Spanish American War Timeline

Jose Marti was an important figure in the Cuban revolt against Spain. He spurred negative feelings toward Spain by destroying property and blaming it on Spaniards. He eventually ended up dying on the battlefield in 1895.

General Valeriano Weyler was sent in by Spanish government to maintain order during the Cuban revoltution. He put Cuban citizens in internment camps to try and control the rebellion. People were dying of disease and starvation in these camps. Late in 1897 he was called back by the Spanish government for being too brutal.

Spanish ambassador to the US sent an internal memo criticizing President McKinley. Yellow journalists got ahold of the letter and publicized it. This infuriated US citizens and gov't officials and began more and more talks of war.

US gov't sent the USS Maine to the Havana harbor to "protect american interests" from Spanish-Cuban conflicts. While sitting in the harbor the ship exploded, probably because of an internal problem. With tensions already high on the mainland it was immediately blamed on Spain. Yellow journalists ran with the story stating they had "factual evidence" that Spain was at fault. Spain insisted they were innocent and agreed to the US's terms.

2 months after the explosion of the USS Maine and the agreements with Spain the US had had enough and decided to declare war on Spain.

Instead of attacking Cuba the US decides to go after the Spanish owned Philippines. In one day General George Dewey took over Manila and the rest of the Philipines with only 1 american death. He claimed the islands as US property.

US signed an agreement with Spain ending the war. The US paid Spain 20 million dollars for Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines with Cuba as a protectorate.

The US passed the Platt Amendment putting restrictions on Cuba. This meant that Cuba could not go into debt, and the US got Guantanamo Bay. It also made it so that Cuba could not make treaties with other countries, and the US could step into Cuban activities whenever they wanted.