One cause of the Spanish-American War: the United States wanted an empire. The United States needed coaling stations in the Pacific in order for its ships to reach the rich markets of China. This is one reason why the United States captured Guam and the Philippines during the Spanish-American War. Another cause of the war would be Spain's inability to control Cuba. Cuban rebels started to agitate for their independence. When the Spanish general in charge of the island put the Cubans in concentration camps in order to pursue the insurgents, many Cubans died due to overcrowding. The Cuban insurgents attacked both American sugar interests and Spanish businesses. The United States wanted to protect its own economic interests as well as exert its ability to control the Western hemisphere.
Yellow journalism was another cause of the war. William Randolph Hearst made a great deal of money by selling the narrative that the Spanish were barbaric and the Cubans were good. He even sent noted artist Frederic Remington to the island in order to draw pictures of Spanish atrocities. Remington did not see any, but Hearst continued to push for war by showing the Spanish as barbaric and inept. When the USS Maine sank off the coast of Havana, the American press clamored for war. It was only later proven that the ship sank due to an internal powder magazine explosion and not a Spanish mine.
There were many effects of the war. While the United States gained the Philippines and Guam, it also gained its own insurgent war in the Philippines, as Emilio Aguinaldo led forces against the occupying Americans in order to take back the islands for Filipino rule. This war would kill thousands of Filipinos and drag on for four years—longer than the Spanish conflict. The war would also prove to be politically divisive as some in the United States did not want the nation to become imperialistic. The United States gained the port of Guantanamo and the island of Puerto Rico which it still administers today. The war unified the Southern and Northern members of Congress who still felt separated by the Civil War. The war also opened Cuba to greater exploitation by American commercial interests, much to the consternation of many Cubans who expected their lives to improve after the expulsion of the Spanish.
The proximate cause of the Spanish-American War was the explosion of the American battleship The Maine in Havana harbor in 1898. One of the more general reasons for the war was the American desire to become a world power, particularly in the Western Hemisphere, and their desire for raw materials such as sugar from Cuba. In addition, influential thinkers such as Alfred Thayer Mahan believed that sea power was necessary to acquire world power, and Americans wanted Caribbean naval bases.
The effects of the war were that the United States acquired Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines (for which the U.S. paid $20 million) and temporary control of Cuba. The United...
See This Answer Now
Start your 48-hour free trial to unlock this answer and thousands more. Enjoy eNotes ad-free and cancel anytime.
Already a member? Log in here.
States became a world power and increasingly intervened in foreign nations, including in the Caribbean, to protect its economic and military interests following the war. The United States used brutal tactics in the Philippines and elsewhere during the war, engendering debate about whether the country should become imperialistic. However, it was clear that American foreign policy would focus on intervention overseas after the war.
There were several causes and effects of the Spanish-American War. By the 1890s, the United States wanted to become a world power. Since other countries already took most of the land for colonization, we most likely would have to go to war to get land. Cuba, controlled by Spain, presented an opportunity for us to do this.
American newspapers picked up reports that the Spanish were treating the Cubans poorly. The newspapers reported on this treatment and then over-exaggerated the reports. Since most Americans got their news from the newspapers, they had no way to verify the reports. Americans generally trusted the newspapers to report on events accurately. When Americans read about the alleged mistreatment of the Cubans, they were unhappy with the Spanish.
Another event leading toward the war was when a letter written by the Spanish ambassador to the United States was intercepted and given to one of the newspaper companies. This letter was very critical of President McKinley. This outraged our people. Anti-Spanish feelings were rising because of these two events.
When the U.S.S. Maine exploded in Havana harbor, Americans were outraged. They immediately blamed Spain and demanded we go to war. As a result of these events, we went to war against Spain.
As a result of the Spanish-American War, the United States became a world power. We now controlled colonies beyond our borders. We got control of the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam as a result of this war. From this point on, we were considered as a world power. Our goal of expanding Manifest Destiny worldwide had been achieved. We now would have to deal with the benefits and the problems of being an imperial power.
The Spanish-American War had a significant impact on the United States. It led us into world power status.
