USA HISTORY

When the USS Maine blew up in Cuba, most blamed the Spanish. We would later discover ____

(A) It was the Mexicans

(B) ** It was an accident

(C) It was the Canadians!

(D) It was the Cubans

Concept note-1: -Who was to blame? Spain controlled Cuba at the time. So, was it Cuba, or Spain, or was it an accident? Many people in the United States blamed Spain (Today, however, many historians believe a malfunction in the ship caused the explosion).

Concept note-2: -The Spanish investigation found that the explosion had been caused by spontaneous combustion of the coal bunkers, but the Sampson Board ruled that the explosion had been caused by an external explosion from a torpedo.

Concept note-3: -USS Maine, a second-class battleship built between 1888 and 1895, was sent to Havana in January 1898 to protect American interests during the long-standing revolt of the Cubans against the Spanish government. In the evening of 15 February 1898, Maine sank when her forward gunpowder magazines exploded.