The+U.S.+Becomes+a+World+Power

The U.S. becomes a World Power After Reconstruction, many events started to take place. One of them was called imperialism. This is when one country wants to take over another country. Some reasons for this are political, economical, social, and military reasons. The U.S. saw England start to take over some land in Africa, and wanted to get some for themselves. Since Spain owned some of the pacific islands, America decided to take over those. America beat Spain soundly in just a few months, and gained the Philippean islands, and other pacific islands. Another way people recognized the U.S. as a world power is by World War 1. Below is a picture from then. For more information visit http://www.worldwar1.com/

__Hawaii__ The United States wanted Hawaii to be under the control of the United States so they could use it as a base for ships. They also wanted it because it was good for a sugar trade. The U.S. gave the queen of Hawaii a choice either she would come willingly or the United States would take Hawaii by force. This is an example of imperialism in our countries history. __Spanish-American War (Spam)__ Another step for America becoming a world power is the Spanish-American War and as Mr. Black calls it the Spam war for short. Spain controlled Cuba as it’s’ territory. The Cubans rebelled many times but never really succeed. Then the battle ship Maine exploded in February 1898. It exploded in the Havana harbor and the U.S. blamed for the ship explosion. The role of yellow journalism is very apparent in this situation. Yellow journalism is when the press takes a little bit of truth and then makes up a great story that people will read.

__Normal__ After a good amount of time The United States decided to go to war because the public wanted to go to war. The U.S. defeated Spain pretty quickly and gained Porto Rico, the Philippines and other islands