Honors Projects

Abstract

Historians have increasingly examined how media other than yellow journalism helped manufacture consent for American imperialism during the Spanish-American War, yet commercial sheet music—despite its ubiquity at the time—remains overlooked. This study addresses that gap by analyzing fifty pieces of sheet music published around the period, employing a mixed-methods approach that combines quantitative, qualitative, and comparative media analysis. The corpus reveals four dominant themes: memorializing the sinking of the Maine; Cuban “liberation” rhetoric that often referenced American ownership or influence over the island; military hero worship that personalized and justified expansion; and messages of national unity that permitted overseas territorial expansion. Sheet music functioned as particularly effective propaganda because of certain attributes unavailable to other media: it integrated text, image, and sound, which engaged multiple sensory registers simultaneously, and its domestic context helped to disguise political messages as entertainment. Recognizing sheet music’s distinctive propagandistic role reshapes understanding of how ordinary Americans came to embrace empire.

Department

History

Major

Political Science

First Advisor

Savitri Kunze

First Advisor Department

History

Second Advisor

Vibha Bhalla

Second Advisor Department

Ethnic Studies

Third Advisor

Shawna May Babula

Third Advisor Department

Honors Program

Publication Date

Winter 12-8-2025

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