Spanish American War The Spanish example essay topic

768 words
Spanish-American War The Spanish-American War was different from many other wars because it did not deal with America's rights; nevertheless it dealt with our issues over expansionism. The war was caused by yellow journalism, sinking of the main, and the de Lome letter in which he discussed his bad faith with America. The Spanish-American War was a "splendid little war" because it demonstrated the enormous influence of yellow journalism, changed the balance in the Federal Government, and most importantly, marked the clear emergence of the United States as both a world and imperialistic power. The Spanish-American War demonstrated enormous influence of the press in shaping of public opinion and, indirectly, government policy.

The press brought large numbers of people together by keeping them informed of what's going on overseas. The press also showed blacks and whites fighting side by side against a common foe, helping to ease the wounds still left from the civil war. Newspapers circulated The De Lome letter written by the Spanish minister to a friend in Cuba. He criticized President McKinley as a weak and incompetent President. As McKinley tried to maintain neutrality, public feelings were fanned by yellow journalism, which created a government policy. The Spanish-American War had two major effects regarding the balance of power among the Federal branches of Government.

Although the war did not exactly upset the balance of power between or among the branches, it greatly increased the powers of both the Executive Branch and the Legislative Branch. The Executive power was tremendously increased during the war and afterwards in the many appointments made in order to administer the newly acquired territories. Likewise, Legislative authority also increased the power of American Imperialism and expansionism prospered as a result of the war. When the United States declared war the military was not ready. The army comprised of about 30,000 was to grow to 200,000, volunteers were not well equipped, and sanitation was also ill equipped. Consequently, the United States spent fifty million to prepare their army.

The UNITED STATES went on to defeat Spain a major European power, on land and at sea. Therefore the UNITED STATES acquired Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines, as well as the right to intervention in the affairs of Cuba. Consequently, this marked the clear emergence of the United States as both a world and imperialistic power. Due to the Spanish-American War the United States grew from a baby Chihuahua to an over fed taco bell Chihuahua (geographically and mentally) we are now recognized as a world power that instills fear into many lesser nations. As Americans, we pride ourselves on having the highest standard of living.

In this war, we showed that we were willing to fight to keep our standards where they are. The Effects of the Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was absolutely beneficial to the progress of the world from the 1800's all the way to present day. Sacrifices were made which allowed technological advancements during the Industrial Revolution, which in turn, created happiness, life opportunities, and an over-all, definite amelioration of life. At the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, many hardships had to be overcome, causing great grief to most of the population. Faith was lost, patience was tried, and a blanket of oppression covered the people of Europe. When new inventions arose to facilitate the producing and mass-producing of goods that supplied the people of Europe, nearly everyone was forced to begin a new career within a factory.

These are just some of the hardships that many loyal, hardworking citizens were faced with. The reverberations of these new inventions caused a dramatic plummet of the life expectancy of an average citizen to an alarming 15 years of age. Women and children were expected to work up to 16 hours a day and doing labor that could cause serious injury, like carrying extremely heavy loads. For their work, they were paid ridiculous wages, women around 5 shillings per week, and children about 1.

One can easily recognize the negative aspects of such a dramatic event. However, if one 'steps back' to view the revolution as a whole, he will notice that the positive aspects completely outweigh the negative aspects. The job opportunities and price decrease definitely improved the lives of the people, giving them a chance to be a part of the society and be able to purchase products at a price that wasn't too bad.