To what extent was the explosion of the battleship USS Maine the major cause of the outbreak of the Spanish-American War in 1898?

This investigation examines whether the explosion of the USS Maine was the primary catalyst for the Spanish-American War or merely a trigger for pre-existing tensions.

Utilizing a combination of primary newspaper reports and secondary historical scholarship, the paper employs a multi-causal analysis to evaluate the outbreak of conflict.

The argument concludes that while the explosion ignited public outrage, the war was fundamentally driven by long-term factors such as American expansionism, Manifest Destiny, and the sensationalism of the "yellow press."

The exemplar is characterized by a rigorous evaluation of source bias and a sophisticated historiographical approach that moves beyond single-event causation to explore complex geopolitical motivations.