USS Maine Explosion and the Spanish-American War

The sinking of USS Maine took place on February 15, 1898, and contributed to the outbreak of the Spanish-American War that April. After years of unrest in Cuba, tensions began to re-escalate in the 1890s. Seeking to calm the American public, which had been calling for intervention, and to protect business interests, President William McKinley ordered the US Navy to dispatch a warship to Havana. Arriving in January 1898, USS Maine sank on February 15 after an explosion tore through the ship. Initial reports concluded that Maine had been sunk by a naval mine. Sparking a wave of outrage across the United States, the loss of the ship helped push the nation towards war. Though a later report in 1911 also concluded that a mine caused the explosion, some began to believe that it was the result of a coal dust fire. A subsequent investigation in 1974 also favored the coal dust theory though its findings have been contested. Background Since the late 1860s, efforts had been underway in Cuba to end Spanish colonial rule. In 1868, the Cubans began a ten-year rebellion against their Spanish overlords. Though it was crushed in 1878, the war had generated widespread support for the Cuban cause in the United States. Seventeen years later, in 1895, the Cubans again rose up in the revolution. To combat this, the Spanish government dispatched General Valeriano Weyler y Nicolau to crush the rebels. Arriving in Cuba, Weyler began a brutal campaign against the Cuban people which involved the use of concentration camps in rebellious provinces. This approach led to the death of over 100,000 Cubans and Weyler was promptly nicknamed the Butcher by the American press. Stories of atrocities in Cuban were played up by the yellow press, and the public put increasing pressure on Presidents Grover Cleveland and William McKinley to intervene. Working through diplomatic channels, McKinley was able to defuse the situation and Weyler was recalled to Spain in late 1897. The following January, supporters of Weyler began a series of riots in Havana. Concerned for American citizens and business interests in the area, McKinley elected to send a warship to the city. Arriving in Havana After discussing this course of action with the Spanish and receiving their blessing, McKinley passed his request to the US Navy. To fulfill the presidents orders, the second-class battleship USS Maine was detached from the North Atlantic Squadron at Key West on January 24, 1898. Commissioned in 1895, Maine possessed four 10 guns and was capable of steaming at 17 knots. With a crew of 354, Maine had spent the entirety of its brief career operating along the eastern seaboard. Commanded by Captain Charles Sigsbee, Maine entered Havana harbor on January 25, 1898. USS Maine entering Havana harbor, January 1898. US Department of Defense Anchoring in the center of the harbor, Maine was afforded the usual courtesies by the Spanish authorities. Though the arrival of Maine had a calming effect on the situation in the city, the Spanish remained wary of American intentions. Wishing to prevent a possible incident involving his men, Sigsbee restricted them to the ship and no liberty was given. In the days after Maines arrival, Sigsbee met regularly with the US Consul, Fitzhugh Lee. Discussing the state of affairs on the island, they both recommended that another ship be sent when it was time for Maine to depart. Rear Admiral Charles D. Sigsbee. US Naval History and Heritage Command Loss of Maine At 9:40 on the evening of February 15, the harbor was lit by a massive explosion that ripped through the forward section of Maine as five tons of powder for the ships guns detonated. Destroying the forward third of the ship, Maine sank into the harbor. Immediately, assistance came from the American steamer City of Washington and the Spanish cruiser Alfonso XII, with boats circling the burning remains of the battleship to collect the survivors. All told, 252 were killed in the blast, with another eight dying ashore in the days that followed. Investigation Throughout the ordeal, the Spanish showed great compassion for the injured and respect for the dead American sailors. Their behavior led Sigsbee to inform the Navy Department that public opinion should be suspended until further report, as he felt that the Spanish were not involved in the sinking of his ship. To investigate the loss of Maine, the Navy swiftly formed a board of inquiry. Due to the state of the wreck and a lack of expertise, their investigation was not as thorough as subsequent efforts. On March 28, the board announced that the ship had been sunk by a naval mine. The boards finding unleashed a wave of public outrage across the United States and fueled calls for war. While not the cause of the Spanish-American War, shouts of Remember the Maine! served to accelerate the approaching diplomatic impasse over Cuba. On April 11, McKinley asked Congress for permission to intervene in Cuba and ten days later ordered a naval blockade of the island. This final step led to Spain declaring war on April 23, with the United States following suit on the 25th. Aftermath In 1911, a second inquiry was made into the sinking of Maine following a request to remove the wreck from the harbor. Constructing a cofferdam around the ships remains, the salvage effort permitted investigators to probe the wreck. Examining the bottom hull plates around the forward reserve magazine, investigators found that they were bent inward and back. Using this information they again concluded that a mine had been detonated under the ship. While accepted by the Navy, the boards findings were disputed by experts in the field, some of whom put forward a theory that the combustion of coal dust in a bunker adjacent to the magazine had sparked the explosion. Workers preparing to raise the wreck of USS Maine, 1910. US Naval History and Heritage Command The case of USS Maine was reopened in 1974, by Admiral Hyman G. Rickover who believed that modern science might be able to provide an answer to the ships loss. After consulting experts and reexamining the documents from the first two investigations, Rickover and his team concluded that the damage was inconsistent with that caused by a mine. Rickover stated that the most likely cause was a coal dust fire. In the years after Rickovers report, his findings have been disputed and to this day there has been no final answer as to what caused the explosion.

