INVESTIGATE:

Why did the United States invade Cuba? (Read each source below, then answer the questions in the notebook. Ask your teacher for an inquiry organizer worksheet to help you think about the ways that the sources support and contradict each other.)

SOURCES:

READ: "Prepared to Move"

Head Note: Lee was appointed the U.S. Consul-General in Havana, Cuba in 1896 by President Grover Cleveland. He wrote this letter to the Assistant Secretary of State in the U.S almost three months before the Maine explosion.

SIR: ...

I still think that two war ships at least should be at Key West, prepared to move here at short notice, and that more of them should be sent to Dry Tortugas, and a coal station be established there. Such proceedings would seem to be in line with that prudence and foresight necessary to afford safety to the Americans residing on the island, and to their properties, both of which, I have every reason to know, are objects of the greatest concern to our Government.

I am, etc.,

FITZHUGH LEE,

Consul-General.

Source: Excerpt from telegram sent by Fitzhugh Lee, U.S. Consul-General in Cuba, December 3, 1897. Havana, Cuba.

USE THE NOTEBOOK (instructions):

To answer these questions, log in below

Sourcing: Consider a document's attribution (both its author and how the document came into being).

When and where was this letter written? Why might this be important?

Close Reading: Read carefully to consider what a source says and the language used to say it.

What two actions does Mr. Lee think the U.S. should take? Use the highlighted text as clues.

Give Me a Hint

Contextualizing: Situate the document and events it reports in place and time.

Look at Lee's reasons for these actions. What does this indicate about U.S. interests in the region? Use the highlighted text for clues.

Give Me a Hint

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