What was the outcome of the Spanish-American War?

Answer 1

BRIEFLY:
The Spanish-American War was a conflict between the Kingdom of Spain and the United States of America that took place from April to August 1898. The war ended in victory for the United States and the end of the Spanish Empire in the Caribbean and Pacific. Only 113 days after the outbreak of war, the Treaty of Paris, which ended the conflict, gave the United States control over the former Spanish colonies of Puerto Rico, the Philippines and Guam, and control over the process of independence of Cuba, which was completed in 1902.


AFTER THE INFAMOUS WAR:
The war resulted in three territorial conquests for the United States, tens of thousands of Spanish and Cubans killed before American intervention, and the deaths of perhaps a quarter of a million Filipinos.

The Spanish-American War is significant in American history, as it saw the young nation emerge as a power on the world stage, though with a colonial domain smaller than that of Britain or France. The war marked American entry into world affairs: over the course of the next century, the United States had a large hand in various conflicts around the world. The Panic of 1893 was over by this point, and the United States entered a lengthy and prosperous period of high economic growth, population growth, and technological innovation which would last through the 1920s.

The Spanish-American war marked the effective end of the Spanish empire. Spain had been declining as a great power over most of the previous century. The defeat paradoxically postponed the civil war that had seemed imminent in 1898 and created a renaissance known as the Generation of 1898. Spain, however, would break out into civil war in the 1930s.


1898 political cartoon: "Ten Thousand Miles From Tip to Tip" meaning the extension of U.S. domination (symbolized by a bald eagle) from Puerto Rico to the Philippines. The cartoon contrasts this with a map of the smaller United States 100 years earlier in 1798.Congress had passed the Teller Amendment prior to the war, promising Cuban independence. However, the Senate passed the Platt Amendment as a rider to an Army appropriations bill, forcing a peace treaty on Cuba which prohibited it from signing treaties with other nations or contracting a public debt. The Platt Amendment was pushed by imperialists that wanted to project U.S. power abroad (this was in contrast to the Teller Amendment which was pushed by anti-imperialists that called for a restraint on U.S. hegemony). Most notoriously, the Amendment granted the United States the right to militarily invade Cuba when it saw fit, a provision on which the United States acted numerous times. The Platt Amendment also provided for the establishment of a permanent American naval base in Cuba, which would lead to the base still in use today at Guantánamo Bay. The Cuban peace treaty of 1903 would govern Cuban-American relations until 1934.

The United States annexed the former Spanish colonies of Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Guam. The notion of the United States as an imperial power, with foreign colonies, was hotly debated domestically with President McKinley and the Pro-Imperialists winning their way over vocal opposition. The American public largely supported the possession of colonies, but there were many outspoken critics such as Mark Twain, who wrote The War Prayer in protest.

Mark Twain's writings attacked U.S. Army General Frederick Funston with particular ferocity. Funston, who was in the Philippines because, after fighting with Cuban rebel forces [13] [14] he had given his parole [not to fight again in Cuba], is notable for his adroit capture of Emilio Aguinaldo which much decreased the Philippine-American War's intensity, and other deeds which earned him the Medal of Honor [15] and promotion by Lieutenant General Arthur MacArthur, Jr., father of Douglas MacArthur

Roosevelt returned to the United States a war hero, soon to be elected governor, and then Vice President.


1900 Campaign posterWilliam Randolph Hearst emerged as a national institution: the first media tycoon in American history. The Hearst papers became so extremely successful at agitating public sentiment in favor of war, that he eventually became an archetypal figure in his own right. He had become more influential than even many politicians, and, at various levels, would be sought after for that influence. Decades later, a young filmmaker named Orson Welles would immortalize the Hearst archetype with Citizen Kane, a portrayal which William Hearst, in later life, would find quite displeasing, though he reportedly never saw the film himself.

Another interesting, but little-noted effect of this short war, was that it served to further cement relations between the American North and South. The war provided both sides a common enemy for the first time since the end of the American Civil War in 1865, and many friendships were formed between soldiers of both Northern and Southern states during their tours of duty. This was an important development as many soldiers in this war were the children of Civil War veterans on both sides, and may have grown up regarding their parents' counterparts as enemies.

Reconciliation between the former Yankee and Confederate soldiers were marked by "Blue-Gray" Reunions and increased political harmony between Northern and Southern politicians. The "Lost Cause" view took hold in the popular imagination and many former Confederate leaders were held in general high esteem nationally. The 1890s also witnessed resurgent racism in the North and the passage of Jim Crow laws that increased segregation of blacks from whites. The Spanish-American War provoked widespread feelings of jingoistic American nationalism that fused often-divergent Northern and Southern public opinion.


Segregation in the US Military, 1898The African-American community strongly supported the rebels in Cuba, supported entry into the war, and gained prestige from their wartime performance in the American army. Spokesmen noted that 33 African American seamen had died in the Maine explosion. The most influential black leader, Booker T. Washington argued that his race was ready to fight. War would offer them a chance "to render service to our country that no other race can," because, unlike whites, they were "accustomed" to the "peculiar and dangerous climate" of Cuba. In mid-March, 1898, Washington promised the Secretary of the Navy that war would be answered by "at least ten thousand loyal, brave, strong black men in the south who crave an opportunity to show their loyalty to our land and would gladly take this method of showing their gratitude for the lives laid down and the sacrifices made that the ***** might have his freedom and rights."[6]

In 1904, the United Spanish War Veterans was created from smaller groups of the veterans of the Spanish American War. Today, that organization is defunct, but it left an heir in the form of the Sons of Spanish American War Veterans, created in 1937 at the 39th National Encampment of the United Spanish War Veterans. According to data from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, the last surviving U.S. veteran of the conflict, Nathan E. Cook, died on September 10, 1992 at the age of 106. (If the data is to be believed, Cook, born October 10, 1885, would have been a mere 12 years of age when he served in the war.)

Answer 2

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Answer 3

Param said it all, actually. The US won, and Spain lost.
The war ended Spain's illusions as a world power, sinking to its lowest point ever in five centuries, with the loss of its more important colonies: the Philippines, Cuba, Puerto Rico plus Guam. The ease with which Spain was defeated made it clear it was no longer one of the great powers.
It was a debut of sorts for the US as a world power, with possessions in the Pacific and the Caribbean. By that time, the US was already an industrial power: the war only served to boost its prestige. Henceforth, the US would be a dominant power, stronger than any other nation, both feared and respected. An internationalist US was thus born, in opposition to a domestic-oriented US. There has been a tug-of-war between the two since then.

Answer 4

We defeated the Spanish in a huge naval battle. Sort of an upset. The Spanish offered up Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Phillipines for $20 million and Cuba won its independence

Answer 5

The USA won.

-Cuba and Puerto Rico became independend however under influence of the USA.

- The Philippines became an american colony

- It was another milestone for the US on its way to a great power.

- despite isolationalist policy (monroe doctrine ) the USA established a colony.

- a former colony became colonial power itself

Answer 6

U.S. recognized as dominant force in western hemisphere. U.S. took control Puerto Rico, Philippines and other Spanish colonies.