US Imperialism: Yellow Journalism & The Spanish-American War | VIDEO & Activity

All these resources go with and then extend this History For Humans video on Yellow Journalism and the Spanish-American War.

This story-lecture tells the amazing and gripping story of how the press wars between Pulitzer and Hearst and the rise of yellow journalism helped lead to the Spanish-American War and unpacks the other causes of US imperialism. The resources include an interactive notesheet that goes with the video, a quick quiz (either a google form or a PDF doc), and an extension lesson. The extension lesson plan is a great one- it gets students to view yellow journalism headlines related to the Spanish-American War and then has them remake and rewrite them to be more fitting for 21st Century 'Click Bait". And there are answer keys for everything. Download and breathe.

The video teaches how the closing of the frontier, industrialization, and the desire for seas markets, the blowing up of the USS Maine helped to make America an imperial power. But keeps students engaged and interested in the story between the fierce rivalry for newspaper circulation between William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer fueled the frenzy for war and finally has students reflect on the importance of trustworthy media for an informed republic.

I do hope you enjoy it! : )

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