REMEMBER THE MAINE!

[jsamuel]

However, the single most influential and newspaper-exploited event in the process of bringing the United States into a state of war was media coverage of the mysterious and unexplained explosion of the U.S.S. Maine. Immediately after, many newspapers (particularly those such as Hearst's Journal that commonly practiced certain aspects of yellow journalism) carried headlines such as "Remember the Maine!" and articles immediately accusing the Spanish for the destruction. Some even went so far as to make up detailed stories, stressing that it must have been a mine or torpedo (delivered by, of course, the Spanish) that caused the deaths of two-hundred and fifty-two American soldiers. Within days, headlines became so blunt as to say "War? Sure!" With pressure on the government from the people, the press, and eventually even on certain parts of the government itself, a state of war came into effect on April 25, 1898 (made retroactive to April 22, 1898). Armies were mobilized, emergency funds were allocated, and ports were blockaded, marking the beginning of the Spanish-American War.

While the truth about what happened the U.S.S. Maine is still unknown (theories range from completely accidental internal explosions to Spanish torpedo fire to a mine set by agents of the "yellow press"), one can be relatively sure that this war may very well have not happened without the encouragement of the propaganda put out by newspapers all over America. To make this point more blatant, imagine what would have happened if the "yellow kids" (Hearst and Pulitzer) had strongly disapproved of the war, for whatever reason. Spanish brutality would be toned down, seen as a non-issue, and the destruction of the Maine would have been promoted as an accident. Basically, due to the public opinion that they had such thorough control over, propaganda was the decisive factor in starting this war. So, overall, this becomes one of the most significant and representative events in the history of modern propaganda.

http://library.thinkquest.org/C0111500/spanamer/app.htm

[WhoWantsToBeOccupied]

1. Remember the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

[queeg]

2. War was inevitable--The Maine was just a drop in a big bucket

Even Charles Sigsbee, Captain of the Maine empasized the toning down of the rhetoric. There were however factions within the govenment, (not President McKinley by the way) that had been looking for any excuse for the previous 2 years to go to war, (Lodge and Roosevelt) and actually for the previous 20 years since incidents that had taken place in 1882. What was interesting was that the Maine going to Havana harbor was something that was supposed to lessen tensions between Spain and the US.

Anyone who tells you that the war was caused by Hearst and Pulitzer has been reading way too many jingoistic really crappy grade school history books.

Why believe me? I own the largest collection of materials on the Spanish-American war in private hands, have written 2 books on it, edited 2 others, and oh yeah---I have a big tattoo on my arm of the USS Maine that says ---Remember the Maine.

[Hardrada]

3. Was there not also the beginning

of the Military-Industrial Complex? I refer to the Blue Water navy advocates (not sure how much of a lobby they were) but it involved some serious financing.

[stevielizard]

4. remember the old alamo

and remember the maine-
remember new york city
remember this pain-
is it a revolution or just insider trading?
check the faces in the places we're invading-

people lost
voices muffled
what that cost
who's been crossed?

from "texas shuffle" by stevie lizard 2001