There was a lot of impact on slaves in the south rather than the north
The stories became a wedge of division between the North and South over the issue of slavery.<span>
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The Spanish–American War <span>was a conflict fought between </span>Spain<span> and the </span>United States<span> in 1898. Hostilities began in the aftermath of the internal explosion of the </span><span>USS Maine</span><span> in </span>Havana harbor<span> in Cuba leading to United States intervention in the </span>Cuban War of Independence<span>. American acquisition of Spain's </span>Pacific possessions<span> led to its involvement in the </span>Philippine Revolution<span> and ultimately in the </span>Philippine–American War. <span>Revolts had been occurring for some years in Cuba against Spanish rule. The U.S. later backed these revolts upon entering the Spanish–American War. There had been war scares before, as in the </span>Virginius Affair<span> in 1873. In the late 1890s, U.S. public opinion was agitated by anti-Spanish propaganda led by newspaper publishers such as </span>Joseph Pulitzer<span> and </span>William Randolph Hearst<span> which used </span>yellow journalism to call for war. The business community across the United States had just recovered from a deep depression, and feared that a war would reverse the gains. They lobbied vigorously against going to war. T<span>he </span>United States Navy<span> battleship </span>Maine<span> was mysteriously sunk in </span>Havana harbor<span>; political pressures from the </span>Democratic Party<span> pushed the administration of </span>Republican<span> President </span>William McKinley into a war that he had wished to avoid. <span>Spain promised time and time again that it would reform, but never delivered. The United States sent an ultimatum to Spain demanding that it surrender control of Cuba. First Madrid declared war, and Washington then followed suit.</span>
<span>The hardships increased or intensified for other reasons as well. As an agricultural region, the South had more difficulty than the North in manufacturing needed goods--for both its soldiers and its civilians. One result was that Southern civilians probably had to make more real sacrifices during the war than Northern civilians did. In addition, part of Union war strategy was to use the Navy to blockade Southern ports. The Union hoped to stop the flow of goods between the South and other countries and strangle its foe economically.</span>
