How Propaganda Affected American People in Different Sections of the Country During the Spanish-American War

The press has always been a quintessential part of passing information in America. Newspapers, magazines and other publications have had an influence on many major occurrences in American history, and more often than not had a direct affect on how Americans reacted to certain events. Once journalists realized what they could influence simply by writing about fictional things as fact, they inadvertently began Yellow Journalism, a type of propaganda that focused mainly on political schemes and international issues. In America, specifically during the Spanish American war the people in rural areas such as the West Coast of the country weren't affected by Yellow journalism as much as the people who lived on the East Coast, because the people in the more rural areas were less exposed to the propaganda and it didn't influence their political views. The people on the East Coast encountered it several times a day, and as a result their political views were influenced by the propaganda. This was the eventual cause of the Spanish-American War because the American people, the majority of whom lived on the East Coast, pressed President McKinley to start the war with the Spaniards based on the information they had read in their Newspapers.

Newspapers in certain areas, such as the west, and in other newer portions of America were often small weekly newspapers that were often started to create a sense of community within the new settlements. "A town's success in attracting settlers assured the success of local merchants as well as the newspaper. In fact, most western newspapers were nonpartisan, at least until someone started a competitor in the same or nearby community, in which case the new editor might attempt to differentiate his newspaper through political orientation." (Smythe 31) Newspapers in the cities however did not need to build a sense of community, or attract people so they simply reported the news. As a result propaganda, or Yellow Journalism which was its common name during the Spanish-American war, was rampant in the late 1890's. The two newspapers on the East Coast, which were most prominent as Yellow Journalistic papers, were William Randolph Hearst's New York Journal and Joseph Pulitzer's World. Those papers, among others, were the first to begin publishing items that would make the possibility of war seem eminent. Most newspapers after the explosion of the Maine many experts were recorded saying that there were multiple reasons as to why the boat could have exploded. "There are many things which might have attributed to the destruction of the vessel. For instance are in the coal bunkers where they abutted against the magazine might have heated the partitions sufficiently to explodes the powder in the magazine."(Post 1) Yet in Hearst's paper he pronounced that a Spaniard had destroyed the ship, and even went so far as to advertise a reward for the capture of the person who had destroyed the vessel. "The Journal offers $50,000 reward for the conviction of the criminals who sent 285 American Sailors to their death. Naval officers unanimous that the ship was destroyed on purpose." (Cohen 35) He published his claims despite the fact that many Naval experts claimed that the explosion had simply been a defect in the engine, or something that had gone wrong in the boat. The only reason Hearst could even control the people's beliefs about what happened to the Maine, was because the government officials could not actually figure out what had happened, and their explanations did not provide the people of the cities with the details they required which caused many of them to turn to yellow journalism for answers.

At the same time the people in rural areas of the country saw the Maine's explosion as a freak accident, and vehemently accepted the proof that the government officials offered them. They saw yellow journalism as an evil that caused mass panic and used any means to sell a single paper. Many newspapers on the west coast wrote exposes on yellow journalism, which showed the lengths the yellow journals would go to for a story. "As a sample of the methods of the irresponsible and mendacious press that yells and is yellow, it is worth while to glance at the way the New York Journal...the map had been doctored just as one might anticipate." (Times 6) The West Coast journalists frequently published articles to that affect and often mocked the East Coast papers for letting yellow journalism progress to the point at which it overshadowed fact. Although the Yellow Journals controlled most of the East coast in the months before the Spanish American war, there were still a few residents who did not approve of the propaganda and its purpose. Yet those people rarely spoke out, so there are very few examples of Eastern outrage caused by the propaganda. "These publications can hardly be considered in the light of newspapers, as they are too undignified and much to unreliable to fill that important office." (Halock 5) Within the few that can be found, the people give a detailed description as to why they do not approve of yellow journalism and why they believe that was destroying the integrity of journalism.

