Spanish-American War Quotes
Description of one of his experiences in the Spanish American War.
Earlier in his life, the President had very racist views towards the American Indian as can be seen in {588991}. However, in his regiment he organized—the Rough Riders—for the Spanish American War, there were a number of Native Americans who acquitted themselves with distinction and Roosevelt had a change of mind and heart. Further he was somewhat older and had time to reflect on the irrationality of his earlier view.
Shortly after the Maine blew up in Havana Harbor:
Note that he referred to the “martyred President” as if Lincoln had recently been assassinated. It was actually 33 years after, and many of his audience had lived through what for most was their greatest national trauma. Springfield was the hometown of Lincoln and many in the audience had served under Lincoln in the Union Army. At that time, a statement like this praising Blacks was hated in the South, and unusual even in the North. However, politically the Solid South then always voted for the Democrats, so he and his party would never win any Southern States anyway, but the KKK was active in Illinois and many other Northern States. Adjacent Indiana was the headquarters of the KKK. There was much racism in the North so this speech was quite courageous. Republican Presidents Hayes, McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt made significant inroads in the racial problem and brought Blacks into Federal jobs. The progress, however, was totally undone by Woodrow Wilson who fired most Blacks who had gotten Federal jobs. Wilson needed the Southern legislators which was a major component of his party. He also came from New Jersey which had a strong KKK element who pressured him. Jim Crowe, the KKK and racism increased and the Republican Presidents thereafter did little for Civil rights. The great progress was made by Democratic Presidents Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Truman, and Lyndon Johnson and the Democratic Party replaced the Republicans as the Civil Rights party, and the Southern Democratic politicians switched to the Republican Party ending its traditional leadership in race relations
At a requiem for those who died on the battleship Maine, Gibbons criticized war mongering yellow journals. This was a very courageous statement to have made. The Hearst newspaper had fired up the American appetite for revenge and almost all the politicians were advocating war. At the time anti-Catholicism in America was extensive and Catholics were always being accused of not being patriotic Americans and more loyal to the Vatican than to the United States.
Theodore Roosevelt considered another run at the presidency in 1920:
This is an excellent historical quotations showing how our government financed the Spanish American War. Wars have always placed economic stress on the nations which wage then. In the American Revolution we borrowed from individuals and from France. After that all our wars were financed by a combination of war bond sales, other borrowing, and tax increases—all except the George W, Bush Afghanistan and Iraq Wars which were not funded thus complicating an economic crises caused by Bush’s Great Recession. While some critics saw Bush’s actions as reprehensible and irresponsible—it was the only time in American history where tax rates were cut in wartime, Bush’s team had a plan. They had an ideological point of view that said that major tax cuts would spur the economy and lead to MORE government revenue as a result of the growth that would come. However, in this case there not only was no growth, but there was the worst recession in American History. But there was a plan to finance the war—it just went awry.
General Shafter had a major attack of Gout, a terribly painful disease for which there was little relief at the time. As a result he had little involvement in the battle of Santiago at the most critical period. Crassus was an incompetent general in a famous Roman battle.
Negro volunteers were actually preferred under the theory that their ancestry made them more immune to malaria and other tropical diseases in Cuba.
Roosevelt was totally wrong on this. The explosion of the Maine which started the Spanish American War was later proved to be an accident,
Following the sinking of the battleship Maine in Cuba in 1898, Hearst, then a newspaper publisher, dispatched artist Frederic Remington to Cuba to paint war scenes for Hearst's newspapers. Remington could not find any and so cabled Hearst. This was Hearst’s famous reply. Hearst's newspapers then all called for war, and Congress shortly thereafter declared such,
Soon thereafter the Spanish American War began and when McKinley favored taking the Philippines from Spain, the New York Sun stated, "We are all jingoes now, and the head jingo is the Hon. William McKinley.
Because of his anti-Vietnam War activities he was frequently accused of hating America.
Roosevelt was then the Assistant Navy Secretary. However, the Secretary was on vacation and Roosevelt as Acting Secretary anticipated the Spanish American War. TR had also ordered large amounts of supplies and ammunition and when the President and Congress were faced with the possibility of war with Spain, the Navy was fully ready for war enabling the Declaration.
