The USS Maine Remembered
https://highered.nbclearn.com/portal/site/HigherEd/browse/?cuecard=1315
General Information
Source:
Creator:
NBC Nightly News
Soledad O'Brien
Resource Type:
Copyright:
Event Date:
Air/Publish Date:
02/15/1898
02/15/1998
Copyright Date:
Clip Length
Video News Report
NBCUniversal Media,
LLC.
1998
00:02:04
Description
A Manhattan ceremony honors victims of the USS Maine a hundred years after that ship exploded in
Havana. Historian and author Tom Miller says that yellow journalism about the explosion led America
into the Spanish-American War.
Keywords
U.S.S. Maine, Anniversary, Spanish-American War, Havana, Cuba, United States Navy, Spain, Captain
Charles D. Sigsbee, Explosion, "Remember the Maine", William Randolph Hearst, New York Journal,
Yellow Journalism, Newspapers, Imperialism, Puerto Rico, Guam, Philippines, Monuments, Foreign
Policy, Michael Kozak, Tom Miller, Gustavo Placer
Citation
© 2008-2015 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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MLA
"The USS Maine Remembered." Soledad O'Brien, correspondent. NBC Nightly News. NBCUniversal
Media. 15 Feb. 1998. NBC Learn. Web. 21 May 2015
APA
O'Brien, S. (Reporter). 1998, February 15. The USS Maine Remembered. [Television series episode].
NBC Nightly News. Retrieved from
https://highered.nbclearn.com/portal/site/HigherEd/browse/?cuecard=1315
CHICAGO MANUAL OF STYLE
"The USS Maine Remembered" NBC Nightly News, New York, NY: NBC Universal, 02/15/1998.
Accessed Thu May 21 2015 from NBC Learn:
https://highered.nbclearn.com/portal/site/HigherEd/browse/?cuecard=1315
Transcript
The USS Maine Remembered
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, anchor:
The USS Maine was deployed to Havana to protect America's interests, as Cubans fought for
independence from Spain. She floated quietly at anchor 100 years ago tonight. In his cabin, Captain Sigby
wrote his wife, the crew read or slept in their hammocks. Suddenly a huge explosion split the ship in two
and killed some 266 American sailors. Almost immediately, American newspapers, competing for
readers, began outdoing each other with sinister theories.
Mr. MICHAEL KOZAK (United States Interest Section): "Remember the Maine.
To hell with Spain," was the--was the slogan. Yeah, it was a galvanizing event.
O'BRIEN: At a Manhattan ceremony honoring victims of the Maine, historian and author Tom Miller said
that yellow journalism led America into the war.
Mr. TOM MILLER (Historian): For William Randolph Hearst and his New York Journal seized upon the
explosion in Havana not as a tragic American lost but as a great circulation booster.
O'BRIEN: Within two months, the US was at war with Spain. Then, as victors, America took Puerto Rico,
Guam, the Philippines, and occupied Cuba. Cuba has its own monument to the Maine. This one on the
waterfront in Havana. Cuban historian and former naval commander Gustavo Placer:
Mr. GUSTAVO PLACER (Cuban Historian): (Through translator) Basically, opinion divided into two
camps. One said the blast was caused on purpose from outside the ship, a mine or torpedo. The other that
the ship blew up from within, an accident or a blast deliberately set.
O'BRIEN: This monument was built to honor the men who died when the USS Maine exploded, but now
it memorializes hostility between Cuba and the United States. And it's come to symbolize 100 years of
mutual suspicion that followed that tragic explosion.
Accident or not, there is no debate that the sinking of the Maine marked the start of the American century
© 2008-2015 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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and US dominance on the world stage.
© 2008-2015 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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