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==Aftermath==
Although the Spanish-American War lasted fewer than five months, it had a lasting influence on the United States and signaled a dramatic change in its position in the world. It also marked the emergence on the global stage of the U. S. Navy.

The United States went to war with Spain in April 1898 to secure Cuban independence and end the revolutionary war that was killing thousands of Cuban civilians and damaging U.S. economic interests. As a result of the war, the United States became a world power by acquiring the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico from a defeated Spain. Recognizing the need to support its new overseas interests, the country acquired through purchase or treaty the Hawaiian Islands, Guantánamo Bay, the Virgin Islands, and part of the Samoan archipelago.

Ironically, in winning a war against European colonialism, the United States became a colonial power itself and ended up suppressing, by force, a bitter insurrection in the Philippines. A major departure from American tradition, the acquisition of overseas colonies (especially the Philippines) stimulated a great national debate. Those opposed saw colonialism as a denial of America's high moral position in entering the war to win Cuba's freedom. They feared the consequences of an enlarged military establishment and foreign entanglements. Expansionists, on the other hand, saw the Philippines as a base for American trade in the Far East and as part of a campaign to ensure national greatness. The domestic market could not absorb all the output of American factories, and American farmers sought new markets for their agricultural surpluses. Protestant churches saw an opportunity to send missionaries to the Philippines to work among the population. Social Darwinists believed the United States had a duty to bring civilization, and what they considered to be a superior culture, to the native populations of the newly occupied territories. Navalists held that the United States could only hold its place and advance its interests in the world if the country had a strong navy; and a strong navy required a healthy merchant marine, overseas commerce, and naval bases and coaling facilities throughout the world.

The acquisition of overseas territories, along with memory of the Navy's victories in the Spanish-American War, led to the realization of Mahan's goals of a larger and more powerful fleet. The American people then viewed the Navy with greater understanding and even affection. Pictures of ships on stereo cards and sailor-suits for children became an indelible part of popular culture at the turn of the century. The Navy also benefited from the interest of President Theodore Roosevelt, a former Assistant Secretary of the Navy and an accomplished naval historian. Congressional appropriations in the next two decades provided for an unprecedented level of new construction, not only of warships, but also of auxiliary vessels necessary to maintain a fleet on deployments throughout the world.

Institutional changes also helped keep the Navy efficient. Naval administrators sought to make conditions of service attractive to young, native-born, American men. The amalgamation of the Engineer Corps with the Line in 1899 resolved a long-standing cause of dissension. Establishment of the Chief of Naval Operations in 1915 prepared the Navy Department to direct naval operations in the coming world war.

In short, the Spanish-American War was primarily a naval war, and the U.S. Navy was dramatically affected by the experience. Following the war, naval expansion continued at such a high rate that the Navy went from ranking sixth in the world in 1897 to being afforded equal status with Great Britain by the [[Washington Naval Treaty]] of 1922. The Spanish-American War served as a catalyst propelling the New Navy forward, preparing it to fulfill the country's added responsibilities as a major world power in the twentieth century.