May Be a Spanish Trick [front page]
- Title:
- May Be a Spanish Trick [front page]
- Alternate Title:
- May Be a Spanish Trick [front page]
- Collection:
- Persuasive Maps: PJ Mode Collection
- Creator:
- Boston Sunday Journal
- Date:
- 1898
- Posted Date:
- 2024-04-25
- ID Number:
- 2540.01
- File Name:
- PJM_2540_01.jpg
- Style/Period:
- 1870 - 1899
- Subject:
- Spanish-American War
- Measurement:
- 59 x 39 page (centimeters, height x width)
- Notes:
- One of the best known stories in the history of American journalism involves the artist Frederick Remington, dispatched in 1898 by press lord William Randolph Hearst to provide illustrations of the Cuban revolution against Spain. When Remington wired Hearst suggesting he return because "There is no trouble here. There will be no war," Hearst replied: "Please remain. You furnish the pictures, and I'll furnish the war." While historians doubt this exchange ever occurred (see, e.g., Campbell 2001, ch. 3), it nevertheless reflects the significant role that the U.S. press played in stimulating popular interest and encouragement for the Spanish-American war.
On February 15, 1898, the U.S. Navy cruiser Maine - sent to Cuba to protect Americans - suddenly exploded and sank in Havana harbor, killing more than 250 servicemen. On March 28, the Navy announced the result of its investigation: that the ship's powder magazine had been ignited by an external explosion. Although this conclusion is still debated today, at the time it fueled an already existing popular belief that Spain was responsible, making war almost inevitable.
This copy of the Boston Sunday Journal from April 3, 1898, illustrates the war fever and fear sweeping the country, complete with provocative maps. Apart from advertisements, the entire front page (ID #2540.01) is devoted to the coming war. The headline warns of a possible "Spanish Trick - The Torpedo Fleet Said to Be at Cape de Verde." There is a large illustration of six major ships in the American "Flying Squadron at Hampton Roads, the defence of the North Atlantic Coast." A "Crisis News Index" lists articles on eight different aspects of the situation, including "7. New England's moves" to protect itself from the Spanish. An article on "The First Naval Battle" reports the Navy Department's view "that the first encounter of modern fleets under modern conditions will take place in waters not far from the Port of San Juan."
Page 2 of the newspaper (ID #2540.02) features "The Boston Journal's Map of the Danger Field. Showing the Spanish Torpedo Flotilla and the Fighting Squadron, Together With the Possible Ways of Their Being Met by the United States Flying Squadron or the Southern Fleet." Major ships are pictured and named, along with their tracks to a presumed showdown off Puerto Rico.
Finally, page 10 of the newspaper (ID #2540.03) is dominated by a large map of "Defences on the Atlantic Coast. The Number, Size and Kind of Guns Which Protect the Cities." Readers are assured that "Seaboard Will Be Almost Impregnable When the Work Is Completed." Along the coast, the number and type of guns and mortars are listed for each of many forts from Louisiana to the Gulf Coast of Florida, and from the Florida Keys north to Portland Maine.
The most striking feature of this map is three long lines of outsized soldiers pictured spread across the entire eastern U.S., presumably waiting to repel invaders. The first and longest line extends from Pensacola Florida northeast to the Maine border with Canada. The two parallel rows behind it each extend from Louisiana to Lake Erie. The accompanying article "authoritatively" reports that the government believes the country "will shortly . . . be able to hold her own with any foe that may attack us."
The war began on April 21, not in Puerto Rico but with a U.S. naval blockade of Cuba, followed soon after by conflict in The Philippines and Puerto Rico. The American victory was complete ten weeks later, following the destruction of two Spanish fleets - one in Santiago de Cuba and the other in Manila Bay - by superior U.S. naval forces.
Cornell University Library is pleased to present this digital collection of Persuasive Maps, the originals of which have been collected and described by the private collector PJ Mode. The descriptive information in the “Collector’s Notes” has been supplied by Mr. Mode and does not necessarily reflect the views of Cornell University. - Source:
- Boston Sunday Journal, April 3, 1898.
- Format:
- Image
- Rights:
- For important information about copyright and use, see http://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/copyright.