Viewpoint of the American People as Described by the American Newspapers of the Time - Coursework Example

Viewpoint of the American People As Described by the American Newspapers of the Time Teacher # A Brief Background of the Spanish-American War The seeds for the Spanish-American War were spread when America saw what it viewed as a brutal imperialistic reign over the people of Cuba by the government of Spain. The United States, whose original unification under the Declaration of Independence and the Revolutionary War with England, saw the same overbearing rule occurring in Cuba by the Spaniards who had imported about 430,000 slaves from Africa by 1840. Not only that, the United States and its Civil War had proved to many that freedom should be applied to everyone, and viewed the Cuban people’s need to be freed from the overbearing rule of the Spaniards. In reality, though not widely publicized, the U.S. wanted to protect its interests in the production and exportation of sugar and also the mining industries. The problem was caused by the Cuban revolutionaries’ tactics of hit-and-run attacks on railroads and plantations. While causing a problem for Spain, it also caused a problem for the U. S., as it caused turmoil with American investors connected with the Cuban commodities (Tindall, Shi, 1989). Back in the United States, newspapers in major cities were reporting almost daily on events in Cuba and each paper vied against its competitors for the readership and newspaper fee. These caused reporters to become more sensationalists in their stories, inserting opinions and inflammatory phases. This level of story writing was called “yellow journalism” and William Randolph Hearst’s New York Journal won the competition, particularly with the harsh statements against the Spanish general in charge of Cuba, Valeriano Weyler. Weyler’s idea of controlling the population was to gather Cubans and essentially hold them in detention to avoid cross-overs to the rebels. Consequently, poor living conditions in the detention centers took the lives of many Cubans, earning the general the name “Butcher” Weyler in the American papers, along with a few other choice phrases. On February 15, 1898, the American battleship Maine, resting in the harbor at Havana to provide protection for Americans in Cuba, exploded and sank with a loss of 260 men. It was unclear if the Spanish had blown up the ship or whether it was a loose bomb that had set off the ammunition in the ship’s magazine. This event, however, set off a flurry of invective series of headlines in the “yellow press” American papers, inciting an already inflamed public, and calling for war and revenge. President William McKinley (1897-1901) attempted to try and avoid war but popular opinion and subsequent events finally caused him to call for a blockade and then war against the Spanish in Cuba. War was finally declared on April 25, 1898. The war lasted about eight months until December 10, 1898 with Spain losing its domination as a world power, and the United States emerging as the new world power (Tindall, Shi, 1989). The News as Reported Across the Country In reviewing some of the newspapers of the time period, we start with The Evening Times newspaper for February 16, 1898 in Washington, D. C., which blares out in big headlines regarding the blowup of the battleship Maine in Havana harbor, Cuba. Alongside the story is a huge cartoon showing the Maine blowing up at the harbor dock, with General Ramon Blanco y Erenas, who replaced General Weyler, standing on the dock with several torpedoes sitting next to him. There is an innocent look on Blanco’s face, as if he is pondering “Now, how did that happen?” The story headlines blare out that the ship was “Blown up by Spain” and that there was “every evidence that the Maine was torpedoed.” In a smaller headline underneath is the statement that 250 American soldiers were now the food of sharks. The headlines were obviously written to incite anger from the reading public against the Spanish. If we read down further in the article, we note that Spanish ships in the harbor sailed over to help rescue men in the water and get them ashore to hospitals where all doctors were on call to help with the emergency. It also states that the ship’s magazine did not blow up, that instead, the explosion occurred ‘in the forward portion of the Maine (D.C. Times, 2/16/1898).’ The whole front page is covered in stories from one source or another, and the reporter writing it, is obviously looking for some kind of proof that the Spanish had something to do with the incident. But the story clearly shows that no one has said anything along those lines, at least not publically. It is interesting to note that the event occurred on the 10th in the evening, yet actual reporting of the incident did not occur until the 16th. By contrast, The National Tribune of Washington, D. C., had no front page coverage of the incident, although it was widely known by now. Essentially, The Evening Times scooped the news entirely (D.C. Tribune, 2/16/1898). In New York City, The Sun, on February 12, 1898, makes a report about the confidential letter by Spanish Minister Dupuy de Lome where he had said some uncomplimentary things about President McKinley. The story goes on to remark that the letter