--- title: 'Spanish-American War propaganda: yellow press, Maine and cartoons' url: https://propagandaarchive.org/spanish-american-war-propaganda/ description: 'Spanish-American War propaganda of 1896 to 1900: Maine front pages, Puck and Judge cartoons, Spanish magazine art and Aguinaldo''s decree, tagged.' section: FRAME --- ![Illustration: a dossier collage of an evidence wall of pinned propaganda posters, leaflets and printed matter from many eras, with contact sheets and catalog labels.](https://propagandaarchive.org/static/generated/hero-collection.jpg) Collection # Spanish-American War propaganda: yellow press, Maine and cartoons Spanish-American War propaganda of 1896 to 1900: Maine front pages, Puck and Judge cartoons, Spanish magazine art and Aguinaldo's decree, tagged. 1. [Home](https://propagandaarchive.org/) 2. [Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/) 3. Spanish-American War propaganda [![Cuba's Heroes and Their Flag: Souvenir Lithograph of the Grand Cuban-American Fair](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/cubas-heroes-and-their-flag-1896-640.jpg)Cuba's Heroes and Their Flag: Souvenir Lithograph of the Grand Cuban-American Fair](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/cubas-heroes-and-their-flag-1896/) [!["She Is Getting Too Feeble to Hold Them" (Puck cover, 16 November 1896)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/she-is-getting-too-feeble-to-hold-them-puck-1896-640.jpg)"She Is Getting Too Feeble to Hold Them" (Puck cover, 16 November 1896)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/she-is-getting-too-feeble-to-hold-them-puck-1896/) [![Uncle Sam looks at "Cuba" holding a "Cuban Revolutionist" baby (Bartholomew cartoon, April 1898)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/startled-uncle-sam-cuban-revolutionist-baby-bartholomew-1898.jpg)Uncle Sam looks at "Cuba" holding a "Cuban Revolutionist" baby (Bartholomew cartoon, April 1898)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/startled-uncle-sam-cuban-revolutionist-baby-bartholomew-1898/) [![Remember the Maine! And Don't Forget the Starving Cubans! (Judge)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/remember-the-maine-starving-cubans-judge-1898-640.jpg)Remember the Maine! And Don't Forget the Starving Cubans! (Judge)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/remember-the-maine-starving-cubans-judge-1898/) [!["School Begins" (Puck, 1899)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/school-begins-puck-1899-640.jpg)"School Begins" (Puck, 1899)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/school-begins-puck-1899/) [!["The Aguinaldo Guard" (Puck, 1900)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/aguinaldo-guard-puck-1900-640.jpg)"The Aguinaldo Guard" (Puck, 1900)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/aguinaldo-guard-puck-1900/) > **Content note.** Several American cartoons of 1896 to 1900 use racial caricature of Cubans, Filipinos, Hawaiians, Puerto Ricans and Black Americans, one cartoon shows a brutal figure of Spain trampling a child, and one photograph shows two dead Filipino soldiers. They are shown as issued, as evidence of what each side told its public. Showing an item is not endorsing it. [What was Spanish-American War propaganda?](https://propagandaarchive.org/spanish-american-war-propaganda/#what-was-spanish-american-war-propaganda) [Newspaper coverage of the Maine, 1898](https://propagandaarchive.org/spanish-american-war-propaganda/#newspaper-coverage-of-the-maine-1898) [Cuba before the war, 1896](https://propagandaarchive.org/spanish-american-war-propaganda/#cuba-before-the-war-1896) [The Spanish side](https://propagandaarchive.org/spanish-american-war-propaganda/#the-spanish-side) [The Philippine war, 1899 to 1900](https://propagandaarchive.org/spanish-american-war-propaganda/#the-philippine-war-1899-to-1900) [What the collection does not hold](https://propagandaarchive.org/spanish-american-war-propaganda/#what-the-collection-does-not-hold) ## What was Spanish-American War propaganda? Spanish-American War propaganda is the cartoons, front pages, prints and notices that argued for, against or about the war of 1898 between the United States and Spain, and the Philippine war that followed. The archive holds American newspaper and magazine items, two Spanish magazine cartoons, a Cuban-cause print and one Filipino decree, and tags each by technique. ![New York Journal and Advertiser front page, 17 February 1898, with a banner saying the Maine was destroyed by an enemy and a $50,000 reward](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/ny-journal-maine-destroyed-enemy-1898.jpg) ## Newspaper coverage of the Maine, 1898 The battleship USS *Maine* exploded in Havana harbour on 15 February 1898. Two days later, before the Navy court of inquiry had taken evidence, Hearst's *Journal* ran a banner that the ship was "the work of an enemy" beside a $50,000 reward box ([Card