America went to war with Spain largely for the poor treatment of the Cubans by Spain, but the ongoing growth of industry had many Americans more interested in taking over colonies to expand across the seas. Harsh treatment of Cubans by the Spanish, the role of the press in creating an outcry for war against Spain, and an explosion on the USS Maine created blame on the Spanish which leads to "war fever". (Dolan, 2001) This short war, only lasted about ten weeks but showed the strength of America. In 1867 America purchased Alaska from Russia, the first long distant territory to be controlled by America. America also wanted Hawaii. American business owners in Hawaii opposed the idea of the Hawaiian government operating independently. Claiming
