American propaganda of the Spanish–American War

American newspapers fanned the flames of interest in the war by fabricating atrocities which justified intervention in a number of Spanish colonies worldwide.When the Democrats recaptured the White House in 1852 with the election of Franklin Pierce, a filibustering effort by John A. Quitman to acquire Cuba received the tentative support of the president.When the public learned of the Ostend Manifesto in 1854, which argued that the United States could seize Cuba by force if Spain refused to sell, this effectively killed the effort to acquire the island.In the 1892 U.S. presidential election, the Republican Party platform proclaimed: "We reaffirm our approval of the Monroe Doctrine and believe in the achievement of the manifest destiny of the Republic in its broadest sense.Several members of the media, such as William Randolph Hearst, and of the military were calling for intervention by the United States to help the revolutionaries in Cuba.Correspondents rarely bothered to confirm facts; they simply passed the stories on to their editors in the states, where they would be put into publication after further editing and misrepresentation.The two newspaper owners credited with developing the journalistic style of yellow journalism were William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer.Their stories swayed US public opinion to believe that the Cuban people were being unjustly persecuted by the Spanish, and that the only way for them to gain their independence was through American intervention.Hearst and Pulitzer made their stories credible by self-assertion and providing false names, dates, and locations of skirmishes and atrocities committed by the Spanish.While Hearst and Pulitzer's influence was significant among the upper classes and government officials, there were many Midwestern newspapers who denounced their use of sensational yellow journalism.[6] Concerned that their goals were being undermined by Lawson and other midwest newspapers, Hearst and Pulitzer were looking for any story which could expand their middle class audience.", "Indignities Practiced by Spanish Officials On Board American Vessels" and "Refined Young Women Stripped and Searched by Brutal Spaniards While Under Our Flag on the Ollivette".The original version of the song, first published in 1863, expressed people's longing for the return of their dear ones fighting in the American Civil War.
American cartoon, published in 1898: "Remember the Maine ! And Don't Forget the Starving Cubans!"
A satirical map, titled "The trouble of Cuba" (1895) by Bernhard Gillam, reflecting the American sentiment towards Cuba, three years before the beginning of the Spanish–American War.
Shooting Captured Insurgents", reenactment probably filmed in New Jersey. Edison films catalog description: A file of Spanish soldiers line up the Cubans against a blank wall and fire a volley. The flash of rifles and drifting smoke make a very striking picture. Duration: 0:22 at 34 frame/s.
Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst, full-length, dressed as the Yellow Kid , a satire of their role in drumming up USA public opinion to go to war with Spain.
Illustration of a young woman being gauchely strip-searched by grubby-looking Spanish policemen (Illustrator: Frederic Remington )
Artist's depiction of the destruction of USS Maine
10000 Miles From Tip to Tip, 1898: The American Eagle spreading his wings from the Philippines to Puerto Rico, "Ten thousand miles from tip to tip." Inset is a much smaller eagle, presiding over the eastern U.S. 100 years earlier, in 1798.
Spanish–American Warhistory of propagandayellow journalismAmerican newspapersWilliam Randolph HearstNew York JournalJoseph PulitzerNew York WorldsensationalistTheodore RooseveltAmerican Civil WarUnited States CongressCuban peopleSpanish EmpireJohn L. O'SullivanJames PolkZachary TaylorMillard FillmoreFranklin PierceJohn A. QuitmanOstend ManifestoManifest destinyMonroe DoctrineHavanaEdison filmsYellow KidVictor LawsonFrederic RemingtonUSS Maine (1889)USS Maineinvestigation in 1974Black Legend (Spain)Propaganda MovementMcCullough, David