Korda Essay - 795 Words

The history of Spanish culture and their historic events have been captured through art for centuries. Photography is one form of art that has documented and symbolized historic events that are still used today as historical documents. A Cuban photographer, Alberto Diaz Gutierrez, also known as Alberto Korda, famously documented the events of the Cuban Revolution. Alberto Korda became the world’s most famous Cuban photographer for his photography, documenting history of the revolution with over 55,000 revolutionary themed photographs. Korda was born in Havana Cuba in 1928. He taught himself about photography with his father’s camera, leading to capturing some of the world’s most famous photographs known today. Korda’s career began†¦show more content†¦From then on, Korda became Castro’s personal photographer; following Castro wherever the revolution took him Korda went, traveling throughout Cuba and overseas. On an assignment after the guerrillas defeated dictator Fulgencia Batista, Korda encountered such extreme poverty that changed his life, transforming himself to become a part of the revolutionary cause. Korda said, â€Å"Nearing 30, I was heading toward a frivolous life when an exceptional event transformed my life: The Cuban Revolution. It was at this time that I took this photo of a little girl, who was clutching a piece of wood for a doll. I came to understand that it was worth dedicating my work to a revolution which aimed to remove these inequalities.† The photograph was named La Nina de la Muneca de Palo. One of the images that Korda captured of the leaders involved was of Fidel and Nikita Khrushchev, illustrating the differences in each of them that were obvious in their individual politics. He continued to follow the new Cuban leaders wherever the revolution took them, Korda followed. Fidel returned to Sierra Maestra, in 1959, where the attacks of Fulgencio Batista regime began. Korda would always get himself in front of the uprisings Fidel was leading in order to get the photographs he wanted. Whenever Korda was return home, he would develop the documentary images and giveShow MoreRelatedCase Analysis : Korda V Australian Executor Trustees ( Sa ) Ltd1499 Words   |  6 PagesINTRODUCTION In Korda v Australian Executor Trustees (SA) Ltd , the High Court unanimously allowed an appeal and overturned the Victorian Supreme Court of Appeal decision finding that the proceeds of a forestry investment scheme were not subject to an express trust for the investors by the operators of the scheme. BACKGROUND SEAS Sapfor Forests Pty Ltd (â€Å"the Forest Company†) acquired, developed and managed timber plantations. The trees were felled, milled, marketed and sold by SEAS Sapfor HarvestingRead MoreRobert E. Lee s Life2092 Words   |  9 PagesLegend of Robert E. 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Private and Public Speech for Vygotsky-myassignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about thePrivate and Public Speech for Vygotsky. Answer: Vygotsky recognizes language as one of the most important tool that helps in cognitive development. Vygotsky proposed use of the language to equip child with thinking strategies since it is linked with culture and thought. Though language and though are initially separate system, the two merges when child is three years old thus producing verbal thought1. Private speech refers to the speech spoken by the child between age of 1 to 7 to oneself for communication. The children are known speak to themselves that help them gain cognitive and communication skills as they develop. The importance of egocentric speech is that it helps child to monitor, plan, regulate and develop self-guidance skills1. Vygotsky reported positive correlation between the childs private and public speech and their task performance and achievement. However, the private speech diminishes as the child grows1. Factors which influence childrens emotional and psychological development Environmental risk factors Emotional and psychological development of a child is highly influenced by environmental risk factors which in most cases cannot be avoided. Such factors include; living in an unsafe community-this is a community where the child is exposed to risks such as criminal activities, drug abuse and even early exposure to sexual activities such an environment impacts negatively on the growth of a child. For example, in the case of criminal activities the child grows up knowing that criminal offenses are normal in any set up and they are likely to pick up such behaviours. They eventually end up with an emotional and psychological perspective of picking up such characters and they appear normal to them[1]. With drug abuse, once exposed early to such activities the child ends up abusing drugs as well and its evident that drugs such as bhang makes a child to fail in controlling their emotions and they also get affected psychologically. With a low quality child care set up children are left on th eir own with less moral guidance from their seniors and they pick up characters such as theft, use of abusive language and exposure to sexual acts which are unknown to their parents and in most cases are detrimental to their psychological and emotional development. Family