The Spanish-American War started off as an exercise in yellow journalism. Spain had a hard time controlling Cuba and Puerto Rico and had to use internment camps in order to fight the guerrillas there. America even put pressure to control the independence fighters as they had a tendency to destroy American sugar plantations as well. William Randolph Hearst, owner of The New York Journal, sent famous Western artist Frederic Remington to Cuba in order to...
The Spanish-American War started off as an exercise in yellow journalism. Spain had a hard time controlling Cuba and Puerto Rico and had to use internment camps in order to fight the guerrillas there. America even put pressure to control the independence fighters as they had a tendency to destroy American sugar plantations as well. William Randolph Hearst, owner of The New York Journal, sent famous Western artist Frederic Remington to Cuba in order to draw accurate depictions of the war. When Remington cabled back that he could not find a major conflict, Hearst replied that he was to supply the pictures, and let Hearst supply the war. In the press, the Spanish, under General Weyler, tortured the poor Cuban rebels and even raped women and injured innocent children. One caption under a pro-war political cartoon was "Does our flag protect women?" and it showed a woman being protected by an American soldier. Americans were already in an outrage over these made-up atrocities when the American battleship Maine exploded in Havana harbor, killing all of its crew. The press later blamed this on a Spanish "torpedo" which in modern times was really a mine, and Americans all over the country clamored for war. Southern Democrats and Northern Republicans in Congress found something they could agree on, and in 1898 declared war on Spain. One interesting footnote is that former Confederate cavalry general Joseph Wheeler led American soldiers at San Juan Hill.
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