Remember the Maine

Cultural  

1. A slogan of the Spanish-American War. The United States battleship Maine mysteriously exploded and sank in the harbor of Havana, Cuba, in 1898. Stirred up by the yellow press (see yellow journalism), the American public blamed the sinking on Spain, which then owned Cuba. President William McKinley, who had opposed war, yielded to public pressure and asked Congress to declare war.

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Example Sentences

Sirs: Those of us who away back in 1898 "Remember the Maine" wince every time we now hear "Remember Pearl Harbor."

From Time Magazine Archive

Will the cry "Remember the Maine" quiet down?

From Time Magazine Archive

Military Historian Walter Millis riffles through old pictures and eyewitness drawings in an effort to help a new generation understand what Grandpa meant when he shouted: "Remember the Maine and to Hell with Spain."

From Time Magazine Archive

Never more popular than today, George V went home to a London in which the House of Commons was ringing with ironic cries of "Remember the Maine!"

From Time Magazine Archive

The watchword heretofore on the "Yankee," as on every one of Uncle Sam's ships, had been "Remember the Maine."

From A Gunner Aboard the "Yankee" by Doubleday, Russell