President William McKinley asked Congress to declare war on Spain mainly because a the business community favored the conflict.
b the Spanish government had directly insulted the United States. c it became clear that there was no other way to obtain Cuban independence. d the Teller Amendment guaranteed that the United States would not establish colonial control of Cuba. e the American public and many leading Republicans demanded it.
Answer: e the American public and many leading Republicans demanded it.
Explanation:
Thanks to yellow journalism twisting the facts of the explosion of the USS Maine at the Cuban capital of Havana in 1898, the American public were overwhelmingly in favor of going to war against the Spanish who tried their best to avoid this because they knew they would suffer defeat.
The efforts of the Spanish were fruitless however because many leading Republicans sided with their constituents and called for war in both House of Congress. President William McKinley then bowed to this pressure and asked for a declaration of war.
