The timeline of events of the Spanish–American War covers major events leading up to, during, and concluding the Spanish–American War, a ten-week conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States of America.
The conflict had its roots in the worsening socio-economic and military position of Spain after the Peninsular War, the growing confidence of the United States as a world power, a lengthy independence movement in Cuba and a nascent one in the Philippines, and strengthening economic ties between Cuba and the United States. Land warfare occurred primarily in Cuba and to a much lesser extent in the Philippines. Little or no fighting occurred in Guam, Puerto Rico, or other areas.
Although largely forgotten in the United States today, the Spanish–American War was a formative event in American history. The destruction of the , yellow journalism, the war slogan "Remember the Maine!", and the charge up San Juan Hill are all iconic symbols of the war. The war marked the first time since the American Civil War that Americans from the North and the South fought a common enemy, and the war marked the end of strong sectional feeling and the "healing" of the wounds of that war. The Spanish–American War catapulted Theodore Roosevelt to the presidency, marked the beginning of the modern United States Army, and led to the first establishment of American colonies overseas.
The war proved seminal for Spain as well. The loss of Cuba, which was seen not as a colony but as part of Spain itself, was traumatic for the Spanish government and Spanish people. This trauma led to the rise of the Generation of '98, a group of young intellectuals, authors, and artists who were deeply critical of what they perceived as conformism and ignorance on the part of the Spanish people. They successfully called for a new "Spanish national spirit" that was politically active, anti-authoritarian, and generally anti-imperialistic and anti-military. The war also greatly benefited Spain economically. No longer spending large sums to maintain its colonies, significant amounts of capital were suddenly repatriated for use domestically. This sudden and massive influx of capital led to the development for the first time of large, modern industries in banking, chemicals, electrical power generation, manufacturing, ship building, steel, and textiles.
The war led to independence for Cuba within a few years. The United States imposed a colonial government on the Philippines, quashing the young Philippine Republic. This led directly to the Philippine–American War, a brutal guerilla conflict that caused the deaths of about 4,100 Americans and 12,000 to 20,000 Filipino guerilla and regular troops. Another 200,000 to 1,500,000 Filipino civilian deaths occurred. However, the conflict brought William Howard Taft to the attention of President Theodore Roosevelt, and led to Taft's ascension to the U.S. presidency in 1908. The American presence in the Philippines still existed at the beginning of World War II. Along with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the American experience in the Philippines at the start of the war (the Philippines Campaign, the Bataan Death March, the Battle of Corregidor) became another formative episode in the American experience and rehabilitated the career of General Douglas MacArthur.
1892 April 10 - After widespread discussion with Cubans living in the United States, José Martí co-founds El Partido Revolucionario Cubano (the Cuban Revolutionary Party). Its purpose is to win independence for Cuba. The organization is a reaction to nearly 15 years of economic growth, expansion of trade with the U.S., withering of trade with Spain, and extreme dissatisfaction with the peninsular caste system and socio-economic injustice.
1894 August 27 - The United States Congress enacts the Wilson–Gorman Tariff Act, which imposes much higher tariffs on sugar. A suspension of Spanish tariffs on American goods expires at about the same time, leading to fears that the U.S. will retaliate against Cuba and other Spanish colonies by raising sugar and other tariffs even further. The two events devastate Cuba's economy, and Cuban sugar producers unite to try to get the Spanish tariffs lowered.
1895 February 24 - In the small town of Baire near the city of Santiago de Cuba, Martí issues the Grito de Baire, igniting the Cuban War of Independence. Within 18 months, the insurrectionists have 50,000 men under arms and uprisings have spread across the island. June 12 - U.S. President Grover Cleveland issues a proclamation declaring the United States neutral in the Cuban war of independence.
1896 February 10 - After the Spanish lost the eastern part of Cuba to the revolutionaries and witnessing the outbreak of insurrection in the western provinces, Spanish Army General Arsenio Martínez-Campos y Antón is replaced as Governor of Cuba by General Valeriano Weyler, 1st Duke of Rubí. Weyler begins a policy of recontratación ("reconcentration"), in which the people in rebel-held areas are rounded up and placed in concentration camps. Weyler brings with him more than 200,000 Spanish Army troops, and organizes 50,000 peninsulars and Cubans into a pro-Spanish militia. About 400,000 people are placed in concentration camps with little provision made for food, housing, clothing, sanitation, and medical care, and the local economy collapses in areas where the camps are created. Tens of thousands of Cubans starve to death or die from disease. November 3 - 1896 United States presidential election: William McKinley defeats William Jennings Bryan to become President of the United States. The Republican Party platform advocates independence and democracy for Cuba. The neutralist wing of the Democratic Party loses power in Congress as voters elect pro-Cuban Democrats.
