Also known as the Spanish-American War of 1898, it was probably one of the most important in the American history. It gave to the expansion of America as well as the rice in the economy after the Civil War.
It all started with the colonization of places like Puerto Rico, Philippines, Cuba and others, all belonging to Spain. But it all exploded when the USS Maine literally exploded in Havana harbor on February 15, 1898 and the ‘yellow press’ blew things out of proportion blaming Spain without an actual prove that it had been involved. In result the U. S. declared war to Spain. 
But why was the Spanish-American war important?
o American expansion.
o Makes American very popular and powerful.
o There are many American bases throughout the globe.
Racialist thinking was common at the time and many cartoons portrayed the other countries’ people as savages and as the American duty to educate them.
But expansion was not only in the mind of America, but other powerful countries as well, example: Germany, Britain, France, and Japan; all of them colonizing frontier countries for mostly their resources. This is why in many parts of Africa French is spoken.
This created a sort of competition among this countries and the US for their expansions and exploitation of other countries’ resources and from that- profit, the wealthier the more power they had.
The US was interested, again, in assimilating the natives to the American way, as if it were their responsibility, (sounds familiar to the Native Americans? Yes!) Many, just like the Native Americans, were not happy with the American men entering and taking over their land and trying to change their cultures. Though, this time it wasn’t as harsh, leaving some part of their cultures intact.
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