Blog #23: McKinley's War Message

Causes that led McKinley to ask Congress for the declaration of war:

1. The once prosperous America was now left with poor commerce, decreased productiveness, ruin, and perishing people.

2. Due to neutrality laws, America was under an obligation to watch its seaports to protect the Cubans from any unlawful actions by other countries.

3. Considering that both sides were quite stubborn, it did not look like a truce would happen any time soon.

4. The horrors within Cuba were right next door to America, so America had a responsibility to stop such violence, especially seeing that it could be a potential danger to its own people.

5. America owed its citizens in Cuba protection (since their government would not and could not provide it), and also set out to destroy the conditions which prevented those people from legal protection.

6. The conditions in Cuba posed as a threat to America's peace (trading issues, seized vessels, etc).

7. Destruction of the battleship Maine in the harbor of Havana (February 15th) filled America with horror, especially since 250 soldiers and marines and 2 Navy officers died.

8. If war was a success, it would make America look even better, and if it was a failure, it would only justify America's decision to try to fix the conflict.

William McKinley, 25th U.S. President

When WWI began, President Woodrow Wilson declared that the U.S. would stay neutral, but America's opinion began to change when the Lusitania was sunk by a German U-boat, killing 128 Americans in addition to many others. This is similar to America's attempts to stay neutral during the Spanish American War, because this plan also changed when the country began to feel threatened and the battleship Maine was destroyed.