By the mid-1890s, America had a number of overseas connections and ventures, including a trading presence in Southeast Asia, and the acquisition of both Hawaii and Alaska. As a country, the U.S. had spent the last 50 years expanding....slowly. That process was about to accelerate rapidly in 1898.
1. Describe the reward offered for the "detection of the Perpetrator of the Maine Outrage." (How much, and who posted it?) What new evidence suggests the explosion may have been an accident?
2. Explore the Headline Gallery and select one of the samples. Write down the headline. Explain how this might have inflamed American passions for war.
3. Who is called the "father of Yellow Journalism"? Why?
4. Private Manning, a member of the 33rd Michigan Volunteer Infantry, was the first soldier of the war to have what?
5. In April 1898 Senator Henry M. Teller (Colorado) proposed an amendment to the U.S. declaration of war against Spain. What did this amendment say?
6. Who commanded the "Rough Riders?", and what was this unit's official name?
a. What types of people made up the Rough Riders?
7. John Hay, Secretary of State, wrote a letter to Theodore Roosevelt describing the Spanish-American war as “___________________________________________________________”
On to the next...
Area 3 - Progressivism and Anti-Imperialism
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