risk factors; these may include maternal depression which directly affects a childs character. Children tend to learn and pick characters from their mothers and in the event that a mother is under repeated cycles of depression the child is likely to grow up depressed as well. Such children often fail to develop emotional attachment to those around them since they develop a feeling of betrayal by those causing their mother depression. A depressed child does not function well emotionally. They find it hard to put their emotions in check and cannot tackle issues in the right way. Growing up with a depressed mother may cause a child suicidal thoughts since they grow up not seeing their mothers happy most of the times[2]. This in the end damages them psychologically. With parental substance abuse, such as alcohol abuse, the child is exposed to an environment in which they grow up not seeing their parents functioning well. In a substance abuse environment there are often cases of fights between parents, negligence of parental duties such as food and medical care. In such a setup, the child ends up learning things on their own, taking up responsibilities from tender ages and so they miss out on being children like their peers. Its very hard for a child to get the right emotional and psychological development because such environments are always full of violence among parents and sexual abuse as well. With family violence either from parents or elderly siblings, the childs emotional development is affected in a big way. Violent family results to the child living in fear not really knowing what to expect next. They also end up losing love and trust from the abusive or violent family member[3]. The child will grow up with the notion that thats how the society is meant to be and so to them violent is normal. Such children end up being violent even when grown up and take this behaviour to their families. It ends up being a vicious cycle from generation to generation. Family poverty implies that the child may grow up lacking some of the basic needs and even luxuries that other children in the society enjoy. Such an environment impacts negatively on the emotional development of the child. The child grows up feeling of less importance in the society compared to other children in the society that are not affected by poverty. Within child risk factors; these are the characters of the child such as fussy temperament which in most cases makes the child unable to deal and control their emotions. Such children are quick to react to issues and in most cases they pick up violent characters[4]. Developmental delay causes a child to act less of their age, they find it hard to do tasks that their peers do with a lot of ease. This affects their emotional and psychological development as they always feel left out. Developmental delay is more evident in serious health cases such as autistic children whose mental development is often delayed leading to them being incapacitated in many ways and they cannot interact with their peers well. Three factors, which enhance the development of self-esteem and self-identity Many factors often influence the development of self-esteem and identity in individuals. In children society, media and family and friends are the key factors that can either build or bring them down. Society-pressure from society contributes a lot to low self-esteem because children are pressured to live and dress in a certain way and have only certain jobs when they grow up. Such pressures weigh on children leading to emotional despair. Media-children are obsessed with media which undermines emotional development in a healthy way. With ready access to social media, children are influenced to look and act like celebrities and public figures. It thus becomes overwhelming for children who are struggling with identity issues[5]. Friends and family-these are the people a child spends most of their times with and thus influence their self-esteem. Friends can assist one to develop their self-image or bring them down. To build them up, some people humiliate others with or without an awareness of the impacts of their actions. A profound effect on ones self esteem is gotten from the family they grow up with or come home to on a daily basis. A family that works in unity by building each other up contributes to healthy esteem in the young ones growing amidst them. Developmental tasks linked to the core principles of child development Childrens development is multidimensional A child is expected to grow in all spheres of life so as to achieve the roles of growth in life. One action in the developmental stages is likely to affect the child in multiple ways. Once a child has been successfully trained in the early stages of development the rest becomes gravy and falls in place automatically[6]. It entails biological dimensions where a child receives comfort while upset from their mother, cognitive dimensions that may involve changes in a childs language and intelligence and socio-emotional dimensions which involves changes in how a child relates with others as they grow. Childrens development occurs in a predictable sequence A child develops in a way that is quite predictable provided they do not have medical complications[7]. Any