| Timeline for Spanish American War |
| 1868 |
| (10/10)
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Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, a Cuban planter, issued the Grito de Yara, The Cry of Yara, starting the war against Spanish rule in Cuba and initiating the Ten Years' War in Cuba (1868-1878). This independence movement served as the forerunner of the Spanish American War. (Digital History ID 1477)
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| 1890 |
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Alfred T. Mahan, President of the US Naval War College, publishes The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1600-1783 in which he advocates using the Caribbean Islands, Hawaii, and the Philippine Islands for "suitable naval stations" to protect U.S. commerce. Mahan also discusses the construction of a canal "through the Central-American Isthmus" to enable fleet movement from ocean to ocean and the building of "an armed navy" to protect shipping and industry interests. Read this book. (Digital History ID 1636)
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| 1892 |
| (01/05)
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José Julián Martí y Pérez, the son of poor Spanish immigrants, forms El Partido Revolucionario Cubano (Cuban Revolutionary party) to raise money and political support for Cuban exiles and to organize the independence movement. This Cuban political party began in New York City and Philadelphia and soon spread to Tampa and Key West, Florida. (Digital History ID 1553)
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| (07/06)
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José Rizal, an author and activist, is arrested after he creates La Liga Filipina, The Philippine League, a political action group that sought reforms in the Spanish administration of the Philippines by peaceful means. Rizal advocated achieving Philippine self-government peacefully through institutional reform rather than through violent revolution. He supported "violent means" as a last resort. Spanish officials exiled him to the island of Mindanao where he established a school and a hospital. (Digital History ID 1318)
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| (07/07)
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Andrés Bonifacio, a Filipino nationalist, formed the Katipunan, a secret fraternal brotherhood founded to bring about Filipino independence through armed revolution. Bonifacio advocated that only through force could the Philippines problem be resolved. The Katipunan replaced the peaceful civic association that Rizal had founded and operated as an alternative Filipino government complete with a president and cabinet. (Digital History ID 819)
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| 1895 |
| (06/12)
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U.S. President Cleveland issues proclamation of neutrality in the Cuban Insurrection despite many rallies held to protest the brutality of Spanish troops and pro-Cuban and anti-Spanish resolutions in Congress. (Digital History ID 1431)
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| 1896 |
| (02/16)
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This policy separated rural farmers from the rebels by moving them out of the countryside and into the cities and towns, fortifying these areas so that the rebels would no longer have a base of support. This concentration policy became known to American newspaper readers as "concentration camps." (Digital History ID 1486)
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| (04/06)
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Congress recognized Cuban belligerency with overwhelming passage of the joint John T. Morgan (Democrat, Alabama)/Donald Cameron (Republican, Pennsylvania)resolution calling for recognition of Cuban belligerency against Spain and Cuban independence. This resolution served notice to President Cleveland and Secretary of State Richard Olney of the congressional sentiment in support of the Cuban rebels and against Spain. (Digital History ID 1271)
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| (08/26)
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Grito de Balintawak, a proclamation issued by Andrés Bonifacio, leader of the Katipunan, begins the Philippine Revolution. When Bonifacio learned of the arrest of fellow Katipuñeros and the confiscation of weapons, he fled to the mountains and issued the proclamation. (Digital History ID 690)
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