Further Reading
The Spanish American War was largely caused as the United States responded to the Cuban struggle for independence. In 1895, Cuban revolutionaries began an armed uprising against Spain. A the time, many US businesses had large investments in Cuba, and the revolution had a negative effect on this. Additionally, many Americans felt sympathetic towards the Cubans after word of the Spanish response was publicized. Pro-business newspapers in the US printed sensational accounts of Spanish cruelty towards the Cuban people. People began demanding that the US intervene in Cuba, and a majority of Congress agreed. However, presidents Cleveland and McKinley disagreed and worked to keep the US uninvolved.
In 1898 massive protests took place in Havana. The US Navy dispatched the battleship Maine to Havana in order to protect US interests there. On February 15, 1898, the Maine blew up and sank, killing 260 American sailors. While no proof existed to blame the Spanish for this, the finger was quickly pointed at them. The sinking of the Maine became a rallying cry for US intervention. President McKinley was unable to ignore this and demanded that Spain leave Cuba immediately. Spain refused, and McKinley followed through with his threat. On April 22, 1898, Congress declared war on Spain.
The Spanish-American War resulted in the dismantlement of the Spanish Empire. The Treaty of Paris granted the United States its first overseas territories, such as Guam, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico. Cuba gained independence. This was the beginning of America's role as a major global power. The US navy was grown and expanded its reach around the world. After inheriting the Philippines, the US became embroiled in a brutal insurrection as Filipino rebels fought for independence. The war resulted in heated debates in the US over its role as an imperial power.
Further Reading
How did the Spanish-American War affect American society?
The Spanish–American War impacted American society in several ways. One impact was that many Americans believed that the concept of Manifest Destiny should be spread around the world. The American people wanted the United States to become a world power. Americans believed that their way of living and governing was superior to that of others. When stories appeared in the newspapers about how the Spanish were supposedly mistreating the people of Cuba, Americans felt this would give their government a chance to go to war with Spain and possibly get colonies. Once the United States went to war against Spain and won, the Americans gained control of Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. The Americans were now a colonial power and could begin to spread their way of living to other places. Many Americans were pleased with results of the Spanish–American War.
Many Americans also believed it was their duty to police and to protect the other countries in the Americas. They supported President Roosevelt when he issued the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine. This stated that the United States would handle any issues that the European countries had with countries in the Americas.
Consequently many people also believed it was acceptable to exert American influence around the world. When the Americans were spreading westward across North America, many people believed the country needed to move westward in order for progress and growth to occur. Thus, many people supported relocating the Native Americans, annexing Texas, and going to war with Mexico. That same belief existed as the United States looked to improve conditions in the world. For example, many people supported the American involvement in the independence movement in Panama. These people believed that Colombia was holding back progress by refusing to sell the United States land so it could build the Panama Canal. Thus, they supported President Roosevelt as he helped Panama become an independent nation.
The Spanish–American War also showed how impactful the press could be in American society. The press overexaggerated how poorly the Spanish treated the Cubans. The newspapers were able to sway public opinion to support going to war with Spain. This pressure impacted President McKinley’s decision to go to war. This type of influence by the press still remains strong today.
How did the Spanish-American War affect American society?
The Spanish-American War had far-reaching effects on American society. With the victory, the United States acquired colonies in Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. This spurred a great debate about America's participation in imperialism. Many believed that the United States was hypocritical in fighting against Spanish imperialism only to take on colonies of their own. The Philippines, led by Emilio Aguinaldo, resisted American colonial rule which resulted in a bloody three-year conflict in the Pacific.
The Spanish-American War also created a sort of folk hero out of Theodore Roosevelt. His heroics in Cuba, which were greatly exaggerated, made him a legitimate political force in the United States. This led him to be selected as William McKinley's vice president in 1900. He would become president when McKinley was assassinated and continued to push for American expansion. The war also pointed to a need to create a canal in Panama to connect the oceans for military purposes. This was pushed forward by Roosevelt as he was instrumental in the construction of the Panama Canal as President of the United States.
The Spanish-American War also transformed the American press. The coverage of the War was very popular on the home front and a number journalists became powerful as a result (Joe Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst are the most obvious examples.) The Spanish-American War marked the birth of the newspaper as a major popular media form.
