Thursday, December 22, 2016

LAD #22: President McKinley's War Message













FDR's Infamy speech is related to McKinley's War Message because both times Presidents were asking for more Congress to allow them to declare war.



President McKinley's War Message Summary: There was a bloody war occurring in Cuba against the Spanish and the US was sick of it so they demanded that the Spanish stop the fighting. The Spanish accepted these demands. McKinley wanted all the conflict in Cuba to stop and he told Congress to act on it. On April 19, Congress adopted a joint resolution which plunged the US into war on the side of Cuba. 

It was his duty to inform the Congress on the state of relations of the United States with Spain and of the warfare in Cuba. The current revolution is a build-up of other similar insurrections which have occurred in Cuba against Spain. Our trade has suffered do to it and much of the capital invested in Cuba has been lost. The war in Cuba is of the sort where neither side looks as they will win or lose until the physical exhaustion of one or both is achieved. In this regard being idle and issuing a proclamation of neutrality would be a bad idea. There remain forms of intervention, however, such as impartial neutrality by imposing a rational compromise between the contestants, or as the active ally of the one party or another. The first one would be helpful in keeping friendly relations with both Cuba and Spain, yet the second one may be more useful in actually causing eventual peace and ending all conflict. He goes on to list all the reasons why the second option is possible and may be necessary. One of the important reasons he list is that the battleship Maine was destroyed by an external submarine which proves the amount of violence in Cuba. In the name of humanity, in the name of civilization, in behalf of endangered American interests which give use the right and duty to speak and to act, the war in Cuba must stop. He then asks the Congress to allow hi to take measures to assure end the hostilities and assure peace on Cuba. 

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