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Spanish American War Dbq

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The United States has faced many conflicts from the 18th century to the mid 20th century on the road to becoming the country it is today. Wars have been part of many conflicts that have broken out between the United States and various other powers during this time. The wars have cost many lives and allowed for the United States to rise to superpower status and stay a powerful nation in today’s world. But, the United States actions caused them to become part of many wars because they increased tensions between themselves and other countries causing war to be inevitable. The United States actions led to war by increasing tensions making war inevitable in many situations from the 18th century to the mid 20th century by the idea of imperialism, …show more content…

In 1823, the Monroe Doctrine was published by president James Monroe that stated that any effort of European nations to try to colonialize any parts of North America or South America would be seen as unfriendly by the United States. The expansion of the Monroe Doctrine to include Olney Corollary which said that it gave the U.S authority to mediate conflicts in its own hemisphere This corollary foreshadowed the the events of the Spanish-American War because which ended in 1898 with the Spanish ceding the Philippines and Cuba. The need for the United States to gain territory and intervene led to the war with the Philippines because after the Philippines was ceded to the United States, the Philippines didn’t want another colonial ruler so they sought independence by a war with the United States (Engel, Lawrence and Preston, 47). Imperialism caused the U.S to intervene with the Spanish which then angered the Filipino because they didn’t want a new colonial ruler. The Philippines created an opportunity to project American power into the pacific. With the Filipino leader, Aguinaldo, as president demanded independence but Washington refused so Aguinaldo declared war. The U.S didn’t want to give land away that they just received as well as the Philippines was considered a hotspot because it would allow the U.S to refuel on their long journeys back from Asia

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