" The sinking of the Maine, according to an investigation in 1976, proved that it was most likely an internal combustion, rather than a widely accepted Spanish submarine mine. Nonetheless, Americans were quick to accept Spanish aggression as the cause, in part due to the "yellow journalism" of Joseph Pulitzer and William Rudolph Hearst's dramatic, and occasionally fictitious, stories and "scoops." The clash of McKinley's views and the public outcry mounted about the war. Between the public influence and the Democratic Party plans to use a war to win an election in 1900, McKinley accepted the fated war and, on April 11, 1898, asked Congress to authorize it, which they did without hesitation.
The American army was woefully unprepared, poorly organized, and divided about the West and "conquering" the Native Americans. Conversely, the recently built steel navy was ranked fifth at the time, and was in rare form. In anticipation of a war, on February 25, 1898, Theodore Roosevelt, assistant navy secretary, ordered Commander George Dewey to descend upon the Spanish Philippines, which he flawlessly and magnificently accomplished on May 1, 1898. Unfortunately, Dewey had to wait for the arrival of the army to capture Manila, which did not happen until August 13, one day after the armistice was signed. As Spain sent their broken navy to Cuba, disillusioned Americans began to fear for their coastline, but the Spanish armada made it only to the Cuban harbor of Santiago. The invasion of Cuba, the central affair of the war, did not develop until mid-June in Tampa, when 17,000 troops, including and particularly Theodore Roosevelt's "Rough Riders", arrived at the Florida city. On July 1, the disorganized Americans and even more disorganized Spaniards fought at El Caney and San Juan Hill and two days later, the U.S.S. Oregon destroyed the fleeing Spanish fleet. On August 12, 1898, American delegates and Spanish delegates signed an armistice in Paris, which showed the newly flexed muscle of America.