Spanish-American War - Research Paper Example

The war went smoothly for the Americans and proved devastating for the Spanish, which suffered defeat continuously. Although several drawbacks have been observed in the American military preparedness for this war, the same has been classified as “splendid war of short duration” by historians, even from outside America. Historian Harry Allen has described this event as “America’s swift and total defeat of Spain”(1). Due to lack of coordination between different wings of American defense forces, rivalry was visible between sailors and soldiers, while the war resulted in the charges of imperialism being levied against America, which still haunts the people of Cuba and Philippines.

Michael Quinn, the author of this article has detailed the impact of this war on West Americans. According to Mormon theology, the church had a right to choose for participating or non-participating in an armed conflict, which the author refers as “selective Pacifism’. While Mormon Church lost its political and social power with the abolition of polygamy by the federal government in 1890, the option of selective pacifism became inapplicable in 1989, as a result of internal conflict within the Mormon Church on the participation issue.

While “book of Mormon” has the evidences of pacifism, the internal conflict has been visible with one group refusing to participate in such defensive wars, based on religious and spiritual reasons.(1) Joseph Smith Jr discussed the theological aspects of pacifism, while proposing three essentials, which concern the Mormon participation in a war. These included the participating decision to be independent of secular government options, the Divine injunctions of war and peace being conveyed through a Mormon prophet, instead of any secular leader and the commands of the prophet to be given due respect in deciding on issues