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The United States' decision to participate in the Spanish American War has its roots in the US federal government's support of Cuba, which was trying to get independence from Spain.
In that time, the US government had sent some warships to the shores of la Havana, the capital city of Cuba. One of those ships was the USS Main that was sunk by the Spaniards. This incident made the US declare war against Spain, starting the actions of the Spanish-American War of 1898. The US won the war and the peace treaty was the Treaty of Paris of 1898, in which Spain ceded new territories to the United States: Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Guam.
