Many of us Are familiar with the story of Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt and his “Roughriders,” and of their gallant charge up San Juan Hill in Cuba. The story relates back to the Spanish-American War, which began in the Spring of 1898.

The Spanish-American War was an armed conflict between Spain and the United States. America’s participation began following an internal explosion on the USS Maine in Havana Harbor on 15 February 1898, which was blamed on Cuban military revolutionaries. Two hundred sixty servicemen died in the explosion. This led to involvement by the U.S. in the Cuban War of Independence beginning in May 1898 through August 1898. It also led to the Treaty of Paris in 1898 in which the U.S. acquired from Spain the temporary control of Cuba, and the possession of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippine Islands. This further led to U.S. involvement in the Philippine Revolution and to the Philippine-American War. (This course will not include study of those conflicts.)