682 ★ CHAPTER 17 Freedom’s Boundaries, at Home and Abroadwar broke out, Roosevelt resigned his post as assistant secretary of the navy
to raise a volunteer cavalry unit, which rushed to Cuba to participate in the
fighting. Roosevelt envisioned his unit as a cross section of American society
and enrolled athletes from Ivy League colleges, western cowboys, representa-
tives of various immigrant groups, and even some American Indians. But with
the army still segregated, he excluded blacks from his regiment. Ironically,
when the Rough Riders reached the top of San Juan Hill, they found that black
units had preceded them— a fact Roosevelt omitted in his reports of the battle,
which were widely reproduced in the popular press. His exploits made Roos-
evelt a national hero. He was elected governor of New York that fall and in 1900
became McKinley’s vice president.An American Empire
With the backing of the yellow press, the war quickly escalated from a crusade
to aid the suffering Cubans to an imperial venture that ended with the United
States in possession of a small overseas empire. McKinley became convincedHong Kong (British)ManilaDew
eyFORMOSA(Taiwan)
(Japanese)BRITISH NORBORNEOTHSARAWA(British)KCHINAFRENCH
INDOCHINANETHERLANDS
EAST INDIESPHILIPPINE
ISLANDSHainan
L uzonMindanaoSouth China
SeaSulu
SeaPacific
OceanSpanishfleet
May 1, 1898destroyedManila surrendersAugust 13, 1898Dewey^ManilaB a t a a nC orregidor
0
0200
200400 miles
400 kilometersTHE SPANISH- AMERICAN
WAR: THE PACIFICTHE SPANISH- AMERICAN
WAR: THE CARIBBEANHavanaSantiagoTampaU.S.S.February 1898 Maine sunkPUERRICOTOBAHAMASUNITED
STATESCUBAJAMAICA
(British)HAITI
DOMINICAN
REPUBLICCaribbean SeaAtlantic
OceanPacific
OceanSan Juan HillJuly 1, 1898Spanish fJuly 3, 1898leet destroyedSantiago0
0200
200400 miles
400 kilometersAmerican victories
American forces
American naval blockade
Spanish forces
Spanish possessionsIn both the Pacific and the Caribbean, the United States achieved swift victories over Spain in the
Spanish- American War.