Following the sinking of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor in 1898, pro-war arguments in the American press led public opinion to favor engaging in the Spanish-American War—or so goes the popular version of events. Yet there was a substantial anti-imperialist segment of the public that tried to halt the advance towards conflict.

Drawing on contemporary sources, the author analyzes the anti-war arguments that preceded the Spanish-American War and continued during the war in the Philippines. News articles, letters to editors, opinion pieces and the yellow journalism of the day show how anti-war groups ultimately failed to stop a war with Spain.