.s

01:24 established a naval presence in the

01:26 island and in 1898 one of those american

01:28 battleships the uss maine exploded in

01:31 havana harbor killing over 200 americans

01:33 now before any investigation was begun

01:35 on the causes of the explosion yellow

01:37 journalists jumped all over it like a

01:39 hungry man on a christmas hat they

01:41 claimed that the explosion was ignited

01:42 by the spanish because of the resentment

01:44 of u.s interference in the region now to

01:46 be clear when the investigation was done

01:49 the explosion was found to be accidental

01:51 like not caused by any bad actors but

01:53 such due diligence didn't matter to

01:55 folks like pulitzer and hearst who saw

01:57 these outrageous headlines as a way to

01:58 sell more newspapers so president

02:00 mckinley issued an ultimatum to spain

02:02 back off or we go to war and spain

02:05 agreed with the demand

02:07 that was not what i was expecting can we

02:09 still declare war on spain all right

02:11 let's do it thus began the very short

02:13 spanish-american war which america won

02:16 and that victory launched the united

02:18 states right into the imperial game now

02:20 to be clear the war itself was not

02:21 really that important but its effects

02:23 were all out of proportion to the war

02:25 itself so let's deal with some of the

02:27 effects of the war let's begin with the

02:28 fate of cuba the country did gain

02:30 independence as a result of the war but

02:32 that independence was severely qualified

02:34 by something called the platt amendment

02:36 american politicians insisted that this

02:38 little amendment be inserted into the

02:40 cuban constitution and it allowed the

02:42 u.s to intervene militarily in cuba if

02:44 american economic interests were

02:46 threatened and that made it extremely

02:48 difficult for the new cuban government

02:49 to conduct its own foreign policy and

02:51 manage its foreign debts in a way that

02:53 benefited their own interests so it was

02:55 kind of like empire light for the united

02:57 states but we go full on empire with

02:59 another effect of the spanish-american

03:01 war namely the annexation of the

03:03 philippines from spain now before the

03:05 war was even over assistant secretary of

03:07 the navy theodore roosevelt sent that

03:09 new shiny navy built on the imperialist

03:11 ideals of alfred theramahan right into

03:14 the philippines and began bombarding the

03:15 spanish fleet station there from there

03:17 they allied with filipino nationals and

03:19 mounted a land invasion that ended in

03:21 the overthrow of spain and so in that

03:23 treaty that ended the spanish-american

03:24 war the philippines was ceded to the

03:26 united states for 20 million now the

03:28 filipinos themselves somehow got the

03:30 notion that the united states was

03:31 intervening in this whole mess to help

03:33 them achieve independence but it soon

03:35 became clear that this was not the case

03:37 they just traded one imperial power for

03:39 another and that situation was untenable

03:42 to the filipinos who gathered under the

03:44 leadership of emilio aguinaldo to throw

03:46 off u.s rule and this war lasted three

03:48 years with more limited conflict

03:50 stretching out for 10 years but in the

03:52 end the u.s held on to the philippines

03:53 until after world war ii and now we got

03:56 this empire train humming baby but

03:58 here's the problem with the philippines

03:59 it's really really far away you know if

04:02 only america with all of its newfound

04:04 enthusiasm for empire building could

04:06 find a set of islands in the pacific

04:07 that was roughly halfway between oh

04:10 there it is it's hawaii now i mentioned

04:11 in the last video how american settlers

04:13 had overthrown hawaiian monarch queen

04:15 liliukulani in 1893 and so with the

04:18 philippines squarely in the american

04:19 pocket the annexation of hawaii occurred

04:22 in 1898. now these weren't the only

04:24 territories gained by the victory of the

04:25 spanish-american war but these will

04:27 serve as good enough examples to

04:28 illustrate the expansion of american

04:30 empire now we need to move on to

04:31 american empire through economics and

04:33 here we get to talk about the open door

04:35 policy with china now if you'll remember

04:37 your world history you'll recall that

04:38 the 19th century wasn't the best for the

04:40 chinese like due to superior industrial

04:43 strength of the european nations china

04:45 was essentially taken over not

04:46 politically but economically and carved

04:48 up into european spheres of influence so

04:51 president mckinley secretary of state

04:53 john hay saw america's economic

04:54 opportunities in china quickly

04:56 disappearing and therefore decided to

04:58 act hasten what was known as the open

05:00 door note to the european powers in

05:02 china asking them to observe an open

05:04 door of trading privileges in china now

05:06 the european powers didn't pay much

05:08 attention but they didn't really reject

05:10 it either so he marked that down as a

05:12 victory as a result america held on to

05:14 some of its trading rights in that

05:15 highly desired asian market okay so

05:17 those are some of the effects of the

05:18 spanish-american war which led america

05:20 to get its big boy empire pants on and

05:23 out onto the world stage all right

05:25 if you need more help on unit seven

05:26 here's the playlist right here if you

05:27 need more help getting an a in your

05:29 class and a five on your exam in may

05:30 then you can find review packet right

05:32 here and lastly if you want to expand

05:34 the heimler's history sphere of

05:35 influence in the ap u.s history world to

05:37 go ahead and subscribe and we will watch

05:39 the empire grow heimler out

💫 FAQs about This YouTube Video

1. What were the main motivations behind the Spanish-American War?

The main motivations behind the Spanish-American War were the desire of American industrialists and politicians to expand the American empire, particularly by acquiring territories such as Cuba, which was a Spanish colony at the time. The war was also influenced by the phenomenon of yellow journalism, where exaggerated stories about Spanish atrocities in Cuba swayed public opinion and created a perceived need for American intervention.

2. What were the significant effects of the Spanish-American War?

The significant effects of the Spanish-American War included the acquisition of territories such as Cuba, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico by the United States. The war also marked the emergence of the United States as a global imperial power, leading to changes in foreign policy and increased involvement in world affairs.

3. How did the United States acquire Hawaii?

The United States acquired Hawaii through a process that culminated in the annexation of the islands in 1898. The annexation was facilitated by the strategic importance of Hawaii, particularly in relation to American interests in the Pacific, and the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy by American settlers in 1893.

4. What role did yellow journalism play in the lead-up to the Spanish-American War?

Yellow journalism played a significant role in the lead-up to the Spanish-American War by sensationalizing events and creating anti-Spanish sentiment among the American public. The exaggerated and often unverified stories published by yellow journalists, such as William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer, contributed to the push for war with Spain over its colonies, particularly in Cuba.

5. In what way did the Spanish-American War contribute to the expansion of American imperialism?

The Spanish-American War significantly contributed to the expansion of American imperialism by allowing the United States to acquire territories previously held by Spain, including Cuba, the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico. This expansion marked the U.S.'s emergence as a global imperial power and had far-reaching effects on its foreign policy and territorial influence.

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