Spanish American War

The Spanish American War

In the eve of December 1898 , the United States and Spain signed the Treaty of Paris . Under this treaty , the latter 's possessions such as the Philippines , Guam , Puerto Rico , and Cuba . The United States reportedly paid 20 million to the Spanish government for the Philippines alone . It was supposed to be a liberation effort . It was supposed to be liberation from the Spanish cruelty that has plagued the aforementioned territories for at least three centuries . However , in such stroke of hidden intent , what seemed to be a

white man 's burden to liberate and spread American democracy throughout the world , ended up as a mock colonial transition which started one night in February of 1899 . The real intent became known America wanted to become a colonial power

What better way to do this than to do two things . One , humiliate one of the major colonial superpowers at the time . Spain , Britain , and France at that time control most of the Atlantic , Africa , and Asia Specifically in Asia , France has Indochina (Vietnam , Laos , and Cambodia , Britain has India and the East Indies (What would become today 's Indonesia , Malaysia , Singapore , and Brunei , and Spain has the Philippines . The colonizers have long been obtaining supplies from their respective colonies in to fuel surging industries brought about by the Industrial Revolution . During this time period , the United States is an emerging economy with growing needs trying to establish itself in the global arena . If America really wanted to be a colonial power , they should also have one colony were economics would be successful . The time 's geography restricts this , so the last option was to attack the weakest among the colonial powers at that time : Spain

Treaty of Paris

This is the official treaty whereas the United States was able to acquire the Philippines , Guam , and Puerto Rico from Spain . With this the United States became an official colonial power and gained control of the Pacific

Philippine-American War

This was one of the consequences of the Treaty of Paris . The Philippines declared itself independent from Spain in 1898 only to find out that the Americans who they thought were liberators are to occupy them next . This gave the United States become a military power in the Pacific out of the Philippines ' strategic location

Colonialism and spheres of influence

With the annexation of the Philippines , Puerto Rico , and Guam successful , the sphere of influence of the country echoed to the world that the United States is yet another country to challenge in politics and trade . For instance , the United States became visible in Asia wherein Britain , France , Portugal has been dominating for centuries

Trade

The economy of the United States improved with the opening of the new trade routed with China and Japan through the Philippines . The Philippines also became the largest military base outside the United States which was intended to secure trade with the east and the rest of the Oriental territories

Spain at this time...