stacking](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/card-stacking/)). Pulitzer's *World* led the same day with "bomb or torpedo", though its deck admitted the officers were in doubt. The inquiry of March 1898 reported an external mine; a 1976 study judged an internal fire more probable, and the cause remains debated. Historians of the "yellow press" also question how far the papers caused the war. **Content note:** Photographs of emaciated, starving Cuban civilians reproduced in an 1898 American magazine cartoon. This object is shown as it was published. [Why](https://propagandaarchive.org/about/#as-it-was) ![Judge cartoon of 1898: Uncle Sam stands between photographs of the wrecked Maine and starving Cuban civilians](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/remember-the-maine-starving-cubans-judge-1898.jpg) Explain moreShow less *Judge* of 7 May 1898 set the wreck and photographs of starving Cubans on facing album pages. *Judge* of 30 April showed Spain trampling a child and a dead sailor and borrowed Sherman's line on war ([Fear appeal](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/fear-appeal/), [Scapegoating](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/scapegoating/)). ## Cuba before the war, 1896 ![Puck cover of 1896: Uncle Sam as Noble Hero tells a villain marked Spain to stand back from a kneeling woman marked Cuba](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/cuban-melodrama-puck-1896.jpg) *Puck* cast the conflict as a stage melodrama in June 1896, two years before the declaration of war ([Name-calling](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/name-calling/), [Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/)). A November 1896 cover drew Cuba and the Philippines as armed boys that Spain could no longer hold. A New York fair committee's souvenir lithograph of May 1896 gathered portraits of five insurgent leaders under the Cuban flag. ## The Spanish side ![Blanco y Negro, 1898: a Spanish soldier on a Cuban shore shouts across the water at Uncle Sam](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/el-soldado-de-cuba-blanco-y-negro-1898.jpg) The Madrid weekly *Blanco y Negro* drew the United States as a machine turning rubbish into Yankees (April 1896) and, in May 1898, as a coward holding the insurgents on a platter. Its July 1898 full page praised Spanish infantry at the Zapote river in stacked virtue words ([Glittering generalities](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/glittering-generalities/)). The same techniques appear on both sides. ## The Philippine war, 1899 to 1900 ![Puck cartoon of 1899: Uncle Sam teaches pupils marked Philippines, Hawaii, Porto Rico and Cuba](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/school-begins-puck-1899.jpg) After the peace of 1898 the American press argued over the new territories. *Puck*'s "School Begins" and *Judge*'s "The White Man's Burden" (1899) present annexation as teaching and duty. A stereograph sold to households captioned dead Filipino soldiers as a sacrifice to Aguinaldo's ambition, and *Puck* in 1900 drew American anti-imperialists as Aguinaldo's guard. From the Filipino side the collection holds Aguinaldo's decree of 3 August 1900 offering rifle money to soldiers who surrender. ## What the collection does not hold - **Not here:** US recruiting posters and volunteer appeals of 1898, Rough Rider imagery, and sheet music or advertising of the war. - **Not here:** Cuban insurgent leaflets and newspapers, and Filipino newspapers and posters beyond the one decree. - **Not here:** the Spanish daily press, and Spanish government statements. - **Not hosted:** the 1902 "kill every one over ten" cartoon is catalogued but has no hosted image. **See also:** [Cuban propaganda posters](https://propagandaarchive.org/cuban-propaganda-posters/). Sources and further reading ## Sources W. Joseph Campbell, The Year That Defined American Journalism (2006). W. Joseph Campbell, *The Year That Defined American Journalism* (2006). Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. Wikimedia Commons. Each item in the grid carries its own source and rights note. ## Spanish-American War propaganda in the collection Showing 16 of 16 objects. [Filter the whole collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/). - [Cuba's Heroes and Their Flag: Souvenir Lithograph of the Grand Cuban-American Fair](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/cubas-heroes-and-their-flag-1896/) (Cuban Independence Movement · 1896 · Transfer) - [Máquinas para fabricar yankées (Machines for Manufacturing Yankees)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/maquinas-para-fabricar-yankees-blanco-y-negro-1896/) (Spain · Apr 11, 1896 · Name-calling) - ["The Cuban Melodrama" (Puck cover, 3 June 1896)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/cuban-melodrama-puck-1896/) (United States · Jun 3, 1896 · Name-calling, Transfer) - ["She Is Getting Too Feeble to Hold Them" (Puck cover, 16 November 