On February 15, 1898 the American battleship U.S.S. Maine anchored in Havana Harbor exploded. 266 American crew men died. On April 11, 1898 President McKinley went to Congress and asked for American troops to start the war. Congress agreed and on April 25 the U. S. declared war on Spain. In McKinley’s declaration of war against Spain, he stated "For the recognition of the independence of the people of Cuba, demanding that the Government of Spain relinquish its authority and Government in the island of Cuba, and to withdraw its land and naval forces from Cuba and Cuban waters, and directing the President of the United States to use the land and naval forces of the United States to carry these resolutions into effect." McKinley clearly declared war on Spain in recognition of the independence of the people of Cuba. The Spanish were a threat to the Cuban people, a strong economic and territorial ally to America. A declaration of war on Spain was extremely important for both the sake of the Cuban countryside and the economy of the United States. Yellow Journalism did not cause the Spanish American War by any means. William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer, the founders of “Yellow Journalism” never picked up a rifle, they never shot a cannon, and they did not declare war. Yellow Journalism was not the cause of the Spanish-American War. It was the aggression, and selfish actions of the Spanish on Cuba.