1898: The Birth of the American Century by David Traxel

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As can be seen in the book 1898: The Birth of the American Century, the United States overcame many hardships, but in 1898, there were more to come. The Spanish-American war was one such hardship because the United States was not always the military power it is now. The Trans-Mississippi Exposition was not a hardship in the least. It showed the direction in which America was heading. America was rapidly becoming modernized with new gadgets and gizmos that amazed the visitors of the exposition. With the need to modernize came competition. Small companies merged to form big competing companies. Much was going on, besides the war, although it was a very important part of the year 1898.

"The United States hereby disclaims any disposition or intention to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction, or control over [Cuba] except for the pacification thereof, and asserts its determination when that is accomplished to leave the government and control of the island to its people."

That is the Teller amendment created by Democratic Senator Henry M. Teller of Colorado. This was proposed by Teller during the debate that followed President McKinley's request for the United States of America to intervene with Cuba. He felt that "armed intervention" was necessary because of the "barbarities, bloodshed, starvation, and horrible miseries" that the Cuban people endured at the time. On April 19th, Congressed passed the resolution to intervene in Cuba, but the government was unaware of what the American soldiers would have to endure. The American soldiers sent to Cuba with the intention of freeing Cuba and gaining glory as their ancestors had. If they were successful, then the Cubans would have a greatly improved life, but what the United States wanted to resolve for the Cubans, was later bestowed upon the American soldiers in Cuba. The American...