Maine Explosion Lesson Plan
STANFORD HISTORY EDUCATION GROUP XXXXXXXXXXsheg.stanford.edu
Document A: New York Journal (Modified)
The following is an excerpt from New York Journal and Advertiser, published Fe
uary
17, 1898. Purchased by William Randolph Hearst in 1895, the Journal published
investigative and human interest stories that used a highly emotional writing style and
included banner headlines and graphic images.
DESTRUCTION OF THE WAR SHIP MAINE WAS THE WORK OF AN
ENEMY
Assistant Secretary Roosevelt Convinced the Explosion of the War Ship
Was Not an Accident.
The Journal Offers $50,000 Reward for the Conviction of the Criminals
Who Sent 258 American
Sailors to Their Death.
Naval Officers All Agree That the Ship Was Destroyed on Purpose.
NAVAL OFFICERS THINK THE MAINE WAS DESTROYED BY A
SPANISH MINE.
George Bryson, the Journal’s special reporter at Havana, writes that it is
the secret opinion of many people in Havana that the war ship Maine was
destroyed by a mine and 258 men were killed on purpose by the Spanish.
This is the opinion of several American naval authorities. The Spaniards, it
is believed, a
anged to have the Maine drop anchor over a ha
or mine.
Wires connected the mine to the magazine of the ship. If this is true, the
utal nature of the Spaniards will be shown by the fact that they waited to
explode the mine until all the men had gone to sleep. Spanish officials are
protesting too much that they did not do it. Our government has ordered an
investigation. This newspaper has sent divers to Havana to report on the
condition of the wreck. This newspaper is also offering a $50,000 reward
for exclusive evidence that will convict whoever is responsible. Assistant
Secretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt says he is convinced that the
destruction of the Maine in Havana Ha
or was not an accident. The
suspicion that the Maine was purposely blown up grows stronger every
hour. Not a single fact to the contrary has been produced.
Source: New York Journal and Advertiser, Fe
uary 17, 1898.
STANFORD HISTORY EDUCATION GROUP XXXXXXXXXXsheg.stanford.edu
Document B: New York Times (Modified)
Excerpt from the New York Times, Fe
uary 17, 1898. Established in 1851, the New
York Times provided investigative coverage of local New York issues and events, as
well as national and international news.
MAINE’S HULL WILL DECIDE
Divers Will Inspect the Ship’s Hull to Find Out Whether the Explosion Was
from the Outside or Inside.
Magazines of War Ships Sometimes Blow Up Because of Too Much Heat
Inside –
Hard to Blow Up the Magazine from the Outside.
It has been a busy day for the Navy Department. The war ship Maine was
destroyed in Havana Ha
or last night. Officials in Washington and Havana
have been sending cables all night long. Secretary Long was asked
whether he thought this was the work of the enemy. He replied: “I do not. I
am influenced by the fact that Captain Sigsbee has not yet reported to the
Navy Department. It seems he is waiting to write a full report. So long as he
has not made a decision, I certainly cannot. I should think from the signs
however, that there was an accident – that the magazine exploded. How
that came about I do not know. For the present, at least, no other war ship
will be sent to Havana.” Captain Schuley, who knows a great deal about
war ships, did not entertain the idea that the Maine had been destroyed on
purpose. He said that fires would sometimes start in the coal bunkers, and
he told of such a fire on board another war ship that started very close to
the magazine. The fire became so hot that the
heat blistered the steel wall between the fire and the ammunition before the
unkers and magazine were flooded with water to stop the fire. He did not
elieve that the Spanish or Cubans in Havana had either the information or
the equipment necessary to blow up the magazine, while the Maine was
under guard.
Source: New York Times, Fe
uary 17, 1898.
STANFORD HISTORY EDUCATION GROUP XXXXXXXXXXsheg.stanford.edu
Guiding Questions Name___________
New York Journal
Sourcing
1. How long after the explosion of the Maine was this article written?
2. What does the headline of the article suggest about the newspaper’s point of view?
Close Reading
3. Upon what type of evidence does the New York Journal base its claims?
New York Times
Sourcing
1. How does the date of this article compare with the date on the New York Journal and
Advertiser article?
Close Reading
2. According to these headlines, what happened to the Maine?
3. What kinds of evidence does the New York Times include to support its account of the
incident?
Name______________________
STANFORD HISTORY EDUCATION GROUP XXXXXXXXXXsheg.stanford.edu
Explosion of the Maine Graphic Organizer
Which account do you find more believable?
On the back of this sheet or in your notebooks: Compare the evidence used by both newspapers to support their claims about what
happened to the Maine. Which newspaper uses stronger evidence? Explain.
Document Publication
Date
According to this article, what
happened to the Maine?
What information is included to
support this version of the
story?
Write a quotation that
contrasts with something
written in the other article.
A
Journal
B
Times
Microsoft Word - Pullman Strike Lesson Plan.docx
STANFORD HISTORY EDUCATION GROUP XXXXXXXXXXsheg.stanford.edu
Set A: May 12, 1894
The following articles were published the day after the strike began.
Chicago Times Chicago Tribune
PULLMAN MEN OUT
Nearly 4,000 Throw Down
Their Tools and Quit
Refuse to Work Till Wrongs are
Righted
Firing Three Men Starts It
Almost the entire force of men
employed in the Pullman shops
went out on strike yesterday. Out
of the 4,800 men and women
employed in the various
departments there were probably
not over 800 at work at 6 o’clock
last evening. The immediate cause
of the strike was the laying off of
three men in the iron machine
shop. The real but remote cause is
the question of wages over which
the men have long been unhappy.
The strike of yesterday was
ordered by a committee
epresenting every department at