also mentions a possibility of a pro-Spanish lobby being sent to Washington, D. C., to help win over “friends of Cuban liberty” in congress to the Spanish side (The Sun, 2/13/1898). On February 16, 1898, The Sun reports the sinking of the Maine. Alongside this story is the story of Dupuy de Lome in town (NYC) getting ready to sail home to Spain the same day as well as another story about a letter from Spain to ‘Uncle Sam’ about the de Lome incident. Then next to that is the big story about the Maine. It is interesting to note that there are several large headlines reporting the incident but there is no accusation against the Spanish for the incident. It is more a straight-forward story, even though the amount of men lost is incorrect – 100. In fact, it also mentions in headlines that the Spanish ships in the harbor saved many of the men. The reporting in this paper is objective reporting without the sense of ‘yellow journalism (The Sun, 2/16/1898).’ The New York Tribune also covers the story of the Maine explosion with pretty much the same straight-forward writing and without making assumptions of anything other than this is a terrible accident (N.Y.C. Tribune, 2/16/1898). In Houston, Texas, The Houston Daily Post used a third of its front page to report on the loss of the Maine and the contents of Captain Sigsbee’s message to Washington. There is no sense of vindictive commentary behind any of the reporting such as in the Washington paper, The Evening Times. The page also carries two black ink drawings, one of the Maine sitting in a port and the other, an ink drawing of Captain Sigsbee. These are artistic drawings, not cartoons, and are not inflammatory in any way (Houston Post, 2/16, 1898) In Shiner, Texas, however, the Shiner Gazette, which published once a week on Wednesdays, carried a standard advertising and local news front page. National news was put on the second page onwards and there was not much coverage of the Maine disaster on page 2. There was no sense of urgency, just a main reporting of what was known at the time which was still fuzzy (Shiner, 2/23/1898). Minnesota’s publication in Saint Paul, The Appeal, was a locally-focused publication and it appeared that national and international affairs were of no interest to the reading membership, primarily Afro-Americans, as its title indicates (Appeal, 2/26/1898). What is becoming more obvious in reviewing many of the papers published in the Mid-west is the lack of information regarding anything other than more local news as being of interest to the readership. One might say that the cause and effect of the East and West coasts, per se, have nothing to do with what is important to the lifestyle of the central states, especially the further north we move. New Ulm, in Brown County, MN, has the news about the Maine on the front page but it is already talking mainly about the causes rather than giving preliminary details. This is also a once-a-week publication so quite a bit of news gets lost between editions (New Ulm, 2/23/1898). The San Francisco Call of California proved to be quite a surprise with a full front page coverage of the Maine disaster, along with vindictive terminology, yellow journalism, and an incorrect number of men killed – 420 total out of 450 crew members. The suspicion is placed squarely with Spain in the headlines. When reading the stories provided, the language is less incendiary but the headlines are dramatic and emotional. Obviously, there is an attempt to sell papers as who could resist those headlines and the accompanying stories. There was even a headline box in Spanish for those who couldn’t read English (Call, 2/16/1898). The Record-Union of Sacramento, CA, used two columns on its front page to report the news on the Maine disaster. The report is straight-forward and does not even bring up the notion of something other than an accident rather than the thought that the Spanish had something to do with it. Most of the story concerns what the people in Havana, as well as the Spanish navy, did to help the survivors of the Maine as it sank. This report obviously comes from a different source than the Call in San Francisco. It is interesting to note the differences in reporting style and to note how “yellow journalism” plays, or can play, a part in affecting people’s viewpoint on a sensitive subject (Record-Union, 2/16/1898). These particular newspapers were chosen for the same date, or as close to the date, for when an event occurred, in order to see how the news travelled and what the different reactions would be across the country. It is safe to say that, particularly for that time period, news was efficiently reported all at once on the same day in areas where popular opinion mattered in terms of political and economic influence. The East and West coasts received the same news, most likely from one correspondent on the East Coast, while those newspapers in the middle, tended to get left out of the fast-breaking events until a week, or two weeks, later. For the actual event of the Maine disaster, those who were already following the Cuban crisis and were up on the news as it was being reported, those newspapers tended to be more emotional in headline creation. To some degree this was misleading as the full truth had not been discovered yet as to