On this day in 1898, the swift and lopsided Spanish-American War concluded when Spain officially agreed to a peace protocol on terms set by the United States, resulting in the cession of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Manila in the Philippines to the U.S., pending a final peace agreement.
The roots of the Spanish-American War can be traced back to the Cuban rebellion against Spanish rule that erupted in 1895. Spain’s harsh efforts to quell the guerrilla warfare, including the forced relocation of Cuba’s rural population into disease-infested garrison towns, were vividly depicted in U.S. newspapers, stirring public outrage. In January 1898, escalating violence in Havana prompted U.S. officials to deploy the battleship USS Maine to the city’s port to safeguard American citizens. On February 15, a catastrophic explosion of unknown origin sank the Maine in Havana harbor, claiming the lives of 260 out of 400 American crew members on board. Although a U.S. Naval Court of Inquiry concluded in March, with limited evidence, that a mine caused the explosion, it did not explicitly blame Spain. Nevertheless, many in Congress and the majority of the American public were convinced of Spain’s culpability and called for war.
In April, as tensions mounted, the U.S. Congress took steps toward war by passing joint resolutions demanding Spain’s withdrawal from Cuba and granting President William McKinley the authority to use military force. On April 23, President McKinley requested 125,000 volunteers to join the fight against Spain. The following day, Spain issued its declaration of war, and the United States followed suit on April 25. The conflict’s first significant engagement occurred on May 1 when Commodore George Dewey led the U.S. Asiatic Squadron in a decisive attack on the Spanish Pacific fleet at Manila Bay. Dewey’s overwhelming victory paved the way for the U.S. occupation of Manila in August and the eventual transfer of the Philippines from Spanish to American control.
Meanwhile, in the Atlantic, a Spanish fleet arrived in Santiago harbor, Cuba, in May after a hurried crossing from Spain. A more powerful U.S. naval force soon arrived and established a blockade at the harbor entrance. In June, the U.S. Army’s Fifth Corps landed in Cuba, aiming to march on Santiago for a combined land and sea assault on the Spanish forces. Among the U.S. ground troops were the “Rough Riders,” a volunteer cavalry unit led by Theodore Roosevelt, comprising Western cowboys and Eastern elites. The Americans secured a crucial victory at the Battle of San Juan Hill on July 1, followed by a siege of Santiago that began the next day. On July 3, U.S. warships under Admiral William Sampson decimated the Spanish fleet off the coast of Santiago, leading to the city’s surrender on July 17, effectively placing Cuba under American control.
In Puerto Rico, Spanish forces similarly collapsed in the face of superior U.S. military strength, leading to the signing of an armistice between Spain and the United States on August 12. The Treaty of Paris, signed on December 10, officially concluded the Spanish-American War. The once-mighty Spanish empire was effectively dismantled, and the United States emerged with its first overseas empire. Puerto Rico and Guam were ceded to the U.S., the Philippines were purchased for $20 million, and Cuba became a U.S. protectorate. However, Filipino insurgents who had fought against Spanish rule soon turned their resistance toward the new American occupiers, resulting in a conflict that claimed ten times more American lives than the war with Spain.
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