American interest in Cuba long predated 1898, including antebellum proposals to purchase the island and its growing commercial importance. Northern anticolonial arguments and southern commercial interests could both treat Spanish rule as an external cause around which the post-Civil War United States might unite. Yellow journalism intensified that pressure, but interventionist ideas and economic ties already existed before the headlines of 1898. British refusal to organize European backing for Spain and increasingly explicit American warnings narrowed Madrid's room to maneuver even after it granted limited Cuban autonomy.
Chapter · 7:32-12:08
Cuba, American interests, and mounting war pressure
Cuba's rebellion, economic ties, annexation history, yellow journalism, and the search for a unifying external cause pushed the United States toward intervention.