The Philippine-American War

One of the causes for the Spanish American War was that Spanish General Valeriano Weyler y Nicolau, nicknamed “the Butcher” was torturing the Cubans. The Cubans were dying of starvation, disease and poor sanitation and then putting Cubans in concentration camps. President McKinley had sent previous warnings to Spain to stop the economic suffering. Later the USS Maine was in Cuba to protect American interest. The Library of Congress stated that Americans were shocked when the ship exploded and sank and 266 of the 354-crew members were killed (p 2). American received the territories of Cuba, Guam and the Philippines from Spain. Cuba was greatly impacted because with only being a US Territory they could still be an independent unit but have an American Naval base for protection. The Philippines were also impacted because they had been fighting for independence from Spain, but soon starting resenting the United States because they were still not totally independent. China was also impacted by the Spanish American war because with the United States acquiring Hawaii, Guam, Cuba and the Philippines it was easier to trade with because shipments didn’t have to go as far without refueling or supplies.

The Spanish American war started in 1898 and was a fight for Cuba’s independence which resulted in 379 American casualties in combat. The Spanish American War was justified because of the Monroe Doctrine, Correspondence between the United States and Spain, and the Platt Amendment, which were all created to protect American morals and freedom.

The Spanish-American War began as a humanitarian effort to free Cuba from Spain’s colonial grasp and ended with the United States itself acquiring territory overseas and fighting a dirty guerrilla war with Filipino nationalists who, like the Cubans, sought independence. Behind the contradiction stood the twin pillars of American foreign policy: The Monroe Doctrine made Spain’s presence in Cuba unacceptable, and U.S. determination to keep open the door to Asia made the Philippines attractive as a stepping-stone to China.

The Spanish-American War in 1898 was a point where American’s demonstrated their power and true colors. America wanted to free the Cubans from Spain, but it was not purely out of the interest of the Cubans. America was in it for the Philippines. Spain had control of the Philippines, and the Philippines were located in close proximity to China. The issue here was that the Philippines was not interested in having the U.S. around and rebelled against the American forces (47) .The U.S. wanted to capitalize on the economic struggles in China and the Philippines was

The Spanish American War started in 1898 and lasted about four months. Although the war might have seemed focused on freeing Cuba from Spain and gaining independence for Cuba and the Philippines, it was actually stimulated by nationalism and commercialism. Commercialism was a major factor when declaring war because the United States depended on Cuba and the Philippines for trade and business with other countries, especially in Asia and Latin America. Another major factor for the war was that the United States wanted to spread its Anglo-Saxon culture around the world and emerge as a world-wide power. Other minor motives for the war include the United States coming to the aid of the Cubans in their revolt against Spain and the feeling that

America's short war with Spain in 1898 was the nation's first step on the pathway to becoming a world power. The U.S. victory brought with it the unintended possession of the Philippines and a vested interest in the politics of the Pacific region that would ultimately lead to conflict with Japan. As an immediate outcome of the war, America found itself embroiled in an insurgency in the Philippines that closely mimicked the conflict in Vietnam over 60 years later.

I do not think that the United States were the good guys in the Philippine- American war. The only right that we had to be in the Philippines was the right taken from Spain. In many ways the imperialism idea that the U.S. had were undemocratic. The United States at the time was developing and did not have adequate resources to keep military in foreign places. I think that we should have focused on own land. We have a large chunk of land full of growth possibilities. The war was not only brutal on both sides, but it also increased tensions about race. Overall the war did not accomplish much besides hurt both sides. The United States should have stopped their efforts after they met resistance.

1899 marked the year when America set its sites from the Spanish to the First Philippine Republic plunging American into yet another war ending with the temporary annexation of the Philippine Islands spreading American imperialism to the Far East. Within one year of winning their independence from

10, 1898), Spain renounced all claim to Cuba, ceded Guam and Puerto Rico to the United States, and transferred sovereignty over the Philippines to the United States for $20 million.” Cuba also became an United States protectorate. The treaty ended up causing a heated debate in the U.S. However, there were Philippine insurgents who fought the Spanish rule in the war who quickly turned against the new residents. Almost 10 times more American lives were lost subduing the insurgents than in beating the Spanish. “Nevertheless, President McKinley's expansionist policies were supported by the American public, who seemed more than willing to accept the blessings and curses of their new expanding empire.”

In the summer of 1898, America showed the world their capability by defeating Spain in The Spanish-American War. The outcome of the war was that several Spanish colonies fell into America’s hands and these two were The Philippines and Cuba.They made it clear that they are not going to annex Cuba so they chose The Philippines instead. Many Americans Believed annexing the Philippines was unfair and others thought it was an excellent idea because the Philippines did not know how to work for their own government. The Philippines should have been annexed by The United States because the Philippines did not have a stable government, they were weak which means that other countries like Germany and Japan would easily take The Philippines. Albert

The Spanish-American war occurred in 1898 between the United States and Spain where the U. S. interrupted Cuba’s struggle for independence which resulted into the Philippine revolution. Some historians explain that the war publicized by the Hearst and Pulitzer newspapers which blame the sinking of the ship U. S. Maine on Spain, which had been sent to protect America’s interest and Americans living there. There was rising pressure on Congress to push the President to retaliate and go to war with Spain, but the main reason was for Cuba to gain their independence from the Spanish colonization. By defending their move they said that Spain attacked them first. The U. S. came out by using strategy to impose a naval blockade of Cuba and attack the Spanish Navy in the Philippines which was successful. (America goes to war, 2016). The war ended as a result of a treaty signed in Paris which allowed the U. S. to have provisional authority over Cuba took over Guam, Puerto Rico and purchased the Philippine Islands for $20,000,000. (America as World Power, 2016) The U.S. emerged from that war as a world power.

In my opinion The United States ordeal with Annexing the Philippines and the idea that we had of going into war with them was great mistake and should have been avoided. The Filipinos and Americans were deadlocked in war with each other. This all became a controversy with the two nations in 1898 when the Treaty of Paris between Spain and the United Stated ceded all seven thousand islands of the Philippine archipelago to the United States, for just a mere twenty-million dollars. Congress had approved the treaty with Spain, by February of 1899. Mckinley was on the verge of calling for the annexation of the Philippines which brought on a bloody two year struggle. In my opinion the United States was the cause of all of this because of three

One hundred years ago, in 1898, the United States was fighting the Spanish-American War. The victory over Spain made the United States a colonial power. The Spanish colonies of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines, as well as the formerly independent nation of Hawaii, became American possessions.

A second theater of the Spanish-American War was the Philippines. Although the United States initially had ambivalent feelings toward the Pacific island nation, the nation ultimately moved to incorporate the territory for economic reasons. Acting under the facade of protecting the native people from atrocities committed by Spanish colonists, the United States government annexed

The war in the Pacific was also important because the Spanish also no longer had a fleet to govern and protect its colonies, leaving them open for rebellion and attack. At the same time as the war in the Philippines a US fleet of four ships lead by Captain Henry Glass moved on Guam. When the Fleet approached the Island of Guam, they fired one round out of each gun upon the fort guarding the harbor. They were confused when instead of firing back, the Spanish sent a cruiser out to replace there ammo and gun powder. The Spanish thought the fleet was saluting their authority (navies do this to military bases to show they do not intend on fighting, they just need some supplies). When asked, the Spanish Commander had no idea there was a war between Spain and the United States. The Spanish surrendered the island and left with the American troops as POWs (Prisoners of War). This was yet another heavy blow to Spain because the United States now had a base to put supplies to fight wars in the Pacific