Spanish–American War (1898)

Abstract

The Spanish–American War was rooted in the growth of American power and the proximity of Spanish colonial possessions to the United States. Historians have assigned a variety of reasons for the US declaration of war against Spain, from humanitarian altruism to popular jingoism, a flight from the domestic divisions of the 1890s, or the influence of sugar planters, to a vision of national power that demanded stable pro‐American regimes in nearby nations and along major trade routes. The answer is a mix of all these factors, but the decision to go to war, the United States' first international war in more than half a century, certainly signaled a new national assertiveness.