sample research questions about the sinking of uss maine

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History Resources

Remember the Maine, 1898

A spotlight on a primary source by harper's weekly.

The Harper’s Weekly article featured here represents a more balanced view of the event, noting:

the fate of the Maine will continue an unsolved mystery for historians to wrangle over. Meanwhile all that we shall positively know is that the explosion occurred forward, and hence that the seamen rather than the officers were the sufferers; that not more than 26 of the men remained uninjured; 57 being wounded and 246 killed, and that two of the 24 officers are certainly lost. If the disaster were the result of design and not of accident, it is considered probable that the blow would have been dealt the ship on the very spot where the explosion occurred—not because it would be more desirable to destroy the men than the officers, but because the magazine is always a preferable point of attack.

The cause of the Maine ’s sinking remains the subject of speculation. Suggestions have included an undetected fire in one of her coal bunkers, a naval mine, and sabotage to drive the US into a war with Spain.

A pdf of the article is available here .

Questions for discussion.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

Read the introduction and examine the four pages from Harper’s Weekly . Then apply your knowledge of American history to answer the following questions:

Note : It is beneficial for students to be familiar with the term “yellow press” and to have an understanding of the influence of Harper’s Weekly .

• Briefly explain what took place aboard the Maine .
• In the second paragraph of the Harper’s Weekly article, published a little over a week after the explosion aboard the Maine , it is noted that “the cause . . . is a mystery, the belief is growing that it was purely accidental.” The headline in Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World on February 17, two days after the explosion, was: “MAINE EXPLOSION CAUSED BY BOMB OR TORPEDO?” The headline in William Randolph Heart’s New York Journal of the same day was: “DESTRUCTION OF THE WAR SHIP MAINE WAS THE WORK OF AN ENEMY.” How did the Harper’s Weekly article differ from the headlines in the “yellow press” newspapers controlled by Hearst and Pulitzer?
• Why is the Harper’s Weekly article considered a more balanced view of the destruction of the Maine ?
• What role did the tragedy aboard the Maine play in the decision of the United States to go to war with Spain?

A printer-friendly version is available here .

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Alternative versions of assessment, opposition to the philippine-american war, the kkk in the 1870s, clay's american system, the rockefeller foundation, the role of women, mexican immigration in the 1920s, haitian revolution, united farm workers, women's liberation, explosion of the uss maine.

Like  Opposition to the Philippine-American War , this assessment gauges students’ ability to reason about how evidence supports a historical argument. Students must explain how a report by the Naval Court of Inquiry and a San Francisco newspaper article both support the conclusion that confusion surrounded the sinking of the USS  Maine  at the time.

Download Materials

Primary Sources: Major Events: USS Maine Explosion

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Online Sources: USS Maine Explosion

