Why did the United States expand its overseas power around 1898, and how did affected peoples contest the meaning and consequences of that expansion?
analyze economic, strategic, ideological, political, and humanitarian arguments for expansion; distinguish the Spanish-American War from annexation and the Philippine-American War; evaluate imperial policy through sovereignty, citizenship, race, resistance, and source perspective
List the questions you would ask before deciding whether one country’s claim to ‘help’ another people respects that people’s political choices
Cubans had fought Spanish colonial rule before the United States entered war in 1898. Spanish reconcentration policies caused severe suffering, while Cuban revolutionaries pursued their own independence. United States newspapers reported the conflict, sometimes sensationally, and political leaders debated intervention. The explosion of the USS Maine in Havana harbor intensified demands for war, although early public claims about responsibility exceeded the available evidence. Congress declared war after diplomacy failed and included the Teller Amendment, which disclaimed an intention to annex Cuba. United States forces fought Spain in Cuba and Puerto Rico and attacked Spanish forces in the Philippines, where Filipino revolutionaries had also pursued independence. Spain’s defeat was rapid, but the consequences were not one simple liberation. The Treaty of Paris ended the war and transferred Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines to United States control while Spain relinquished claims over Cuba. Hawaiʻi’s annexation occurred during the same expansionary moment after years of Native Hawaiian opposition and the earlier overthrow of Queen Liliʻuokalani
Supporters of expansion claimed that overseas power protected trade, security, and national greatness; some used racist claims of civilizational superiority. Opponents argued that ruling people without consent contradicted the Declaration of Independence and republican government. Anti-imperialists themselves had varied motives, and some also expressed racism, so their arguments require contextual evaluation rather than automatic praise. In the Philippines, a war for control followed the defeat of Spain. Filipino forces fought for independence, and both military operations and disease produced extensive suffering. In the United States, the Insular Cases helped create a constitutional framework in which full constitutional application did not automatically extend to every territory. Those rulings and territorial statuses remain debated. A responsible account distinguishes places and timelines, includes local voices, and asks who could consent, vote, hold citizenship, control land, and decide political status
Cuban, Filipino, Puerto Rican, and Native Hawaiian peoples had political projects before United States intervention; they were not empty spaces awaiting American decisions
Create one timeline row for Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, Hawaiʻi, and the Philippines; never assume that one treaty produced the same political outcome everywhere
The first was fought against Spain in 1898; the second involved United States efforts to defeat a Philippine independence movement after Spain’s defeat
For one affected place, identify political status before 1898, local movement goals, United States action, resulting status, and one contemporary or later local perspective
United States expansion around 1898 joined war, strategy, markets, nationalism, racial ideology, and humanitarian claims. Its varied territorial outcomes generated resistance and lasting conflicts over consent, citizenship, sovereignty, and constitutional rights
Work through all 12 questions. Open an answer only after you have written or explained your response.
Extending state power over other territories or peoples
Economic, strategic, ideological, political, humanitarian, religious, or nationalist arguments; any four
Cubans had long pursued independence and shaped the conflict; ignoring them falsely makes the United States the only historical actor
The ship exploded in Havana harbor; assigning responsibility required evidence not established by the explosion alone; separate observation from inference and later proof
Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines passed to United States control; Spain also relinquished claims over Cuba
Native Hawaiians had a sovereign kingdom, political institutions, organized opposition, and petitions against annexation after the monarchy’s overthrow
The Spanish-American War was fought against Spain in 1898; the Philippine-American War involved United States forces fighting a Filipino independence movement afterward
Supporters cited security, markets, or national power; opponents cited consent, republican principle, cost, or injustice; accept one accurate pair
Some opponents objected for strategic, partisan, or racist reasons and did not necessarily support equal rights or self-determination for all peoples
Citizenship, voting representation, application of constitutional rights, land authority, taxation, military power, and pathways to statehood or independence; any three
The affected places developed different legal statuses and political struggles
Accept a claim explaining that government without meaningful consent conflicts with self-determination and requires scrutiny of who authorized rule and who could change it