why the Maine even blew up. Therefore, decision-makers on either coast were already making up their minds about events before finding out the truth of what was happening. Truth was delayed just enough to cause problems all the way round. Conclusion If there was any doubt about whether the Americans wanted a war with Spain in Cuba, the explosion of the Maine most likely swayed even those who were still wavering about what to do. Other events also played a part in building up popular opinion, including the infamous secret letter that the Spanish minister wrote, as mentioned in the introduction, where he had some not-so-nice things to say about President McKinley. In addition, the thought of having a lobby group, sent by the Spanish in order to change everyone’s minds about war with Spain, was not acceptable to the United States and seen as a manner of subtle, or not so subtle, coercion to control the American government. The war was really seen on two fronts: the issue of imperialism by Spain on the people of Cuba, who were mainly African-American slaves, later freed, and then the effect of the revolutionaries attacking money-producing ventures that were funded by the Americans. Both viewpoints required that the Americans save Cuba from its own revolution in order to maintain a continued monetary supply of commodities. The explosion of the Maine was a huge deciding factor in pushing the Americans into war with Spain – the final straw, as it were. Bibliography Tindall, George B., and Shi, David E. America: A Narrative History. (1989). W. W. Horton, New York City, New York. Chronicling America Newspaper Archives. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.: Washington, D. C. Newspapers: The Evening Times, The National Tribune The Evening Times, February 16, 1898. Concerning the blowup of the battleship Maine Persistent Link http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84024441/1898-02-16/ed-1/seq-1/ Downloaded 3/3/2012 8:24 p.m. (D.C. Times, 2/16/1898) The National Tribune, February 17, 1898. No mention of the Spanish problems in Cuba. Persistent Link http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82016187/1898-02-17/ed-1/seq-1/ Downloaded 3/3/2012 10:21 p.m. (D. C. Tribune, 2/17/1898) New York City, N. Y. Newspapers: The Sun, The New York Tribune The Sun, February 13, 1898. A long article about the slurs landed against President McKinley and the possibility of a pro-Spanish lobby group to win over members of Congress. Persistent Link http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030272/1898-02-13/ed-1/seq-1/ Downloaded 3/3/2012 at 10:40 p.m. (Sun, 2/13/1898) The Sun, February 16, 1898. Three out of 6 columns on the front page deal with issues in Cuba and one deals with the loss of the Maine. Persistent Link http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030272/1898-02-16/ed-1/seq-1/ Downloaded 3/3/2012 at 10:55 p.m. (Sun, 2/16/1898) The New York Tribune, February 16, 1898. Article about the explosion on the Maine. Two columns out of six taken up by this story. Persistent Link http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/1898-02-16/ed-1/seq-1/ Downloaded 3/3/2012 at 11:07 p.m. (N.Y.C. Tribune, 2/16/1898) State of Texas Newspapers: Houston Daily Post, the Shiner Gazette The Houston Daily Post, February, 16, 1898. One-third page is taken up by stories of the Maine and the captain. Persistent Link http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86071197/1898-02-16/ed-1/seq-1/ Downloaded 3/3/2012 at 11:28 p.m. (Houston Post, 2/16/1898) The Shiner Gazette in Shiner, TX. February 23, 1898. One column on the second page talks about the Maine and what has been discovered so far regarding the explosion. Persistent Link http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86090270/1898-02-23/ed-1/seq-2/ Downloaded 3/3/2012 at 11:57 p.m. (Shiner, 2/23/1898) State of Minnesota Newspapers: The Appeal: A National Afro-American Newspaper, New Ulm Review The Appeal: A National Afro-American Newspaper, Saint Paul, Minnesota. February 26, 1898. Almost no coverage of the Spanish problem, the Maine, or anything else to do with the current state of affairs. Totally a local and cultural publication. Persistent Link http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83016810/1898-02-26/ed-1/seq-2/ Downloaded 3/4/2012 at 12:13 a.m. (Appeal, 2/26/1898) New Ulm Review, New Ulm, Minnesota. February 23, 1898. Cover page but only one column devoted to the Maine incident and what the causes were. Persistent Link http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn89081128/1898-02-23/ed-1/seq-1/ Downloaded 3/4/2012 at 12:28 a.m. (New Ulm, 2/23/1898) State of California Newspapers: The San Francisco Call, The Record-Union The San Francisco Call, California. February 16, 1898. Total front page coverage of the Maine disaster and some incendiary statements as part of the news coverage. Persistent Link http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85066387/1898-02-16/ed-1/seq-1/ Downloaded 3/4/2012 at 12:44 a.m. (Call, 2/16/1898) The Record-Union, Sacramento, California. February 16, 1898. Only one-third front page coverage. Persistent Link http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82015104/1898-02-16/ed-1/seq-1/ Downloaded 3/4/2012 at 1:02 a.m. Read More