Spanish American War Term Paper

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,….....