On February 15th, 1898, over 250 American sailors were killed when the battleship Maine blew up and sank in Havana harbor. The explosion killed 268 men and sent shockwaves throughout the United States as many Americans believed the Spanish orchestrated the incident. As Cuba fought for independence from Spain, this event proved to be a turning point in the escalating conflict between the United States and Spain. Two months later on April 25, 1898 the United States declared war on Spain and the start of the Spanish-American war.
This would be the first overseas war fought by the United States, involving campaigns in both Cuba and the Philippine Islands. The war ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris on December 10, 1898. As a result Spain lost its control over the remains of its overseas empire — Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines Islands, Guam, and other islands. The war originated in the Cuban struggle for independence from Spain. Following the liberation from Spain of mainland Latin America, Cuba was the first to initiate its own struggle for independence.
Revolts had been occurring for some years in Cuba against Spanish colonial rule. The United States backed these revolts upon entering the Spanish–American War. During the years from 1868-1878, Cubans personified by guerrilla fighters known as mambises fought for autonomy from Spain. American public opinion swayed in support of the rebellion because of reports of concentration camps set up to control the populace. Cubans were herded into so-called “re-concentration areas” in and around the larger cities. Those who remained at large were treated as enemies.
Spanish authorities made no adequate provision for shelter, food, sanitation, or medical care for the reconcentrados, thousands of whom died from exposure, hunger, and disease. These conditions were graphically portrayed for the U.S. public by sensational newspapers. Humanitarian concern for the suffering Cubans was added to the traditional American sympathy for a colonial people struggling for independence.
The African American community strongly supported the rebels in Cuba, supported entry into the war, and gained prestige from their wartime performance in the Army. Spokesmen noted that 33 African American seamen had died in the Maine explosion. The Black population facing growing racial discrimination and increasing retardation of their civil rights, wanted to take part in the war. They saw it as a way to advance their cause of equality, racial justice, and gain public respect amongst the White population.
The most influential Black leader, Booker T. Washington, argued that his race was ready to fight. War offered them a chance “to render service to our country that no other race can”, because, unlike Whites, they were “accustomed” to the “peculiar and dangerous climate” of Cuba. In March 1898, Washington promised the Secretary of the Navy that war would be answered by “at least ten thousand loyal, brave, strong black men in the south who crave an opportunity to show their loyalty to our land, and would gladly take this method of showing their gratitude for the lives laid down, and the sacrifices made, that Blacks might have their freedom and rights.“
The popular demand for intervention to stop the war and assure Cuban independence gained support in the U.S. Congress. This expression of congressional opinion was ignored by Pres. Grover Cleveland, who opposed intervention. His successor, William McKinley, was equally desirous of preserving peace with Spain. Though not seeking a war, President McKinley made preparations in readiness for one. He unsuccessfully sought accommodation with Spain on the issue of independence for Cuba. However, after the U.S. Navy armored cruiser Maine mysteriously exploded and sank in Havana Harbor on February 15, 1898, political pressures pushed McKinley into a war that he had wished to avoid.
On March 28, the U.S. Naval Court of Inquiry finds that the mine that blew up the Maine, was the result of Spanish sabotage. The next month, on April 21 President McKinley orders a blockade of Cuba and issued a call for 125,000 military volunteers the following day. That same day, Spain declared war on the United States, and four days later the U.S. Congress voted to go to war against Spain. The war’s turning point occurred when the US Navy destroyed the Spanish fleet off Santiago Bay, Cuba on July 3, 1898; on July 17, the Spanish Army in Santiago surrendered.
In order to prevent the possibility of US annexation of Cuba, Congress passed the Teller Amendment. It proclaimed that the United States would help the Cuban people gain their freedom from Spain but would not annex the island after victory. On August 12, the US and Spain signed the Protocol of Peace, an unofficial treaty that ended the hostilities between the two countries. The war officially ended four months later, when the U.S. and Spanish governments signed the Treaty of Paris on December 10, 1898, negotiated on terms favorable to the United States.
The Spanish-American War of 1898 ended Spain’s colonial empire in the Western Hemisphere and secured the position of the United States as a Pacific power. U.S. victory in the war produced a peace treaty that compelled the Spanish to relinquish claims on Cuba, and to cede sovereignty over Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines to the United States. The United States also annexed the independent state of Hawaii during the conflict. Thus, the war enabled the United States to establish its predominance in the Caribbean region and to pursue its strategic and economic interests in Asia.