insisting it was an internal explosion. But in the spring of 1898, what rang in the politicians' ears was a war cry: "Remember the Maine." The Saturday Evening Post of 7 June 1898 said, "It is a newspaper-made war, the first, though probably not the last. " Congress responded with an emergency bill appropriating $50 million for military spending, including three new battleships for the Navy. T he momentum now was irreversible, and on 26 April 1898, President McKinley signed the declaration of war against Spain.
A Symbiotic Combination One of rhe interesting aspects of the war with Spain involves two very different personalities, Teddy Roosevelt and A. T. Mahan. Roosevelt was brash, physical and action-oriented. Mahan , who retired as a rear admiral, was intellectual and scholarly. T he comb ination was more than the sum of its parts. Roosevelt and the civi lian leadership of the government considered Mahan a leading source for th eir military advice, and Mahan and the Navy looked to Roosevelt fo r political leverage. Mahan had delivered the rationale for a new navy m The Influence of Sea Power
upon History. It was built around steamdriven, armored battleships operati ng within a battle fleet, and was in many respects modeled after the British Royal Navy. Beyond the stature he gained with his book, Mahan was a faculty member of the Naval War College, and between 1886 and 1889 he was president of that institution. His opinions were highly regarded,
An hour or two at Manila, an hour or two at Santiago, and the maps of the world were changed. both with in the Navy and among the nation's political leadership, and in 1898 he was recalled to active duty to serve on the Nava l War Board. There he exercised direct influence on the US Navy's actions during the war. Roosevelt saw the US Navy in pragmatic terms. Ir was an instrument for action. The point th at naval forces usually can be deployed more quickly than armies was not lost on him. W hen Maine was sunk, he said that he hoped "President
McKin ley would order the fleet to Havana tomorrow." As it turn ed out, during a brief period while he was temporari ly empowered to act for the absent Secretary of the Navy, Roosevelt had-and took advantage of-an opportunity to accelerate events leading up to Battl e of Manila Bay.
The Philippine Action Events in the Pacific had been simm ering for some time. Japan was emerging as a naval presence that would influence the balance of power. T here was instability on Samoa. With support from American representatives in the islands, the monarchy in H awaii was overthrown in 1893. T he latter event raised a question of which nati on would take advantage of the situatio n, and it was clear that both G reat Britain and Germany were eyein g th e region with great interest. One ofMahan's reco mmendations was that Spain be attacked through her Philippines possession, and Roosevelt agreed. In fact, Roosevelt had been instrumental in the appointment of Commodore Geo rge Dewey-a leader known for aggressive tactics-as Co mmander-in-Chief of the US Asiatic Squadron. Dewey moved his squad-
Hawaii Falls Victim to the Spanish-American War The annexation ofHawaii had Long been a goalfor US expansionists. The Spanish-American War gave them a convenient, though flimsy, excuse to finaf/,y take control of the island chain. No Spanish fleet threatened American interests there in mid-Pacific, but the US, flush with new-found military and commercial strength, simp/,y took over. The story ofthe demise of the Hawaiian royal fami/,y is of particular relevance to NMHS, for the Society was founded to save the American three-masted bark Kaiulani, named byArthur Sewallfor Princess Kaiulani, who never became queen. As E. Victoria Lomaugh wrote in Sea History 9 (Autumn 1977): King Kalakaua had died in 1890, and his sister [Liliuokalani] had taken over the throne. But early in 1893 she was deposed, the monarchy abrogated, and a provisional government created . Kaiulani [the queen's niece and heir apparent] issued a statement through the London press, which read in part: "I am coming to Washington to plead for my crown, my nation and my flag. Will not the great American people hear me?" And go to Washington she did, meeting President and Mrs. SEA HISTORY 86, AUTUMN 1998
Grover C level and and the cream ofWashington Society before returning to England to await news of her co untry's fare. America was captivated by the tall, graceful, intelligent young woman who, though scarcely out of her teens, argued h er cause so wel l. However, Hawaii's monarchy was doomed; in 1895, an unsuccessful attempt was made to overthrow the newly formed Republic of H awaii . The rebels were captured, and only by relinquishing al l claim to the throne was the former queen able to save her people from being put to death. Ir was an event that ensured the annexation of Hawaii to the United States three years later. . .. theSpanPrincess Kaiulani ish-American War being used as immediate pretext for the annexation under President McKinley, which the US C on gress under President Cleveland h ad twice refused. " T he following spring, Kaiulani died at the age of24. And in December, Arthur Sewal I, whose son Harold was Special Agent of the US in Hawaii, launched the bark Kaiulani into Maine's Kennebec River. Sin ce then, there has been a Kaiulani Sewall in each generation of the family, in memory of the tragic princess.
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