Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER II THE DECLARATION OF WAR THE blowing up of the battleship Maine was not immediately followed by a declaration of war. Time was taken for an investigation of the disaster, and for preparation for the impending struggle; but the delay only added to the feeling of bitterness between the two peoples. It was the lull before the storm — the pause of silent wrath preceding the clash of arms. The American people and their representatives in Congress believed that Spanish officials were responsible for the destruction of the Maine, and they were determined that Spain should atone for the act, and that her rule in Cuba should end. Accordingly, on April 19, 1898, the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States passed the following resolutions: " Whereas the abhorrent conditions which have existed for more than three years in the island of Cuba, so near our own borders, have shocked the moral sense of the people of the United States, have been a disgrace to Christian civilization, culminating as they have in the destruction of a United States battleship, with two hundred and sixty-six of its officers and crew, while on afriendly visit in the harbor of Havana, and cannot longer be endured, as has been set forth by the President of the United States in his message to Congress of April eleventh, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, upon which action of Congress was invited: Therefore, " Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, " First. That the people of the island of Cuba are, and of right ought to be, free and independent. " Second. That it is the duty of the United States to demand, and the Government of the United States does hereby demand, that the Government of Spain at once relinquish i...