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Fake News in the 1890s: Yellow Journalism
An illustration of the battleship USS Maine from Pictorial History of Our War with Spain for Cuba's Freedom, by Trumbull White, ca. 1898.

An illustration of the battleship USS Maine from Pictorial History of Our War with Spain for Cuba's Freedom, by Trumbull White, ca. 1898.

This illustration shows the USS Maine before it exploded in Havana Harbor on February 15, 1898. The explosion, or alleged attack, of the USS Maine killed 266 men on board and pushed the United States into war with Spain. Though the cause of the explosion was undetermined, the event was the subject of sensational newspaper reporting, particularly by the New York World and New York Journal, which influenced popular opinion among the papers’ vast readership in support of going to war. Historians often identify news coverage of the explosion of the USS Maine as a starting point for the rise of yellow journalism.

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Citation Information
“Battleship USS Maine,” Digital Public Library of America, https://dp.la/item/ff45ee9598142b7f9cf703cbb802ada3.
Note: These citations are programmatically generated and may be incomplete.
Courtesy of New Georgia Encyclopedia via Digital Library of Georgia.

Tips for Students

For this source, consider:

  • the author's point of view
  • the author's purpose
  • historical context
  • audience

Item 4 of 11 in the Primary Source Set Fake News in the 1890s: Yellow Journalism

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A cover of an issue of the satirical magazine Puck featuring an illustration captioned “The Cleansing of New York,” 1900.
A cover of an issue of satirical magazine Puck featuring an illustration captioned, “The Democratic Microbes,” 1904.
A political cartoon titled “Still Barking” by artist Clifford Berryman that appeared in The Washington Post, August 9, 1899.
An illustration of the battleship USS Maine from Pictorial History of Our War with Spain for Cuba's Freedom, by Trumbull White, ca. 1898.
A photograph of the wreck of the USS Maine, ca. 1898.
A sheet of music and lyrics for “The Dugan Kid Who Lives in Hogan’s Alley,” or The Yellow Kid, from the New York World, ca. 1896.
A leaflet titled “The Yellow Kid” with cover art by cartoonist Richard F. Outcault.
A poster advertising the New York World, 1890s.
A photograph of Ervin Wardman, managing editor of the New York Press, 1901.
A photograph of the New York Journal office on Park Row, New York City, 1898.
A political cartoon by Clifford Berryman about President William McKinley titled "Pesky, but Harmless," March 4, 1898.

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