1896)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/she-is-getting-too-feeble-to-hold-them-puck-1896/) (United States · Nov 16, 1896 · Name-calling). Content note: 1896 cartoon drawing Cuba and the Philippines as stereotyped dark-skinned children, shown as published. - [New York Journal and Advertiser, front page, 17 February 1898 ($50,000 reward, Maine 'work of an enemy')](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/ny-journal-maine-destroyed-enemy-1898/) (United States · Feb 17, 1898 · Card stacking) - [New York World, front page, 17 February 1898 (Maine explosion 'caused by bomb or torpedo')](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/ny-world-maine-bomb-or-torpedo-1898/) (United States · Feb 17, 1898 · Card stacking) - [Uncle Sam looks at "Cuba" holding a "Cuban Revolutionist" baby (Bartholomew cartoon, April 1898)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/startled-uncle-sam-cuban-revolutionist-baby-bartholomew-1898/) (United States · Apr 1898 · Appeal to emotion) - ["'War is Hell.' Sherman, \[but\] Peace in Cuba under Spanish Rule Is Worse than Hell" (Judge, 30 April 1898)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/war-is-hell-sherman-peace-in-cuba-judge-1898/) (United States · Apr 30, 1898 · Fear appeal, Scapegoating). Content note: 1898 atrocity cartoon: a brutal figure of Spain tramples an emaciated child and a dead sailor. - [El soldado de Cuba: —¡Ven tú, cobarde! (The Soldier of Cuba: 'Come here, you coward!')](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/el-soldado-de-cuba-blanco-y-negro-1898/) (Spain · May 7, 1898 · Name-calling). Content note: Caricature of Cuban insurgents as tiny, dark-faced figures carried on a pole and in a basket by Uncle Sam. - [Remember the Maine! And Don't Forget the Starving Cubans! (Judge)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/remember-the-maine-starving-cubans-judge-1898/) (United States · May 7, 1898 · Card stacking) - [Un combate en el río Zapote (A Fight on the Zapote River), Blanco y Negro](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/un-combate-en-el-rio-zapote-1898/) (Spain · Jul 9, 1898 · Transfer, Glittering generalities) - ["A Sacrifice to Aguinaldo's Ambition" (commercial stereograph, 1899)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/sacrifice-to-aguinaldos-ambition-1899/) (United States · 1899 · Card stacking, Name-calling). Content note: Photograph of two dead Filipino soldiers. - ["School Begins" (Puck, 1899)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/school-begins-puck-1899/) (United States · Jan 25, 1899 · Name-calling, Glittering generalities). Content note: Racial caricatures of Filipino, Hawaiian, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Black, Native American and Chinese children. - ["The White Man's Burden (Apologies to Rudyard Kipling)" (Judge, 1899)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/white-mans-burden-judge-1899/) (United States · Apr 1, 1899 · Transfer, Glittering generalities). Content note: Racial caricatures of colonised peoples carried in baskets. - [Notice of Justice: Aguinaldo's decree of 3 August 1900 paying 'imperialist soldiers' for surrendered rifles](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/aguinaldo-decree-imperialist-soldiers-1900/) (First Philippine Republic · Aug 3, 1900 · Name-calling, Glittering generalities). Content note: Wartime decree from the Philippine-American War calling US soldiers 'imperialist soldiers' and offering money for surrendered rifles. - ["The Aguinaldo Guard" (Puck, 1900)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/aguinaldo-guard-puck-1900/) (United States · Oct 17, 1900 · Name-calling, Transfer) ## Related guides and pages - [American propaganda posters: US examples by technique](https://propagandaarchive.org/american-propaganda-posters/) - [Uncle Sam posters: the I Want You poster and what else he was used for](https://propagandaarchive.org/american-propaganda-posters/uncle-sam-poster/) - [Women's suffrage posters and cartoons, 1880 to 1923](https://propagandaarchive.org/womens-suffrage-posters/) - [WPA posters: New Deal and wartime posters, 1936 to 1943](https://propagandaarchive.org/wpa-posters/) - [Civil War propaganda: 1860 and 1864 election prints](https://propagandaarchive.org/civil-war-propaganda/) - [Presidential campaign posters: US banners and prints, 1840 to 1900](https://propagandaarchive.org/presidential-campaign-posters/) - [Victory garden posters: WWI war gardens, WWII victory gardens, Dig for Victory](https://propagandaarchive.org/victory-garden-posters/) - [Red Cross posters: WW1 and WW2 fundraising, nursing and blood donor appeals](https://propagandaarchive.org/red-cross-posters/) - [Christmas propaganda posters: war bonds, Santa and mail-early appeals](https://propagandaarchive.org/christmas-propaganda-posters/) - [Space race propaganda: Sputnik cartoons and US space posters, 1957 to 1969](https://propagandaarchive.org/space-race-propaganda/) - [All guides](https://propagandaarchive.org/guides/)