Competitive Yellow Journalism
Two Newspaper Men set their sights on promoting
U.S. Imperialism throughout the world
William Randolph Hearst (1863 – 1951)
Owner of the San Francisco Examiner and the
New York Journal
Famous for the creation of Sensationalized
Stories to influence American Citizens and Leaders
Joseph Pulitzer (1847 – 1911)
Owner of the New York World newspaper
Famous for publishing the Yellow Kid comics
created by Richard F. Outcault
Pulitzer Prize for Writing Excellence named after
him
The Battleship Maine Explodes
•
On February 15th 1898 the U.S.S. Maine Mysteriously
exploded in the Havana Harbor killing 260 crewmembers.
•
Newspapers suspected
Spanish sabotage and soon
called for war using catch
phrases such as “Remember
the Maine! To Hell with Spain.”
•
Americans asserted that the
blast was caused by a mine
in the harbor, the Spanish
authorities assert it was an
internal explosion.
•
Spain is blamed for the attack
along with many other
atrocities
Hearst sent Davis and Remington to Cuba
• Hearst sent artist Frederic Remington to
Cuba to paint pictures of the atrocities
occurring at the hands of the Spanish
• Remington could find no such war
• Hearst replied “You furnish the pictures
and I‟ll furnish the war.”
• William Harding Davis sent a dispatch to
Hearst describing the Spanish searching
women aboard an American Ship in
Havana Harbor
• Although Spanish women conducted the
searches, Hearst commissioned Remington to draw the incident
showing naked American women searched by Spanish Men.
Sanford B. Dole Promoted the Annexation of Hawaii
• Sanford was the cousin of Pineapple
magnate James Dole
• Sanford‟s petition for the United States
to annex Hawaii in 1887 failed
• Sanford participated in a revolution
that established the Constitution of the
Kingdom of Hawaii in 1887
• A Coup d‟etat in 1893 succeeded in deposing the Monarch
• Sanford B. Dole became the first and only President of
the Republic of Hawaii in 1895
• The United States officially annexed Hawaii in 1898
Building The Panama Canal
•
The necessity for a canal to connect the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean
in order to greatly reduce travel time for both commercial and
military ships.
•
The new US role as „world watchman‟ or
“police power” necessitated a faster way to
get to the far reaches of the world like their
new territory in the Philippines
•
President Roosevelt
offered $40 million to
Columbia for land to build the canal (but they
refused), and instead gained control by
supporting Panama‟s fight for Independence.
• Roosevelt appointed General George
Washington Goethals in 1907 to supervise
the completion of the Canal from 1908 - 1913
The U.S.
becomes a
World Power
European Imperialism
1880‟s – 1900‟s
• Rapid rise of the Industrial Revolution
caused the need for additional raw
materials
• European Nations saw other continents
as places where natural resources
would be free for the taking
• Social Darwinism gave Europeans
a feeling of superiority over non
Anglo cultures and fueled racism
• Advancements in technology gave Europeans an advantage over
native opposition in the new territories
• The race to claim new territories caused new political conflicts between
European nations
The World Focuses on the Suez Canal
•
The Suez Canal was finished by the French Suez Canal
Company in 1869.
•
Due to extreme debt from
the building of the Canal,
Shares were offered to
various countries, but Great
Britain, Austria, Russia, and
the United States declined.
•
The 1888 Convention of
Constantinople was a treaty signed by the United Kingdom,
Germany, Autria-Hungary, Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands,
Russian and the Ottoman Empire, which declared the Canal to be
neutral zone and open for international use by all ships.
The World focuses on China
• European use Extraterritorial Rights to gain
control of trade in China
• United States proposed the Open Door Policy
in China (Supported by France, Great Britain,
Germany, Italy, Japan, and Russia)
• The Society of Righteous and Harmoneous
Fists (Known as Boxers) lead revolt against
Europeans in Shanghai.
• Massacres of Missionaries and European Businessmen in
China cause outrage across Europe and the United States
• The Boxer Rebellion was put down by an Eight-Nation Force
(U.S., Great Britain, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy,
Japan, and Russia) in April 1900.
YELLOW JOURNALISM
PROPAGANDA
CLASS DISCUSSION FOR A
DOCUMENT BASED QUESTION ESSAY
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