why did the U.S. go to war agenst spain in 1890?

Answer 1

We didn't. But we did go to war with Spain in 1898.

While the official reason was the sinking of the USS Maine in Havana harbor, much of it had to do with Manifest Destiny. We had conquered our own continent and were seeking to expand our physical presence into the Caribbean and the Pacific. Aside from that, if we could defeat an Old World power like Spain (as declining as that empire was) then it would announce the arrival of the United States as a major player in the international diplomatic and military scene.

Answer 2

In 1898, the first "media generated" war broke out between the US and Spain (so naturally it's called The Spanish-American War). William Hearst's newspapers were instrumental in providing the the pretext with its completely biased reports of restlessness in Cuba (oh, by the way, did I mention the interests of sugar refiners?), which painted the Spanish administrators as ruthless despots who would rape, torture, and kill at whim.

Born in revolution just a hair over 100 years previously, the American citizenry was outraged by these reports, and when the battleship Maine exploded in the Havana harbor, it was just the spark needed to provoke a war. Naturally, the Spanish were accused of destroying the Maine (and "Remember the Maine" was second only to "Remember the Alamo" as a battle cry until the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941). The true cause is still unknown, but it's not at all unlikely that a spontaneous combustion of coal led to an dexplosion in nearby powder magazines--coal fires being a rather common hazard among ships built after the Civil War. Such fires were hard to detect because they could smolder for hours, giving off no flame or smoke, but the fact remains that the actual cause is still one of history's unsolved mysteries.

Anyway, the war was short--about 10 weeks, I believe--and Cuba became independent, but highly influenced by their major purchaser of sugar, the USA. We also acquired the Philippines and Puerto Rico at this time. The Philippines gained independence after World War II, and Puerto Rico is a commonwealth whose people are American citizens.

Answer 3

To expand as a power in 1898 with a view to being the dominant power surpassing Britain as well and control The Sugar Trade in Cuba and The Tobacco Trade. It was touted as a liberation. This is something which has been of use in every war fought since The Spanish-American War including The Second World War and the current wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Both for oil acess. There was oil in Cuba as well at least enough to run cars much later in history so it might be oil was a factor in The Spanish-American War as well.

Answer 4

that is plenty greater fee-effective to license technologies than that's to launch a war over it. And from what i will tell, Spain's use of renewable capacity has much less to do with proprietary technologies and greater to do with a dedication to it, alongside with regulations and tax breaks. Like Eartha suggested, attempt setting up all that stuff in a pipeline.

Answer 5

To sell newspapers for the Hearst chain.
"You draw the cartoons I'll provide the war"
-Wm. Randolph Hearst to Thomas Nast