On April 1898, America impulsively waged war with Spanish imperialists.  The Spanish sunk the Maine Havana battleship at the Atlantic Ocean which triggered the US to engage into a war.  At this time, the Americans were unprepared for a war an enthusiastic spirit guided the country and also lacked the military spirit. The America military was understaffed, undertrained and underequipped which made the country to distance itself from wars.  However, Spain pushed America to declare war which later led to the emergence of the Spanish-American war.  This paper focuses on discussing the cause and effects of the Spanish-American war that occurred in 1898.

The push of Cuba to gain independence from Spain was one of the causes of the American-Spanish war.  Cuba was remaining a colony of Spain. However, the war did not involve America as it was initially among Spain and Cuba.  Cuba was aggressive to attain independence from Spain while Spain curtailed the attempts of Cuba to achieve independence.  This was much similar to the revolutionary war which occurred between England and America during the pursuit of independence. The Americans understood the situation of the Cubans as the country had experienced denial of sovereignty before by Britain.  As a result, America expressed great sympathy deals towards Cuba due to brutal conditions which the Cubans had to deal with during struggle for independence.  According to an article published by the U.S History, “Spanish military commander, Valeriano Weyler y Nicolau, instituted the reconcentrado, or concentration camp, system in 1896; Cuba’s rural population was forcibly confined to centrally located garrison towns, where thousands died from disease, starvation, and exposure”. However, this brutal approach did not deter Cubans from rebelling against the Spanish.  The US had to support Cuba to gain independence due to deep historical independence roots that the country had already experienced.  Through the US supporting Cuba, the country had declared war on the Spanish who were determined in preventing Cuba to gain independence.

The rise of American imperialism is another cause of Spanish-American war.  The imperialism instituted by the Americans gained support from Manifest Destiny as an ideology that advocated expansion of the US territorial boundary. The Manifest Destiny was based on a belief that expanding the territories of the US was divinely ordained and inevitable by the countries which sought to revolt.  For effective expansion of the US territories, the American had to spread the ideology to citizens of other countries to persuade them that American policies advocated for imperialism of North America. The imperialism was used as propaganda by U.S citizens to express sympathy on Cubans who were experiencing struggles in attaining of independence.  The imperialism ideology made US triggered US involvement in the liberation of the Cubans through military help and also providing economic support.  Spain was against the attempts of America to offer economic and military aid to the Cubans, and this triggered the beginning of the Spanish-American war.

In January 1898, the US sent the Maine battleship to Havana harbor to offer protection from peace disturbance. However, Spain destroyed the Maine battleship in February 1898 through underwater explosion thus causing killing of more than 266 American Navy officers.  The Americans firmly believed that the Spanish conducted the blast as an attempt of stopping America from supporting the Cubans. The sinking of Maine battleship resulted to tensions between America and the Cubans which later caused the actual war between Spain and America. The Philippine Islands started to restrict the Spanish rule as they perceived the rule as ‘pure-blooded.’  As a result, Spain accused the Americans of interference on the colonization agenda. In response, the US used the accusations to affirm the sinking of Maine battleship thus declaring war on the Spanish to protect the interests of the Cubans and the Philippine Islands which were subjected into ‘pure-blood independence.’

The Spanish-American war had significant effects on the two countries as well as other countries of interest. One significant impact of the war included the ‘Treat of Paris’  which presented the most generous effects on America as the winner of the war.  America received Islands of Puerto Rico and Guam as well as the Philippines as its islands. On the other hand, Cuba gained independence from the Spanish. As America continued to gain more victories against the Spanish, Spain demanded annexation of the Philippines and the US was entitled to compensate Spain with $20 million. The Spanish-American war has severe implications on the Cubans who experienced adverse outcomes of the war. In particular, the Cubans were subjected to live in concentration camps characterized by poor sanitation and access to basic needs.  As a result, many Cubans lost their lives due to the struggle they experienced under concentration camps. On the other hand, many Cubans were evacuated into the US as the living conditions continued to worsen in Cuba.

For the two countries, Spain gained total humiliation which bolstered anti-American sentiments. The Spanish felt that efforts of helping the Americans during the revolutionary war was paid back by betrayal during the colonization of Cuba.  The Spanish lost dominance over their protectorates which caused further isolation from the rest of the world for a long period.  On the side of the US, the country began to breathe the power of becoming a superpower as the war paved the way for the US to become an undisputed player in the future.  On the other hand, the US took advantage to spread the imperialism ideology based on Manifest Destiny as an attempt to expand the territories.  However, countries such as the Philippines started to fight back the American imperialism by the formation of guerilla movement.

In conclusion, Spanish-American war was triggered by America involvement in preventing Spain colonize Cuba, the sinking of the Maine battleship at Havana harbor by the Spain and attempt of America to spread imperialism through Manifest Destiny ideology.  However, the involvement of US to Spanish affairs was perceived as a desire of the US is becoming a superpower and dominate the world. According to President Roosevelt, he was of the onion that America had to assert itself into global affairs to become a superpower.  The Spanish-American war had significant effects which included gaining of independence by Cuba, but the country remained as American protectorate for 15 years.  Also, America gained the Philippines and Puerto Rico as their protectorate while Spain was rewarded $20 million by the US as compensation for interference on Spain annexation. The war led to the death of Cubans concentrated into camps due to lack of access to basic needs.  The war ended after signing of ‘Treaty of Paris’ in December 1898 which led to Spain losing control of the remaining overseas empires.