Spanish American War

¶ … Spanish-American War. Specifically, it will discuss was the Spanish-American War really necessary? It will list alternatives to war available to McKinley in 1898 and explain why he rejected them in favor of a war policy. The Spanish-American War was unnecessary for a number of reasons. In 1898, President William McKinley had a number of alternatives to war, which he ultimately failed to utilize. After the U.S.S. Maine blew up, tensions between Spain (who controlled Cuba) and the United States were high.

In April 1898, McKinley issued an "ultimatum" to Spain to get out of Cuba. First, the United States interest in Cuba was almost all economic, as there were sugar plantations there that formed a large part of the country's sugar imports. Second, the U.S. was not interested in Spain's holdings or Cuba, they simply wanted access to sugar, so they could have negotiated with Spain, rather than simply issuing a blind ultimatum that was impossible to follow.

They also needed coaling bases for their warships, and Guantanamo Bay in Cuba proved an excellent location. McKinley might have looked into other locations for the bases, but he did not. McKinley also allowed the nation's largest newspapers to stir up the country in their call for war with Spain, and he did nothing to dispel the "yellow journalism" that led to a nationalistic cry for war. Rather than refute these contentions by the press, McKinley chose to allow them to continue, which aided the war effort.

McKinley could have held off and given the Spanish more time to negotiate and he could have chosen not to become involved in the independence fighting of other nations. He did none of these things, and ultimately encouraged the war. It is clear President McKinley saw the Spanish-American War as a chance for nation building. America invaded the Philippines, and then decided not to give them back to Spain, they annexed Hawaii, and they took over Puerto Rico during the war. All were attempts to gain land and people.