USA HISTORY

AMERICAN IMPERIALISM(1890 1919)

THE SPANISH AMERICAN WAR

[SOURCES]
True or False:The United States went to war to gain control of Cuba.

(A) True

(B) ** False

EXPLANATIONS BELOW

Concept note-1: -Summary. After Spain’s defeat by U.S. and Cuban forces during the War of 1898, Spain relinquished sovereignty over Cuba. Following the war, U.S. forces occupied Cuba until 1902, when the United States allowed a new Cuban government to take full control of the state’s affairs.

Concept note-2: -The United States had millions of dollars invested in businesses in Cuba and there were many U.S. citizens in residence there. The U.S. also traded goods with Cuba. In 1898, the United States assisted in war to protect its citizens and businesses in Cuba.

Concept note-3: -The main theatres of combat in the Spanish-American War were the Philippines and Cuba. Fighting centred on Manila, where U.S. Commodore George Dewey destroyed the Spanish Pacific fleet at the Battle of Manila Bay (May 1, 1898), and on Santiago de Cuba, which fell to U.S. forces after hard fighting in July.

Concept note-4: -1898: The Spanish-American War. By December, Spain has surrendered, ceding Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines to the U.S. in the Treaty of Paris.