If There was a Single Moment When the U.S. Became a Global Power . . .

. . . It was the war with Spain.                  Meow?

The Spanish Empire had been crumbling for a century, and there was a ferocious debate within the US over whether America should become an imperial power to replace it. This centered on Cuba: pro-imperialists wanted to purchase or annex it from Spain (pre-1861, the plan was to turn it into a new slave state); anti-imperialists wanted to support Cuban independence. In 1898, Cuban activists launched a war of independence from Spain, and the US intervened on their side. When the war ended in Spanish defeat, US anti-imperialists blocked the US from annexing Cuba, but pro-imperialists succeeded in placing it under a quasi-imperialist sphere of influence, seizing three other Spanish possessions: Puerto Rico, Guam, and the massive Philippines.

Anand Katakam / VOX

VOX:  70 Maps that Explain America

Theodore Roosevelt resigned as Assistant Secretary of the Navy in 1898 and organized the Rough Riders, the 1st United States Volunteer Calvary, composed of a diverse group of cowboys, miners, law enforcement officials, and Native Americans.

T. R. the Rough Rider: 
Hero of the Spanish American War


(The real Rough Riders)

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