Why did the US invade Cuba?

 As America became more and more oriented towards Imperialism around the turn of the 19th century, their concept of Manifest Destiny began to expand overseas, because stretching from sea to shining sea was not enough. The main cause of America's decision to invade Cuba was the suspicious explosion the Maine in a Cuban harbor. It was largely speculated that this was the responsibility of Spanish saboteurs, although the true cause was a mystery. Another cause (or maybe just a justification for the previous reason) was the detrimental conditions that the Spanish government kept many Cuban citizens in.
 Sources like The New York Journal correlate with suspicions of the Maine incident, stating that the Maine was arranged to be harbored over mines, connected to a magazine by a wire. The mine was then detonated by sending an electric current through the water. George Eugene Bryson and Theodore Roosevelt didn't believe such a tragedy was a mere accident.
 An even worse act of Spanish aggression was the terrible conditions Cubans were kept in by their government. Americans, because of their tendency to always stick their noses in foreign dilemmas, saw it as their God given duty to save them from their plight. In President McKinley's State of the Union, he said, "....we owe it to our citizens in Cuba to afford that protection and indemnity for life and property which no government there can will or afford".
 The US didn't take kindly to the explosion of the Maine; many nationalistic feelings arose against Spanish-governed Cuba. This is perhaps shown best through Awake United States!. "Awake! Thy stars and stripes unfurl, and shot and shell and vengeance hurl!". America is expressing that they are prepared for war. Jingoists were ready to fight and show the Spanish the fire and fury of the US war machine.
Going back to the poor conditions of many Cuban citizens, the Spanish moved rural cubans to "reconcentration camps". There, conditions were unhealthy, unsanitary and deadly. In Fitzgerald Lee's telegram to the Cuban US Consul-General addressing the state of these camps, he states, "complete accumulation of bodies dead and alive, so that it was impossible to take one step without walking over them..... greatest want of light..... cleanliness..... air, and water....." . With a 77% casualty rate, again, Americans felt it their duty to liberate them from these "reconcentrados".

 In conclusion, the invasion of Cuba was provoked by many things. When the Maine exploded, Americans became suspicious, and harbored negative feelings against the Spaniards. Also, when Americans noticed the neglect of the Spanish governments with their Cuban citizens Americans saw intervention as an obligation. Even more so, when they became aware of reconcentration camps. This invasion would lead to the Spanish-American War. I do think the Constitution should follow the flag, to some degree. When we take control of the lands of foreign people, we have an obligation to them. Because we want so badly to induct them under the eagle's wings, we owe it to then to allow the creation of their own government, hopefully for the better. We should give them Constitutional rights to allow for a more democratic society controlled by the people. When we "liberate" them from their previous way of life, we should treat them with benevolence, rather than oppressing them.