Title: Why did the Spanish American war start? - eNotes.com
Headings: Why did the Spanish American war start?
History
Why did the Spanish American war start?
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Content: Educators go through a rigorous application process, and every answer they submit is reviewed by our in-house editorial team. Greg Jackson, M.A.
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The Spanish American War started in large part as a response to the Cuban struggle for independence, which began in 1895. The United States had large business investments in Cuba which garnered over $100 million a year. The revolution was vastly destructive to these investments. Furthermore, the Spanish reprisals against the Cuban populace garnered a lot of sympathy in the US. The maltreatment of the Cuban people was sensationally documented in several American newspapers. Popular demand for US intervention in Cuba was supported by the majority of Congress but opposed first by President Grover Cleveland and then later by James McKinley. As riots broke out in Havana, the US sent the battleship Maine to Cuba to protect its citizens and their property there. On February 15, 1898, an explosion sunk the Maine in Havana Harbor, killing 260 American sailors. Spain was quickly blamed for the incident, and an outcry for action ensued with the slogan "Remember the Maine."