READING ANTICIPATION GUIDE: Economic Interests and U.S. Expansionism in the Late Nineteenth Century
1. In the column labeled Before
Reading, indicate your initial response (true or false) to the statement.
2. After reading the chapters by Walter
LaFeber and Jonathan Kirshner,
answer the questions a second time and support your answers by citing evidence
from one or more of the chapters.
Before
Reading After
______ Since war was in the interests of Big Business, _________
business leaders
convinced President McKinley
to declare war
on Spain.
_______ Powerful financial
interests in the U.S. feared war _________
would destabilize markets and enhance the power
of the federal government, so they adamantly
opposed any
declaration of war on Spain.
______ Many Americans supported war with Spain because _________
Big
Business opposed it.
______ The issue of war with
Spain was closely linked _________
to the debate over the gold standard and free
silver.
______ Public opinion had little influence on policy makers _________
in either Spain or the United States in the months
leading up to the Spanish American War.