Further Reading
What were the consequences of the U.S. victory in the Spanish American War?
The victory by the United States in the Spanish-American War had several consequences. One consequence is that the United States became a colonial power. Many Americans wanted the United States to expand beyond its borders. These people wanted to spread American influence and American ways of living around the world. The United States rallied around how poorly the Spanish were treating the people of Cuba. Ultimately, the United States went to war again Spain. When the United States won the Spanish-American War, the country got some of Spain’s colonial possessions. The United States gained control over Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines.
Victory in the Spanish-American War was the beginning of the spread of American influence around the world. The Open Door Policy protected American trading interests in China and also helped keep China independent. The United States eventually helped Panama become independent, which led to the building of the Panama Canal. The United States also began to increase its control over the rest of the Americas. The Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine told Europe that the United States would resolve any issues that Europe had with any countries in the Americas. The United States also sent its new powerful navy around the world to show off the power and the influence of the country. The victory in the Spanish-American War helped make the United States a world power with influence that spread around the globe.
What were the consequences of the U.S. victory in the Spanish American War?
American victory in the Spanish-American War launched the United States as a global imperial power. The war was short and decisive, with the United States Navy destroying the Spanish fleet in the Philippines and American ground forces winning in similarly short order in that country and in Cuba. What was significant about the war was the peace settlement with Spain that followed. As part of the agreement, known as the Treaty of Paris, the United States received the Philippines as well as the islands or Puerto Rico (in the Caribbean) and Guam (in the Pacific.) Cuba, whose struggle for independence from Spain was ostensibly one of the major causes of the war, gained its independence, although American diplomats inserted a provision in its constitution that permitted American intervention in Cuban affairs to protect its interests. Cuba thus became a protectorate. In the Philippines, annexation was followed by a bloody struggle for independence by Filipino rebels who objected to American rule as much as that of Spain. The United States military, at great cost, put down this rebellion and ruled the Philippines as a territory until after World War II. As for Puerto Rico, it became a US territory, and remains one today. Guam is also an American territory. Overall, the result of the war expanded American influence in Latin America, where US troops intervened in support of American interests literally dozens of times, and in the Pacific. The war, in short, made the United States a global empire.
Further Reading
What were the consequences of the U.S. victory in the Spanish American War?
There were two main consequences (for the US) of the US victory in the Spanish-American War. One consequence had to do with territory and the other had to do with the status of the United States in the world.
In terms of territory, the US victory in this war led to America taking control over a variety of places. The US took outright control of Puerto Rico. It allowed Cuba to be independent, but used the Platt Amendment to keep effective control over the country. The US also gained possession of Guam and the Philippines.
Perhaps more important than the actual territory was the impact on the standing of the US among the countries of the world. By taking all of this territory, the US became, for the first time, an imperial power. Up to this point, the US had taken control of a great deal of territory on the North American continent, but it had not really ventured overseas much. Therefore, it was not really seen as a major power. By taking an empire, the US took its place among the major powers of the world.
Thus, the US victory in this war gained the US both territory and a more exalted place on the international scene.
Further Reading
What were the immediate effects of the Spanish-American War?
The main immediate effect of the Spanish-American War (for the United States, at least) was to make the United States an imperial power.
Before this war, the US had had very little in the way of overseas possessions. That changed with this war. The US took effective control of Cuba. It also took complete control of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines. By taking the Philippines, in particular, the US became an imperial power. The war therefore also helped America’s standing in the world. It was the first time the US had defeated a European country in a war and it showed that the US was on its way to being a major power in the world.
What were the effects of the Spanish American War?
The Spanish-American war lasted only a four months, but had far-reaching consequences.
On the foreign affairs front, the war marked the emergence of the U.S. as a world power. The U.S. became a larger player in global politics, entering into treaties and other international agreements. It also marked the end of the Spanish Empire, which had been slowly crumbling since the early 1800’s. The war actually benefitted Spain economically since all the capital from their colonies was eventually returned to them.