In the days leading up to the declaration of war against the Spanish many government officials believed that the country would not go to war because they saw it as a waste of time. Yet many Americans saw the war as the opportune time to have the Spanish make reparations for the destruction of the Maine. Those Americans saw the possibility of a war as revenge for what they thought to be the murder of over two hundred American sailors by the Spaniards. Some of the survivors of the Maine's explosion had the chance to speak to the people after they had recovered. Many of them were advocates for war, and often spoke of the possibility that America would go to war with Spain. "'I have not come to talk of war, but if war comes in a few days or a few weeks, the present crisis has proved that it will find us a united people, and the only contest will be as to who can carry the flag farthest and fastest.' A zealot in the crowd shouted, 'You can act pretty quick.' Another joined in, 'War! Fight!' The cheering drowned out all other responses." (Rosenfeld 11) Most of the people who were affected by the propaganda were advocates for the war and began turning their frustrations to McKinley and the Congressmen, who before the interference of the people were determined not to go to war with Spain. The Senate sided with the President and wanted to give the Spanish another chance, but the House of Representatives voted for war. The vote was then passed to Congress who spent several days deliberating, the Spanish were angered at the amount of time Congress took to decide their position, and began to publish articles in their papers about the state of America. "'The Congressional debates prove President McKinley's tight position, and it is still doubtful whether he will succeed in controlling the warlike elements in America.'" (Rosenfeld 12) The Spaniards claims only angered the American people more, and caused them to push for war against Spain with renewed fervor, and in order to keep the people happy, congress then declared war by a quasi unanimous vote Yet there were still those that vehemently opposed the war, and they made their stance known by writing sermons or using other means to state how they felt. "'There has been a great deal of foolish war talk' he declared, "and of war talk worse far than foolish criminal and wicked. 'Remember the Maine' is after all only a cry for vengeance.'" (Times2 12)

The influence of propaganda was the eventual cause of the Spanish American war; it had a larger affect that gave each part of the country a different viewpoint. It also changed the peoples political views based on where they lived and what media they were exposed to. On the East Coast yellow journalism was a way to influence the peoples political views, yet in more rural areas of the country it just proved to the people that much of what the journalists on the East Coast wrote was untrue. Despite all that, yellow journalism has had a lasting affect on how journalists use methods to skew public opinion, using common information but emphasizing points by changing fonts, headings and context. This is still rampant today within the reporting of celebrity gossip and also in mainstream newspapers.

Annotated Bibliography

Books

1. Smythe, Ted Curtis. 2003, The Gilded Age Press, 1865-1900. Westport, CT: Praeger

This book provided me with many views of journalism in America. It shows the difference between rural and regional journalism. It also shows how Yellow journalism affected the country on a wider scale.

2. N/A. 1898. "Views of Naval Experts" The Washington Post 1: Feb 17

This article gave me insight as to what the experts of the time actually said caused the explosion of the Maine. It showed that despite the claims expressed by the yellow journals there was a plausible explanation to the explosion.

3. Halock, W.W 1898 "Letters from the People" New York Times. 5: Mar 28

It showed the perspective of the people who lived on the East Coast. W.W. Halock sent in the article from that selection which I found most prominent. He showed another perspective of the people who lived on the East Coast that did not employ yellow journalism as a viable source for information.

4. N/A. 1898. "More Yellow Journalism" Los Angeles Times. 6: Mar 1

This article showed what the people on the West Coast thought of the influence of propaganda on the political views of people of the East Coast. It presented information that proved to the public that much of the information presented by yellow journalism was untrue.

5. Cohen, Daniel. 2003 Yellow Journalism: Scandal, Sensationalism, and Gossip in the Media, Brookfeild, CT: Twenty-First Century Books

This book shows how Yellow journalism has changed the country since its creation and it showed pieces of some of the yellow journals from the 1890's. It aided me in finding quotes from William Randolph Hearst's New York Journal and provided me with a lot of the information I needed on the subject.

6. N/A 1898 "The Ethics of War" The New York Times. 12: May 9

This article showed me how the people reacted to the war once it had been declared and after their panic had dissipated. It also shows how the peoples views were constantly changing and growing.

7. Rosenfeld, Harvey. 2000 Diary of a Dirty Little War: The Spanish American War of 1898, Westport CT: Praeger Publishers

This book helped me find out what happened before the war began, it was an account of the Spanish American war that had been written as a diary they gave details as to the process that Congress went through to declare the Spanish-American War

Internet

1. "Questia- The online Library of Books and Journals." Ron Canion, May 20 2007, used Questia to find the books I used for this paper. It is a valuable resource and it made it easier for me to find the sources I needed.

2. "Historical Newspapers" May 20, 2007. hn. used the Historical newspapers site to find all of the newspaper articles I cited in this paper. It is another valuable resource and it made it easier for me to find out what people thought during the Spanish-American War.

A/N: This was my final project for War & Conflict this year...I got an A and I loved writing it, hope you enjoyed it!