The Spanish American War and Its Causes The Spanish-American War started off with no conflict between US and Spain. Cuba and Spain were were arguing because Cuba thought that it should be it's own country and Spain didn't. Spain was basically using harsh and cruel punishment to get Cuba to shut up. The US wasn't happy, but they didn't really care at first. The US believed that the people should be able to decide who rules them. America gradually came into the picture when Pulitzer and Hearst published exaggerated stories about the conflict in the Yellow Press. More and more Ameri