The U.S. however began struggling with the idea of becoming an imperialist nation. At first they promised Cuba independence after the war, but the passage of the Platt Amendment kept the island on a very short leash. This is where the naval base at Guantanamo Bay came from.
Theodore Roosevelt returned to the U.S. a war hero. His popularity resulted in a vice-presidential nomination that eventually the presidency.
Strangely enough, the war had a healing effect back home. The photos of southern and northern fighting together helped heal scars left over from the Civil War. It also marked the beginning of an extended period of prosperity in the U.S. that lasted well into the 1920’s.
What were the effects of the Spanish American War?
The main effect of the Spanish-American War was to make the United States something of a global imperial power. Before the war, the United States had not really had any possessions outside of North America. With the conclusion of the war, the US gained an empire. This led to a major debate within the US as to the advisability of having such an empire.
From this war, the US got Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Guam. This meant that the US had possessions stretching from the mainland US almost all the way to the mainland of Asia. It also meant that the US, for the first time, had undertaken to rule a large number of non-white, non-American people. This led to some amount of debate among Americans as to whether it was ethical and/or wise to have such an empire.
So, the main effects of this war (for the US, at least) were to give the US an empire and to make Americans think about the pros and cons of being an imperial world power.
What were the effects of the Spanish-American War?
The largest effects of this war were that it ended the Spanish Empire and began the American one.
The Spanish Empire had been in a long, slow decline for more than two centuries and by 1898 had very few colonies under their control. By challenging and defeating the Spanish, the United States for the first time became a colonial power, taking Guam, the Philippines and Puerto Rico as US territories.
This ended easy Spanish access and influence in both the Caribbean and Asia and gave the Americans bases to project their military power (especially the US Navy) around the globe, securing resources and trade routes. The Spanish-American War ended the long era of Spanish naval power.
It also led to a long guerrilla war fought by Filipinos against their new colonial rulers, the Americans.
What were the unintended results of the Spanish-American War?
The major unintended result of the Spanish-American War was that the United States was faced with the question of whether to make itself an imperial power. When the United States started to get interested in Cuba, it had no particular interest in taking a country on the other side of the Pacific Ocean. However, the war gave it the chance to take the Philippines. Presented with this opportunity, the US had to decide whether it was worth it to take control over a country that was so far away and which had an independence movement that the US would have to fight for control. In the end, of course, the US decided to become an imperial power by taking the Philippines.
What were the causes and effects of the Spanish American war?
One of the major causes of the Spanish-American War was yellow journalism. Cuban rebels were assaulting Spanish installations in the country in order to gain their independence. American journalists, trying to sell newspapers, printed stories about the insurrection claiming that the Spanish soldiers were brutal against the poor Cuban rebels, including women and children. Some of the journalists who went to Cuba did not find any war crimes. Frederic Remington, a noted Western artist, was sent there by William Randolph Hearst. When Remington said that he did not find any atrocities, Hearst wired back that Remington would supply the pictures, and Hearst would supply the war. This war was sold to the American people as America standing up for human rights.
The real reason for this war had to do with imperialism. Already the United States had gained the island nation of Hawaii, after pineapple and sugar growers overthrew the Hawaiian queen. The United States wanted to get in on the imperialistic fever which had gripped the Western world in the latter half of the nineteenth century. They saw the Spanish empire as being weak and something the American military could bully. The American battleship Maine was sent to Havana Harbor in order to preserve order and to ensure that no further damages were done to American property in the area. When the Maine exploded, it was considered an act of war by Spain, when in reality it was probably an internal explosion caused by a faulty boiler. Divers cleaning the harbor later reported that the explosion which sunk the vessel left a hole consistent with an internal explosion, and not the attack from a mine that the U.S. government claimed at the time.
The greatest effect of the war was that the United States gained Guam, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Philippines from Spain. The Philippines would be harder to subdue, because the Filipino rebel Emilio Aguinaldo wanted to rule the nation himself, and he fought against the Americans for three years in a war that would kill more Americans than the Spanish-American War. Another effect was it made Theodore Roosevelt into a war hero, and probably made him the front-runner to be McKinley's running mate in 1900. This would be key as Teddy Roosevelt would go on to become one of America's most influential presidents.