February 15, 1898

"Remember the Maine!": Or Extra, Extra, Read All About It.


The new week begins at Lies Agreed Upon with a pivotal day in the United States' growth as a superpower, and one of the most controversial events in modern military history. Since 1823, the Monroe Doctrine served as a warning to Europe that New World affairs would be handled in-hemisphere, protected and administered by the upstart Americans. By the turn of the 20th Century, the eyes of American industry had turned to interests in the Caribbean Sea, an area many hoped would soon be free of European competitors.

A little after 9:30 pm on a warm February evening in 1898, Captain Charles Dwight Sigsbee was likely turning in for the night in the harbor of Havana, Cuba. His command, the USS Maine, had been dispatched from Florida by President William McKinley to protect American possessions on the island. Cubans were in the midst of a revolt against colonial Spanish Rule, and the response from Spain, which had brutalized the local people, was beginning to affect American commerce.

The USS Maine entering Havana Harbor on January 25, 1898.

Cuba in particular was seen as the jewel in the crown of Latin America. With their western frontier rapidly vanishing, many in the US had designs on an overseas empire and felt the island could provide Americans with more territory. Situated just 90 miles south of Florida, the population of Cuba had been rising against its Spanish rulers since the 1860's. Northeastern newspaper publishers, such as Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst, began vilifying Spain and lobbying for American intervention in Cuba.

Since January, Sigsbee had remained anchored in Havana, waiting for further instructions or events to dictate his next move. The Maine had been sent despite the warnings of Fitzhugh Lee, American Consul-General in Havana and nephew of Robert E. Lee, that its presence was not only unnecessary, but also unwelcome. For three weeks, American sailors sat homesick and bored on her decks, wondering what would happen next. That night, as Sigsbee readied for bed, the wondering ended.

At about 9:40pm on February 15, 1898, the dark quiet of the Havana night was shattered by a thundering explosion. The Maine, anchored at her moorings, erupted in a blast that sent sailors and steel alike hurtling into the harbor. Later investigations would reveal that over five tons of gunpowder in the ship's magazine had detonated, ripping apart the bow. In his quarters at the aft end of the ship, Sigsbee was safe from the inferno, but most of his men were not. Of the 374 officers and men aboard that night, only 89 survived.

What is left of the Maine, sitting on the bottom of Havana Harbor.

Immediately, at the behest of newspaper headlines, Americans began clamoring for war. To many, there was little doubt as to who was responsible for the deaths of the ship and her crew. A rallying cry arose, exhorting the populace to "Remember the Maine! To Hell with Spain!" Although the sinking of the Maine was not listed as a cause of war, the Spanish-American War began just a few months later.

The real reason for the explosion has never been confirmed. At the time, the blast was blamed on contact with a floating sea-mine laid by the Spanish. Several inquiries have been launched since the incident, each of which came up with separate conclusions. Modern computer imagery and simulations have credited the blast to smoldering coal deposits in the Maine's engine room, which ignited the ship's magazine nearby. While conspiracy theorists have enjoyed speculating that the US blew up its own ship to start the war, it is clear that the Spanish most likely had nothing to do with the explosion.

To us at Lies Agreed Upon, the sinking of the Maine marks a watershed moment in American history. Prior to the explosion, many Americans had advocated the build-up of a blue water navy, one that could secure possessions overseas, then serve as the lifeline to a new American Empire. Inspired by Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan's book The Influence of Seapower on History, which credited the British Empire largely to the Royal Navy, men like Secretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt saw America's future on the waves. When the war ended the US secured holdings in Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines, beginning its rise to world superpower status.





The front page of William Randolph Hearst's New York Journal blamed the sinking of the Maine on "Spanish Treachery."





Also, the influence of the media in going to war is not to be understated. The oft-cited yellow journalism of publishers like Pulitzer and Hearst trumped up Spanish offenses and created slights where, perhaps, there were none. Hearst offered a $50,000 reward for information on the sinking in his paper the New York Journal. At the time, the public opinion of average Americans was influenced almost solely by the newspapers, the dominant form of media at the turn of century. Now, we see how the media can affect public opinion on the conduct of a war in our living rooms almost everyday. While it may not be the first time the press played a big part in an America at war, it is surely one of the most notorious.