• "Shameful Treachery": Hearst’s Journal Blames Spain more... less... "On February 15, 1898, an explosion ripped through the American battleship Maine, sinking the ship and killing 260 sailors. Americans responded with outrage, assuming that Spain, which controlled Cuba as a colony, had sunk the ship. Two months later, the slogan "Remember the Maine" carried the U.S. into war with Spain. In the midst of the hysteria, few Americans paid much attention to the report issued two weeks before the U.S. entry into the war by a Court of Inquiry appointed by President McKinley. The report stated that the committee could not definitively assign blame to Spain for the sinking of the Maine. Many historians have focused on the role of the “yellow press” (sensationalist newspapers so named because they waged cutthroat circulation battles over comic strips like the popular “Yellow Kid”) in stirring up sentiment that propelled the U.S. into its first imperialist war. This editorial in William Randolph Hearst’s New York Journal, from February 17, 1898, pointedly blamed Spain for the sinking of the Maine, providing an example of how the “yellow press” covered the incident."
• "Suspended Judgment": A Times Editorial on the Maine Tragedy more... less... "On February 15, 1898, an explosion ripped through the American battleship Maine, anchored in Havana harbor, sinking the ship and killing 260 sailors. Americans responded with outrage, assuming that Spain, which controlled Cuba as a colony, had sunk the ship. By April, 1898, the slogan "Remember the Maine" carried the U.S. into war with Spain. In the midst of the hysteria, few Americans paid much attention to the report issued two weeks before the U.S. entry into the war by a Court of Inquiry appointed by President McKinley. The report stated that the committee could not definitively assign blame to Spain for the sinking of the Maine. Most historians have focused on the role of sensationalist newspapers in fomenting public support for U.S. entry into war with Spain, and perhaps even causing it by deliberately misleading the American public about the Maine explosion. But not all newspapers engaged in sensationalist coverage of the incident. This New York Times editorial, dated February 17, 1898, sounded a note of caution about blaming the Spanish government for the explosion."
• Better Late Than Never?: Rickover Clears Spain of the Maine Explosion more... less... "On February 15, 1898, an explosion ripped through the American battleship Maine, anchored in Havana Harbor, sinking the ship and killing 260 sailors. Americans responded with outrage, assuming that Spain, which controlled Cuba as a colony, had sunk the ship. Many newspapers presented Spanish culpability as fact, with headlines such as "The War Ship Maine was Split in Two by an Enemy’s Secret Infernal Machine.“ Two months later, the slogan ”Remember the Maine" carried the U.S. into war with Spain. In the midst of the hysteria, few Americans paid much attention to the report issued two weeks before the U.S. entry into the war by a Court of Inquiry appointed by President McKinley. The report stated that the committee could not definitively assign blame to Spain for the sinking of the Maine. In 1911, the Maine was raised in Havana harbor and a new board of inquiry again avoided a definite conclusion. In 1976, however, in the aftermath of the Vietnam War, Admiral Hyman Rickover conducted a new investigation. Rickover, something of a maverick in the Navy, came to the conclusion that the explosion was caused by spontaneous combustion in the ship’s coal bins, a problem that afflicted other ships of the period."
• The Disaster to the "Maine" more... less... Literary Digest February 26, 1898, page 241.
• The Maine and the World: Sailing into History more... less... "On February 15, 1898, an explosion ripped through the American battleship Maine, anchored in Havana harbor, sinking the ship and killing 260 sailors. Americans responded with outrage, assuming that Spain, which controlled Cuba as a colony, had sunk the ship. Two months later, the slogan "Remember the Maine" carried the U.S. into war with Spain. In the midst of the hysteria, few Americans paid much attention to the report issued two weeks before the U.S. entry into the war by a Court of Inquiry appointed by President McKinley. The report stated that the committee could not definitively assign blame to Spain for the sinking of the Maine. Publishers such as William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer used their many newspapers to stir public opinion over the sinking of the Maine into a frenzy, hastenening U.S. entry into the conflict. This February 17, 1898, front page story from Pulitzer’s New York World suggested, on the basis of little evidence, the hand of the enemy in the destruction of the Maine. "
• Personal Narrative of the Maine more... less... Century Magazine, November 1898. Pages 74-96
• Secrets of the Serial Set: The Sinking of the U.S.S. Maine more... less... Provides links to U.S. Congressional Serial Set items regarding the sinking of the Maine.
• Sounding the Depths: The Times and the Sinking of the Maine more... less... "On February 15, 1898, an explosion ripped through the American battleship Maine, anchored in Havana Harbor, sinking the ship and killing 260 sailors. Americans responded with outrage, assuming that Spain, which controlled Cuba as a colony, had sunk the ship. A great deal of the American public’s outrage was generated by media coverage—newspapers and the emerging film industry—of the incident. The Biograph Company renamed its film The Battleships “Iowa” and “Massachusetts” the Battleships “Maine” and “Iowa,” and immediately released it to theaters. It played to cheering audiences. Newspapers, like those published by William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer, were even more influential in stirring American public opinion into a frenzy over the sinking of the Maine. In contrast to more sensational accounts of the Maine explosion, the staid New York Times cautiously reported on February 17, 1898, that there “was no evidence to prove or disprove treachery” as a factor in the sinking of the battleship. "
• Spanish American War - Primary Sources
• Topics in Chronicling America - The Sinking of the Maine

Book Sources: USS Maine Explosion

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1975 Report on the Sinking of the USS Maine

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Description:

A 1970's investigation on the sinking of the USS Maine, initiated by Admiral Hyman Rickover (known as the "Father of the Nuclear Navy") concluded that that an accident was likely the cause of the tragic 1898 explosion that instigated the Spanish-American War. This is an excerpt of a report produced by that study.

Naval History and Heritage Command, Photographic Section

Ib S. Hansen and Robert S. Price

April 30, 1975

File: USS_Maine_1975_Report.pdf

© 2010 david colamaria.

Calendar of Events

“Remember the Maine”: 125th Anniversary Discussion

National archives museum online.

A panel of historians and archivists will discuss the sinking of the USS Maine, a battleship built between 1888 and 1895, which was sent to Havana in January 1898 to protect American interests during the long-standing revolt of the Cubans against the Spanish government. On the evening of February 15, 1898, the Maine sank when her forward gunpowder magazines exploded. Nearly three-quarters of the battleship's crew died as a result of the explosion. While the cause of this great tragedy is still unsettled, contemporary American popular opinion blamed Spain, and the Spanish-American War followed within a few months.

Our panelists will be  Steve Carney , Arlington National Cemetery; Nate Patch , National Archives; Lyn Rowe , National Archives; David Langbart , National Archives; and John Fahey , Naval History and Heritage Command.

This program is presented in collaboration with Arlington National Cemetery and the Naval History and Heritage Command.

All events listed in the calendar are free unless noted.