It was 123 years ago today: Hawaii Becomes US Territory
On August 12, 1898, the United States and Spain reached a cease-fire agreement in its brief conflict over Cuba and the Philippines. The war marked America’s entrance onto the global stage as a military power.
The Spanish-American War is just one of five conflicts where Congress approved an official declaration of war using its constitutional powers. In total, war declarations have been declared by Congress in the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, the Spanish-American War, World War I and World War II.
The dispute between the two nations over Cuba had been simmering for decades. Earlier in the 19th Century, American forces landed on Cuban soil on several occasions to pursue pirates, and then the United States’ government tried to buy Cuba from Spain.
