The Spanish-American War was an armed conflict between the United States and Spain, which took place in Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Guam. The war resulted in victory for the United States, thus ending Spanish colonial rule in North America. The 1898 Treaty of Paris agreed the terms of the end of the war with Spain and ceded the aforementioned countries to the USA.

The war had originated in Cuba’s struggle for independence, starting in February 1895. The insurgents targeted sugar mills, hurting United States investments. The Spanish authorities herded Cubans into ‘reconcentration’ areas where little provision was made for shelter and sanitation, causing thousands to die from exposure, hunger, and disease. Depictions of these conditions in American newspapers led to sympathy for the Cuban struggle amongst the American public, leading to demands for intervention to stop the war. In 1898, the Senate and the House of Representatives declared by resolution that belligerent rights should be accorded to insurgent Cubans. However, President Grover Cleveland opposed an intervention to keep peace with Spain.