Emilia: An Untold Cuban-American Story: Streaming Videos

With the closing of the American West, Manifest Destiny was in need of new direction. The section “New Frontiers” considers implications of Frederick Jackson Turner’s Frontier Thesis as it scrutinizes U.S. history from the end of the Gilded Age to the brink of the Spanish-American War. “An Empire of Liberty” takes a step back to assess aspects of Manifest Destiny from its birth during the pre-Revolutionary era through Reconstruction. And “Benevolent Assimilation” provides an in-depth look at the Spanish-American War, the Philippines Insurrection, the annexations of Puerto Rico and Hawaii, and U.S. intervention in China during the Boxer Rebellion to illustrate how expanded economic influence, military might, and presidential powers contributed to U.S. imperialism during the administrations of Presidents McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt. Historians H. W. Brands, Walter LaFeber, Kristin Hoganson, John Lawrence Tone, Eric Love, Paul Kramer, David Hendrickson, and Amy Greenberg are featured. Produced by Lucasfilm Ltd. A part of the series Manifest Destiny.

Filmed a century after the USS Maine exploded in Havana Harbor, this program narrated by Edward James Olmos examines the events and attitudes that led to the Spanish-American War, followed by an exploration of the conflict and its outcome. Early film footage and period photographs of battle scenes, interviews with some of America’s most prominent historians, and intriguing analogies to late-20th-century foreign policy make Crucible of Empire an essential documentary on the watershed event that transformed the U.S. into a world power. Distributed by PBS Distribution

Segments: José Martí's Call to Action.-- Cuban Revolution, 1898.-- Spanish American War.-- Cuban Independence, 1902.

A Cuban patriot who expressed his views in his poetry and essays, José Martí lived many years in exile from Cuba, in Spain and Venezuela. This program traces 19th-century Latin American history through the life of one of its best-known commentators. Archival material, readings from his works and journals, and commentary by scholars and historians provide an overview of Martí and the era that he so greatly influenced by his actions and his writings. (Spanish with English subtitles)

If a single individual may be said to have embodied the development of the Cuban secessionist movement, that person was surely José Martí. Set within the context of the turbulent relations between Cuba, Spain, and the U.S.A., this program spotlights Martí—a striking orator, sagacious propagandist, and inspiring leader—and the movement that he founded, Cuba Libre. Although killed during a skirmish at Dos Rios in 1895, Martí lived on as the emblem of the undying desire of the Cuban exile population to free Cuba from foreign control.

After reprising key events from Alfonso XIII's early years-most notably the loss of Spain's remaining colonies in 1898-this program traces his reign up to the military debacle at Annual. Vintage film and dramatizations bring early-20th-century Spain to life as they document major challenges to Spanish monarchal rule: Catalan agitation for autonomy, the spread of socialism and anarchism, the execution of Francisco Ferrer Guardia, labor violence, and ongoing warfare in Morocco. Sociocultural aspects of the times, such as the literary Generation of '98, are also singled out. (Spanish with English subtitles)

This video discusses the events that led up to the Spanish-American War.

"The U.S.S. Maine Blown Up in Havana Harbor—268 Men Lost" shouted the headlines of the day. Using archival footage, newspaper excerpts, and historical documents, this program traces the roots of the Spanish-American War to Spain’s quest to preserve its flagging empire, American imperialism, and the genuine desire on the part of Cubans to shake off the yoke of Spanish domination. It closely examines the role of Cuba’s poet/patriot José Martí, exposes American expansionist policies that contributed to our decision to enter the war, and reveals Spanish attempts to thwart open conflict.

This program presents the Spanish-American War as the defining event of America's rise to superpower status.

This program examines the conduct of the war, from Theodore Roosevelt’s Rough Riders, to the defeatist attitude of Spanish commander Admiral Cerveras, to Cuban General Gomez and his decision to side with the Americans. Actual footage taken at the battles of Las Guasimas, El Caney, and San Juan Hill supports excellent historical commentary, including photos, sketches, and firsthand accounts of the war by publishing mogul William Randolph Hearst. The precise sequence of political and military events leading to the Spanish defeat is carefully traced up to the Treaty of Paris, where Spain relinquishes all rights to Cuba, the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico

This A&E Special presents the Spanish-American War—a “splendid little war” that marked America’s foray into modern geopolitics. The events both before and during the war serve as lenses through which to examine a period in U.S. history characterized by idealism and exuberance, on the one hand, and jingoism and opportunism on the other. This was a youthful America discovering its place on the world stage at the dawn of what was to become the American century. Key public figures of the era appear throughout, including Stephen Crane, Frederic Remington, Clara Barton, William Randolph Hearst, Joseph Pulitzer, Dr. Walter Reed, Admiral George Dewey, President McKinley, and Lieutenant Colonel Theodore Roosevelt. Distributed by A&E Television Networks.

Beginning with a summary of Cuban history from the island’s 16th-century subjugation by Spanish conquistadors to the 20th-century Communist revolution, this program scrutinizes the current state of U.S.-Cuba relations through the eyes of progressives, who want to put the past behind them for the benefit of Cubans still suffering from the decades-long U.S. embargo, and the anti-Castro expatriate community, which sees normalization of relations as a victory for despotism and a repudiation of their deeply held convictions. The political standoff between America and its Communist neighbor has consistently defied remediation, and filmmaker Megan Williams does not pretend there is a universally acceptable solution. “Williams takes a complex and divisive subject and captures it with a clear-eyed, intelligent perspective,” says the South Florida Sun Sentinel.