“Remember
the Maine!” was the angry cry that rallied Americans to a
war in 1898.
The
Maine was a battleship that
had exploded while at anchor in Havana Harbor, Cuba, on this date in
1898. Tragically, around 260 members of the crew died as the ship
quickly sank. Although there wasn't good evidence to establish
responsibility for the explosion, many people at the time jumped to
the conclusion that Spain was at fault, and the war cry went up from
upset crowds...Sure enough, two months later the U.S. formally
declared war on Spain.
What
did happen to the Maine?
Some authors think that the ship exploded when an undetected fire in
one of her coal bunkers reached the gunpowder in the magazine (a
magazine is a room in which gunpowder and other explosives are kept
in a fort or a ship), but a recent investigation by National
Geographic Magazine
(this time, magazine
means what you think it means!) used computer-modeling to show that
this theory doesn't match the evidence from the sunken ship. Another
theory is that the Maine
was deliberately sunk by American forces to drive the U.S. into a war
with Spain. We call that a conspiracy theory! Apparently the most
likely theory is that the ship was the victim of a naval mine. Today,
nobody seems to think that a bomb or torpedo hit the ship, although
newspaper headlines suggested those things at the time.
I
suppose this day has been declared Remember the Maine
Day to commemorate the sailors who died. But we can also take the day
to consider the fact that being angry about a bad event, and wanting
to blame someone for it, are not necessarily good reasons to get into
a war or take revenge in an even more tragic event. In 1898, a few
newspaper owners were guilty of deliberately whipping up war hysteria
in the public; these days, radio talk-show hosts and television
pundits often seem guilty of trying to ratchet up fear and hysteria
in the public. Perhaps the Spanish-American War would have been
fought over some other precipitating event...or perhaps calmer heads
could have won the day, and war could have been avoided. Will we
today allow ourselves to be manipulated by the blame-game,
speculation, and rallying cries, or will we try to look at evidence
and strive for peaceful solutions to problems?
By
the way, if you happen to live in NYC, you could check out the
monument to the sailors who died in the USS Maine
explosion, at the southwest entrance of Central Park. No matter what
the cause of the Maine
explosion, no matter what the aftermath, these sailors deserve the
tribute of being remembered today.
Also
on this date:
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