(A) ** McKinley gave Spain an ultimatum:free Spain or the US will intervene on their behalf
(B) The inquiry into the Maine’s explosion determined it had been sunk by a mine
(C) Teddy Roosevelt eventually convinced McKinley that it was in the United States’ best interest to declare war
(D) McKinley had enough of the Cuban rebels’ backtalk
EXPLANATIONS BELOW
Concept note-1: -On April 25, 1898 the United States declared war on Spain following the sinking of the Battleship Maine in Havana harbor on February 15, 1898.
Concept note-2: -On April 11, 1898, two months after the battleship U.S.S. Maine was destroyed by an explosion in Havana harbor, President McKinley sent a message to Congress requesting authority to use the U.S. armed forces to end a brutal civil war in the Spanish colony of Cuba.
Concept note-3: -President McKinley found it impossible to resist the mounting public and political pressure for war against Spain. In requesting a declaration of war from the Senate on April 11, 1898, he listed several concerns but stressed the nation’s humanitarian sympathy for the Cuban independence movement.
Concept note-4: -The United States Government issued an ultimatum to the Spanish Government to terminate its presence in Cuba. Spain did not accept the ultimatum in its reply of April 1, 1898.
Concept note-5: -U.S. Commodore Dewey and his Asiatic squadron defeat the Spanish fleet at Manila Bay in the Philippines. U.S. troops land in Cuba. U.S. forces defeat the Spanish at the Battle of San Juan Heights. U.S. forces destroy the Spanish Fleet off Santiago Bay, Cuba.