How did the explosion of the battleship USS Maine hasten the united going to war?

The explosion of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor on February 15, 1898, was a pivotal event that inflamed U.S. public opinion against Spain. Although the cause of the explosion was uncertain, sensationalist journalism, particularly by newspapers like William Randolph Hearst's New York Journal, fueled outrage and called for military action. This incident, combined with existing tensions over Spanish colonial policies in Cuba, galvanized support for the Spanish-American War, leading Congress to declare war on Spain in April 1898. The rallying cry "Remember the Maine!" became a powerful slogan that united the American public in favor of intervention.