Essay On The Spanish American War

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Spanish-American War Fazenbaker, Bryce American Military University Vehnekamp, Stormy History 102 April 27, 2014 The Spanish-American War is important to American history because it established America interest in the Western Hemisphere especially in the tariff of sugar and other supplies coming from the southern and western lands below the equator. The war would eventually establish America in the Western hemisphere as a dominate power and allow for the establishment of future trade and military bases as well as land grabs such as Hawaii. The United States would declare war with Spain on April 25, 1898. This act of war would throw the entire Western part of the world into conflict. The Spanish-American war would start because of a attack on the Battleship Maine in Havana harbor in February of 1898. The ship would sink taking American lives with it. As a direct result of this war, Spain would lose its influence in what remained of its empire in the west. War would come to a halt following the Treaty of Paris which was signed on December 10, 1898. In this essay we will explore the days leading to the war, key battles, key leaders, and what would happen to Spain’s overseas empire following the Treaty of Paris agreement. War would break out after the sinking of the Battleship Maine. This took place in Havana Harbor on February 15, 1898. Before all of this, Spain would become the first European country to claim land, sailing westward crossing the Atlantic, exploring, and colonizing the lands and its inhabitants in the western hemisphere. At the peak of its time, the empire that resulted from Spain’s exploration extended from Virginia all the way to Tierra del Fuego in South America. The empire then continued to expand t... ... middle of paper ... ...nd in the west which would help to establish a fighting force in the pacific against the growing threats of the Asian empires such as Japan. Hawaii was annexed during this war and became a U.S. Territory later becoming a state in 1959. It seemed for everyone except Spain, the War was a good thing. Perhaps American loses would have been far less had it not been for the infectious diseases that Americans had never encountered. Because of his leadership and victories in the Spanish-American War, Lt. Col Theodore Roosevelt would later become the 26th president of the United States. He would die in 1919 and is to this date, revered as one of America’s greatest leaders. Because of Theodore Roosevelt’s leadership, he would influence the decisions of his cousin who would lead the nation out of a “Great Depression” and into another “Great War (WWII)” in the 1930’ and 40’s.

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