normal chills will go through a series of steps from one stage to adult hood without skipping any process. They may start of by learning things from their caregivers, develop murmurs and slowly speak up word by word. In normally developing children some things are taken as child development milestones. Such observations predate written language and spoken language[8]. For as long as children have been in existence, adults have observed children developing in some sequential ways and no stage is skipped. Childrens development depends on the interplay between genes and environment From science its evident that environment and genes play important roles in a childs development. They shape human development in a huge way[9]. There is a misconception that genes are set in stones but research indicates that the early experiences determine the expression of genes and how they are turned on and off and the expression of some. For healthy development of all body organs in a child including brains the extent of how genes are activated to perform certain roles matters a lot. The early life experiences by children play important roles in the brain development[10]. Care givers should therefore ensure that children have good growth promoting early life expediencies so as to boost their ability of becoming healthy and productive members in their societies[11]. Bibliography Brownell, Kopp, Socioemotional development in the toddler years (2010). Burke, "Self-esteem: Why?; Why not?", (2008) Homiletic and Pastoral Review, New York. Ferguson, Genetic contributions to antisocial personality and behavior: A meta-analytic review from an evolutionary perspective (2010). The Journal of Social Psychology, 160 KENPRO, Child Development Theories (2010). KENPRO Online Papers Portal. Available online at www.kenpro.org/papers King, Keyes, Malone, Elkins, Legrand, Iacono and McGue, Parental alcohol dependence and the transmission of adolescent behavioral disinhibition: a study of adoptive and non?adoptive families (2009). Addiction, 578 Kochanska, Aksan and Joy, Childrens fearfulness as a moderator of parenting in early socialization: Two longitudinal studies. (2007). Developmental Psychology, 43(1), 222237. Maslow, Motivation and personality (1970). 2nd ed. New York: Harper ow, Publishers. Olson, Russell, Fazio, and Anthony Hermann. Reporting Tendencies Underlie Discrepancies Between Implicit and Explicit Measures of Self-Esteem (2007). Psychological Science 287 Plomin, Commentary: Missing heritability, polygenic scores, and geneenvironment correlation (2013). Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 1147 Rueda Rothbart The influence of temperament on the development of coping: The role of maturation and experience (2009). New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 19.

Rosa Parks Essays - Montgomery Bus Boycott, Community Organizing

Rosa Parks Rosa Parks is famous for a lot of things. But, she is best known for her civil rights action. This happen in December 1,1955 Montgomery, Alabama bus system. She refused to give up her sit to a white passenger on the bus. She was arrested for violating a law that whites and blacks sit in separate sit in separate rows. She refused to give up her sit when a white man wished to sit there. The front was for whites only. The law says that blacks have to leave there sits in the next when all seats in the front were taken and whites still wanted seats. Before Rosa Parks was arrest, Montgomery's black leaders had been discussing about the city bus. Parks allowed the leaders to use her arrest to speak a boycott of the bus system. Martin Luther king ,Jr. then was a Baptist minister in Montgomery, then was chosen as president. For 382 days, from 12/5/1955 to 12/20/1956 thousands of blacks refused to ride the buses. The boycott ended when the U.S. Supreme Court declared segregated seating on the city's buses unconstitutional. The success encouraged other mass protests demanding civil rights for blacks. Rosa Parks held a variety of jobs and, in 1943. She became one of the first woman to join the Advancement of Colored People(NNCP). She severed as the organizations secretary from 1943 to 1956. Parks lost her job as a seamstress as a result of the Montgomery boycott. She and her family moved to Detroit in 1957. Where she worked for many years for Congressman John Conyers. She founded the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development to offer guidance to young African Americans in preparation for leader ship and careers. 1979, she won a Medal for her work in civil rights. She wrote an autobiography. Today, most of the people know her as a civil right action leader but, there is more then that one thing that she accomplished. Also, there is a Boulevard name after her in Detroit, it says "ROSA PARKS BLVD." Parks had changed a lot of peoples lives and also the laws. She says that she is glad that there are no signs on the public water fountains saying "Colored" and "White." She said, "Some of the white people's hearts have not been changed", that is why she's sad. After finding so many information about Rosa Parks, I think she is a real hero to this country. Also, I really respect her about what she did. She absolutely deserved to be a famous woman.