Spanish-American War

Essay:
Some historians claim Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst "started" the Spanish-American War. Write a short essay for homework to support or refute this argument. Be sure that your response includes an answer to the Focus Question: How did yellow journalism contribute to the Spanish-American War?


In the late 1800s the Cubans were revolting against Spain. The US felt "obligated" to help out a revolutionary cause because of their successful history with revolutions. However, their practice of isolationism prevented them from justifying further involvement in the revolution. The bags of sand that tipped the iceberg were the "muckrakers" of the time. The yellow journalists provoked a war to enhance the popularity of their newspapers. Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst were the two people at the top of the muckraking ladder. They were the two most popular newspaper owners of the time; and also the most competitive. When the Maine was exploded just off the coast of Cuba, the muckrakers, a nickname given to melodramatic journalists by Theodore Roosevelt, publicized that it was Spain that exploded the American ship. Of course, a few months after the war was over, it turned out to just be some bad placement of the boiler room and the ammunition room which happened to be located right next to each other. The yellow journalists could have further investigated this and told what had really happened and prevented a war, but instead, to get more publicity and demand for their newspapers, they insisted it was the slimy Spaniards that exploded the American ship and that the US could not sit idly by and wait for Spain to attack home. This incident of slander of Spain provoked a war.