ch. 4- Spanish American War

Dear Journal,
Today we are going to war with Spain. Years before, a great man named James Monroe made something called the Monroe Doctrine- if you are not familiar with this, it was basically a document telling the British and pretty much the whole world that they cannot colonize our territory, which was then from sea to shining sea. But now America has got in there heads to start expanding even more. Many Americans think this is a good idea like businessmen who are overproducing and want to start selling to other countries. Also it is a chance to spread our culture even more, also expand our territory. Even though there are some people who want to spread, others think it is going again the Constitution, and the morals America was built on.
Cuba just went through a Reform, and now we want Cuba. But Spain has become a problem. They are not abiding to the Monroe Doctrine. So America has started using a form of advertisement called Yellow Journalism. This is when America is using something that happened in America and blaming the Spanish for it. It seems to be working because most Americans are getting all fired up about wanting to help Cuba get independence- but that is not what America wants. America wants Cuba as a port for trading, more land, and more resources; but many people are buying what journalists are selling. I only thought this would work for a little while until the Maine blew up unexpectedly. America obviously blamed the Spanish for that and this got Americans fired up more than you can imagine.Yellow Journalism blew up, and it was not soon after that newspapers and journals were filled with how bad the Spanish treat Cubans.
On April 19, Congress wanted to have a joint resolution, meaning that the House, Legislature and Congress all agree on something and takes it to the President. This joint resolution stated if Spain did not let Cuba gain its independence, then America would use as much force as necessary to help them.  President McKinley signed it, and on the April 21, America built a blockage of Cuba. Spain declared war on the April 23, and America said the war was started on the 21. There has only been a few times America has declared war, and I hope for our sake, we are making the right move.
Until next time...

Cites:
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