The Spanish-American War,

The Spanish-American War of 1898 ended Spain’s colonial empire in the Western
Hemisphere and secured the position of the United States as a Pacific power.
U.S. victory in the war produced a peace treaty that compelled the Spanish to
relinquish claims on Cuba, and to cede sovereignty over Guam, Puerto Rico, and
the Philippines to the United States. The United States also annexed the
independent state of Hawaii during the conflict. Thus, the war enabled the
United States to establish its predominance in the Caribbean region and to
pursue its strategic and economic interests in Asia.

Charge of the 24th and 25th Colored Infantry and Rescue of Rough Riders at
San Juan Hill, July 2nd 1898 (Kurz and Allison)

The war that erupted in 1898 between the United States and Spain was preceded by
three years of fighting by Cuban revolutionaries to gain independence from
Spanish colonial rule. From 1895–1898, the violent conflict in Cuba captured the
attention of Americans because of the economic and political instability that it
produced in a region within such close geographical proximity to the United
States. The long-held U.S. interest in ridding the Western Hemisphere of
European colonial powers and American public outrage over brutal Spanish tactics
created much sympathy for the Cuban revolutionaries. By early 1898, tensions
between the United States and Spain had been mounting for months. After the U.S.
battleship Maine exploded and sank in Havana harbor under mysterious
circumstances on February 15, 1898, U.S. military intervention in Cuba became
likely.

On April 11, 1898, President William McKinley asked Congress
for authorization to end the fighting in Cuba between the rebels and Spanish
forces, and to establish a “stable government” that would “maintain order” and
ensure the “peace and tranquility and the security” of Cuban and U.S. citizens
on the island. On April 20, the U.S. Congress passed a joint resolution that
acknowledged Cuban independence, demanded that the Spanish government give up
control of the island, foreswore any intention on the part of the United States
to annex Cuba, and authorized McKinley to use whatever military measures he
deemed necessary to guarantee Cuba’s independence.

The Spanish government rejected the U.S. ultimatum and immediately severed
diplomatic relations with the United States. McKinley responded by implementing
a naval blockade of Cuba on April 22 and issued a call for 125,000 military
volunteers the following day. That same day, Spain declared war on the United
States, and the U.S. Congress voted to go to war against Spain on April 25.

The future Secretary of State John Hay described
the ensuing conflict as a “splendid little war.” The first battle was fought on
May 1, in Manila Bay, where Commodore George Dewey’s Asiatic Squadron defeated
the Spanish naval force defending the Philippines. On June 10, U.S. troops
landed at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba and additional forces landed near the harbor
city of Santiago on June 22 and 24. After isolating and defeating the Spanish
Army garrisons in Cuba, the U.S. Navy destroyed the Spanish Caribbean squadron
on July 3 as it attempted to escape the U.S. naval blockade of Santiago.

Secretary of State John Hay

On July 26, at the behest of the Spanish government, the French ambassador in
Washington, Jules Cambon, approached the McKinley Administration to discuss
peace terms, and a cease-fire was signed on August 12. The war officially ended
four months later, when the U.S. and Spanish governments signed the Treaty of
Paris on December 10, 1898. Apart from guaranteeing the independence of Cuba,
the treaty also forced Spain to cede Guam and Puerto Rico to the United States.
Spain also agreed to sell the Philippines to the United States for the sum of
$20 million. The U.S. Senate ratified the treaty on February 6, 1899, by a
margin of only one vote.

The McKinley Administration also used the war as a pretext to annex the independent state of
Hawaii. In 1893, a group of Hawaii-based planters and businessmen led
a coup against Queen Liliuokalani and established a new government. They
promptly sought annexation by the United States, but President Grover
Cleveland rejected their requests. In 1898, however, President
McKinley and the American public were more favorably disposed toward acquiring
the islands. Supporters of annexation argued that Hawaii was vital to the U.S.
economy, that it would serve as a strategic base that could help protect U.S.
interests in Asia, and that other nations were intent on taking over the islands
if the United States did not. At McKinley’s request, a joint resolution of
Congress made Hawaii a U.S. territory on August 12, 1898.