Atrocities of the Spanish-American War

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The atrocities of the Spanish American War were stories about the Spanish in regards to the maltreatment of the citizens of Cuba, a colony of Spain. The U.S. was flooded with these stories in the period leading up to the Spanish American war and played a vital role in the U.S. coming to the aid of the Cuban citizens. Some of these atrocities were loosely based on facts and others were complete fiction created by their authors. There were forces with in the United States that felt they could benefit from a war between the U.S. and Spain on the island of Cuba and bolstered the sensationalism of the stories to highlight the atrocities committed by the Spanish.

William Randolph Hearst, the owner of The New York Journal wanted a war with Spain to help increase newspaper sales as he was involved with a circulation war with Joseph Pulitzer of the New York World. Others such as Theodore Roosevelt