http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish-American_War#Background Spanish - American War 1898 The historical backdrop for the war was the growing Cuban struggle for independence from Spain that had been simmering off and on for over thirty years and which had captured the American imagination. American newspapers had been agitating for intervention with sensational stories of Spanish atrocities against the native Cuban population even though Spain had removed the general behind the harsh policies that had displaced thousands of Cubans in the countryside and had, as in most insurrections, placed them squarely in the crosshairs between 30,000 Spanish troops and the insurrectos, or Cubans fighting for independence. In January 1896, a riot broke out in Havana by Cuban Spanish loyalists leading to the destruction of the printing presses of four local newspapers for publishing articles critical of Spanish Army atrocities. Since this riot was largely also anti-American, because of the growing support in the US for Cuban independence, the US Consul-General, nephew of Robert E. Lee, and former Civil War Confederate general, Fitzhugh Lee cabled Washington with fears for the lives of Americans living in Havana, the United States wasted no time sending a tepid response. It was into this explosive situation of an ongoing independence struggle that the USS Maine was sent to Havana, Cuba, to protect U.S. interests. With insurrection and civil disturbances the rule of the day, the mysterious sinking of the battleship USS Maine on February 15, 1898, at 9:30 p.m. in Havana Harbor was attributed, by Spanish scientists, to an internal and accidental explosion; but in 1898 a Naval inquiry reported that it was caused by submarine mine and one month later the war was declared. Read more at the link.
