My Birthday Article

On February 15, 1986, I, Heather Sue Jae, was born. So what, right? Well there is much more significance to this date than just me coming into the world. This was the day Americans began to fear the Spanish. This day is another day, similar, but much smaller, than the attack of Pearl Harbor. This is the day that lead to the beginning of the Spanish-American War. This is the day, in 1897; the USS Maine sank to the ocean floor, destroying lives and the security of the American people.

The USS Maine's sinking did not happen in the middle of battle as many other ships before and after it. Instead, it was an unknown and random explosion that destroyed this battle ship in a harbor in Havana, Cuba. This catastrophic explosion killed over half of the 354 men aboard the USS Maine. Since this "attack" occurred in Cuba, it caused Americans to become very hostile towards the all Spanish countries in the south. As a result, the United States and Spain became enemies and signed a declaration of war. This event is best known as the start of the Spanish-American War.

The United States felt threatened by Cuba from this date on and so set up troops and weapons along the Southern border of the United States for protection. The is no real evidence of anyone in Cuba causing the destruction of the USS Maine, but people talked, as they still do, and as a result, such rumors of Cuba planting the mine aboard the Maine began to be seen as reality all over the United States. There were already a few Americans troops in Cuba at the time, which is why the USS Maine was there in the first place, to protect the soldiers, and after the potential "sabotage" of Cuba on the United States, US troops began forming riots and causing more trouble. If all of this had been resolved before hand, the Spanish-American War may have never started, but never the less, it did.

The Spanish-American War is known for all of this conflict and distrust, but also for a few technical facts as well. This was the first war to ever be video-taped. The "Edison Manufacturing company" sent many different camera men to record the fights. The fights could then be played back after people got the hang of this technology and you later generations were able to see visual evidence of what occurred. This was a break way for the soldiers and generals, as well, who could now look back and see what mistakes were made and what could be done in the future to correct them. One of the camera-men, William Playley, made a film of the war titled, "Burial of the Maine Victims," on March 17, 1898, later to be my sister's birthday in 1988.

This is a day people will always remember and always have remembered as the day the USS Maine was sabotaged. It changed the lives of hundreds of men and their families back home in the United States. This one event eventually caused a war that would kill even hundreds more.
Before knowing this, February 15th was just birthday, the day I was born, but now I know it is that and so much more.

Location of Article: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/feb15.html