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The American-Spanish War and Political Cartoons in Press Media: Expansionism and Anti-Imperialism

Seok Huajeong 1

1공군사관학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

The American-Spanish War of 1898, was initiated for the United States to step to rescue Cuba from the oppression, ended just months later with the U.S. acquisition of Spain’s remaining empire, including Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines. Patriotic media played a significant role in constructing the war, identifying the key territories to be acquired prior to a deployment of military operations. Even though there were various shades of high-circulation “yellow” journalism, this article mainly focuses on the ‘unexplored’ press media by the including political cartoons, headlines, caption texts from newspapers in both rural and urban settings across the U.S. It elaborates to show how the nation’s patriotic media campaigns mainly by cartoonists and editorialists captured the public’s interest in the Cuban crisis, and to portray the U.S actions for the duration of the conflict, from liberation to conquest, and further to press the U.S acquisition new territories abroad. After the war, growing resistance to American expansionism was found expression in the media, but it was driven the consensus in terms of expansion costs, not by a moral compass as will be identified at the platform of Anti-Imperialist League of 1899.

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.