1897 May 20 - The U.S. Congress appropriates $50,000 to provide food, clothing, and other supplies to approximately 1,200 destitute people living in Cuba who have both Cuban and American citizenship. President McKinley signs the legislation on May 24.; June 7 - United States Secretary of State John Sherman issues an official protest to the government of Spain regarding the brutality of General Weyler. July 7 - The U.S. Congress enacts the Dingley Act, which doubles the tariff on sugar. This plunges the Cuban economy into depression. October 6 - After Conservative Party Prime Minister Antonio Cánovas del Castillo is assassinated on August 8, Liberal Party leader Práxedes Mateo Sagasta forms a government to become Prime Minister of Spain. Sagasta recalls Weyler (replacing him with General Ramón Blanco y Erenas), offers home rule to the Cubans, and closes the concentration camps. Confident of victory, the Cuban rebels reject the offer of home rule.
1898
January January 11 - Anti-independence riots, incited by Spanish Army officers, occur in Havana, the capital of Cuba. Extensive property damage occurs as rioters demand that Spain stop giving concessions to the Cuban rebels. January 25 - The United States Navy battleship arrives at Havana Harbor from Key West, Florida. President McKinley says the ship is on a good-will visit, but the ship is there as a show of strength to ensure American property and lives are not threatened should additional rioting occur.
February
February 9 - Enrique Dupuy de Lôme, the Spanish ambassador to the United States, is forced to resign after the De Lôme Letter is published in the New York Journal. This document, a private letter written to friend in Cuba, characterizes U.S. President McKinley as "weak" and a "would-be politician" who catered to the most jingoistic elements of the Republican Party and public. The American public is outraged at the depiction of the United States as immature, militarily weak, and lacking in diplomatic skill. The Autonomous Charter of Puerto Rico, a law approved the previous November by the Cortes (the Spanish national legislature) giving local city and provincial governments of the island nearly complete autonomy, is implemented by Spanish Governor-General Manuel Macías y Casado. The first autonomous government of Puerto Rico meets the following day. February 15 - The USS Maine explodes. About 274 of the ship's roughly 354 crew die. A naval court of inquiry led by Captain William T. Sampson is inconclusive, but the American press and most members of Congress conclude that the Maine struck a naval mine laid by the Spanish. (Subsequent investigations over the next century suggest the explosion was caused by the ignition of coal dust in the fuel bunker or a fire in the coal bunker, although some researchers have also concluded the cause was a mine.) February 25 - U.S. Assistant Secretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt sends an order to Commodore George Dewey, commander of the U.S. Navy's Asiatic Squadron in Hong Kong, to be prepared to attack the Spanish Navy fleet in the Philippines if there is an outbreak of war. Although Secretary of the Navy John Davis Long is angered by Roosevelt's precipitate action (which occurred during his absence), he does not countermand the order.
March March 3 - Fernando Primo de Rivera, Governor-General of the Philippines, informs the Spanish government in Madrid that the U.S. Asiatic Fleet has orders to attack Manila, capital of the Philippines, in the event of war. March 9 - After learning that Spain was attempting to buy Brazilian warships under construction in the United Kingdom, U.S. President McKinley asks Congress for $50 million for national defense. Congress approves the request in a single day. The U.S. Navy purchases the Brazilian ships instead. March 12 - The U.S. Navy's European Squadron is ordered to depart Lisbon, Portugal, and escort the newly purchased ships (formerly the Amazonas) and the (formerly the Almirante Abreu) to the United States. March 14 - The Spanish Navy's Atlantic Squadron, commanded by Admiral Pascual Cervera y Topete, leaves the Spanish port of Cádiz for the Canary Islands and then the Portuguese-held Cape Verde Islands to position itself for a dash to the West Indies in the event of war. Admiral Cervera has orders to destroy Key West and blockade the East Coast of the United States, but knows that his navy is in disrepair, has no ship repair facilities in the Americas, is ill-trained, and is significantly weaker than the U.S. Navy. He advocates a defensive strategy, but is ignored. March 19 - The battleship leaves Puget Sound, Washington, for Key West, accompanied by the gunboat . March 26 - William T. Sampson is brevetted to Rear Admiral and ordered to take command of the U.S. Navy's North Atlantic Squadron at Key West. March 29 - U.S. President McKinley issues an ultimatum to Spain demanding Cuban independence.
April April 3 - An insurrection against Spanish rule breaks out on the island of Cebu in the Philippines. April 4 - U.S. President McKinley's war message to Congress is delayed to April 6 and then April 11 after Spain submits a new plan (short of armistice) for Cuban autonomy and U.S. Consul-General Fitzhugh Lee in Havana asks for more time to evacuate Americans. Other factors contributing to the delay include news that the Spanish Atlantic Squadron is still near the Cape Verde Islands and that U.S. Attorney General John W. Griggs needs more time to draft McKinley's message. April 9 - Spain agrees to the March 29 ultimatum's demand that it ask for an armistice with the Cuban rebels, but the McKinley administration says the concession comes too late. The same day, Spanish Army General Basilio Augustín becomes Governor-General of the Philippines. He creates a consultative assembly to avert open rebellion against Spain, but most Filipinos reject it as illegitimate. Emilio Aguinaldo establishes military organizations in each area under Filipino rebel control. April 11 - U.S. President McKinley submits his war message to Congress.