1898: The Spanish-American War

So the Maine exploded and started folks into fits
--Though its boiler, not Spain, may have blown her to bits!
But great clamor was loose and stoked by the press:
That the treatment of Cuba was too cruel and grotesque.

Yes, this colonial isle and her hoary old master
Were scarred by rebellion and by looming disaster.
As fierce bands of
guerillas met Spain's brutal response,
The long and bloody affair passed all sniping and taunts.

Uncle Sam, meanwhile, was quite rarin' and ready
(Including a bear we'd soon get to call Teddy)
To show off its might and to let everyone learn
How this country had grown and could now the world turn!

And so Congress declared and quickly did pass
The Teller Amendment which said with great brass
That the Cubans are free and should forces be needed
The U.S. would march and would not be defeated.

And so in 1898 a new fracas kicked off
Though by the year's end, Spain said, "That's enough."
Not a fight, to be sure, with much dazzle or glory
But a
watershed still in the course of our story.

As this land set apart, a once distant nation
Was no longer aloof in some calm isolation.
For when rough riding men charged the hill at San Juan
A new era of muscle lit the century's dawn.

And Puerto Rico and Cuba and the far Phillipinnes
Were in America's hands to control by the strings.
Ah, but critics were many; some were quite famous,
-- Mark Twain was one who thought our empire heinous.

And being colonies of old, you'd think we'd think twice
About imperial rule and its givings toward vice.
But boldness now surged, like
Theodore Roosevelt:
A bully sign o' the times that a new hand was dealt.








Worksheet # 90
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