Elected president
The people admired him. They felt that he could be trusted. They sent him, for seven terms, to represent them in Congress at Washington, and twice they made him governor of Ohio. In 1896 he was elected president of the United States.
The Cubans revolt
182. Spanish Persecution in Cuba. Since the earliest days of Spanish rule, Cuba had been discontented and had engaged in frequent wars with Spain because of heavy taxation and bad government. Again and again the Cubans revolted, but they were not strong enough to succeed and Spanish oppression continued. In 1895 the people rose in a last desperate effort to free themselves. To crush them Spain sent a large army under a cruel general. Large numbers of unarmed Cubans—men, women, and children—were gathered into camps guarded by Spanish soldiers and cut off from food and other supplies. Thousands died of starvation and disease.
HOW THE CUBANS FOUGHT
Lying in ambush for the advancing column of the enemy
Americans aroused
Red Cross Society goes to Cuba
These and other harsh things done in an attempt to break the spirit of the Cubans filled the American people with bitter indignation. On the recommendation of President McKinley, Congress voted fifty thousand dollars for relief work. Money, by private contribution, also flowed in from all parts of the country. The Red Cross Society, led by Clara Barton, hastened to the island to relieve the awful conditions of hunger and disease.