"You may fire when you are ready, Gridley" This statement was the start of American revenge on Spain. The Spanish-American War had just been initiated and in the extreme favor of the United States. Overall, Spain was greatly outmatched by the U.S., causing the war to last less than a year. The Spanish declared war in April 1898, and ultimately suffered a devastating loss, completely defeated in July 1898. Four details of the war stand out prominently; the sinking of the MAINE, Manila Bay, Santiago harbor, Theodore Roosevelt’s Rough Riders, and the aftermath of the war. Despite losses on both sides, America and Spain benefitted from the war. The first contact between America and Spain took place in Cuba, before war was …show more content…
busy for another two years. In January of 1899, Spain removed the rest of their military forces from Cuba, but it was not until April of 1899 that both countries signed and proclaimed the document. On February 6, 1899, president McKinley signed the treaty, and on March 19th, the Queen of Spain authorized the document. But not until April of 1899 did the United States publicly proclaim the Treaty to be in effect. In the Treaty of Paris, Spain was to cede the Philippines to America. The Philippines, however, had declared their independence from Spain in June, 1898. Neither the U.S. nor the Philippines took comfort in the situation, and shortly thereafter another war began. The Philippine-American war lasted two years; and was an extremely brutal war for the U.S. The Filipino soldiers resorted to guerilla warfare on American soldiers, resulting in over four thousand U.S. soldiers killed in the Philippines. On March 23, 1901, Emilio Aguinaldo, the president of the Philippines, was captured by the U.S. Later he swore allegiance to America and declared peace between them. Finally, in July of 1902, the Philippine-American war ended, with over four thousand American soldiers, twenty thousand Filipino soldiers, and two hundred thousand Filipino civilians dead. The aftermath of the Spanish-American war was just as harmful, if not more so, to the U.S., it caused any peace America desired to be cast away for another two