Assessment: The Spanish-American War

Mass media outlets in the late 1800s

• carefully checked the validity of everything they published.

• focused on satire, often prioritizing political cartoons over news stories.

• sensationalized the news by stretching the truth in order to sell more newspapers.

• only reported on domestic affairs, ignoring events going on outside of the United States.

Which of the following newspaper headlines best illustrates the practice of yellow journalism in 1898?

• "266 Killed in USS Maine Accident"

• "USS Maine Sinks in Havana Harbor"

• "USS Maine Destroyed by Spanish Treachery"

• "Investigators Search for Cause of USS Maine Explosion"

Read the following excerpt. This excerpt is MOST LIKELY part of which document? The government of Cuba will sell or lease to the United States lands necessary for coaling or naval stations at certain specified points to be agreed upon with the President of the United States.

• the de Lôme letter

• the Platt Amendment

• the Roosevelt Corollary

• the Treaty of Paris

Which of these factors increased U.S. public opinion in favor of a war with Spain to free Cuba?

• the death of José Martí in combat

• the passage of the Teller Amendment

• the publication of the de Lôme letter

• the popularity of the Yellow Kid cartoons

Examine the map below. What do the islands labeled on the map have in common?

• They were all battle sites during the Spanish-American War.

• They all gained their independence after the Spanish-American War.

• They all became U.S. spheres of influence after the Spanish-American War.

• They were all territories ceded to the United States after the Spanish-American War.

How did the outcome of the Spanish-American War change U.S. foreign policy?

• It shifted U.S. policy toward neutrality.

• It shifted U.S. policy toward imperialism.

• It shifted U.S. policy toward unilateralism.

• It shifted U.S. policy toward noncolonialism.

What initiated Cuba’s rebellion against Spanish rule?

• Spain wanted Cuba to give it more pounds of sugar each year.

• Cuba put José Martí in power, which displeased Spanish rulers.

• Spain abolished slavery in Cuba, which threatened Cuba’s sugar industry.

• Cuba demanded the establishment of a republic after years of Spanish rule.

Many Americans sympathized with the Cuban rebels because they

• believed their Cuban investments would suffer if Spain continued to punish Cuba.

• viewed Cuba’s struggle against Spain as a version of the American Revolution.

• were astounded by the way mass media sources portrayed Spain’s treatment of Cubans.

• wanted to get revenge on Spain for the country’s refusal to cooperate in foreign policy negotiations.

What was the main point of Senator Redfield Proctor of Vermont’s speech to the Senate? Use the quote below to inform your answer.

“To me the strongest appeal is not the barbarity practiced by Weyler nor the loss of the Maine . . . but the spectacle of a million and a half of people, the en)re native population of Cuba, struggling for freedom and deliverance from the worst misgovernment of which I ever had knowledge." —Redfield Proctor, speech before the Senate, March 17, 1898

• Cuba was not strong enough to fight Spain on its own.

• The sinking of the USS Maine ought to motivate Congress towards action.

• Horrible conditions were causing many Cuban people to suffer.

• The United States ought to call out General Weyler for his treatment of the Cubans.

What caused the Battle of Manila Bay to be a decisive U.S. victory?

• The American ships waited in Hong Kong and then launched a surprise attack on the Spanish fleet.

• The Spanish ships did not have powerful enough weapons to respond to the American attack.

• The American army outnumbered the Spanish army, so Spain did not stand a chance.

• The Spanish army was exhausted by an earlier attack and did not have the energy to fight back.