2. The chief events of the war were the battle of Manila Bay, the sinking of the Merrimac, the battles near Santiago, the destruction of Cervera's fleet, the invasion of Porto Rico, and the capture of Manila.
3. Peace brought us the Philippines, Porto Rico, and Guam, and forced Spain to withdraw from Cuba.
4. Cuba for awhile remained under our flag; but in 1902 we withdrew, and Cuba became a republic. Later events forced us to intervene in 1906.
5. In 1900 events forced us into a short war in China.
6. In 1898 Hawaii was annexed, and in 1900 was organized as a territory; in 1903 our dispute with Great Britain over the Alaskan boundary was settled; and in 1904 a treaty with Panama gave us the right to dig the Panama Canal.
7. Prominent among domestic affairs since 1898, are the assassination of President McKinley (1901); the Irrigation Act of 1902; the pure food and meat inspection laws of 1906; and the admission of the state of Oklahoma.
FOOTNOTES
[1] At the same time it was resolved, "That the United States hereby disclaims any disposition or intention to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction, or control over said island, except for the pacification thereof, and asserts its determination, when that is accomplished, to leave the government and control of the island to its people."
[2] When the Maine was destroyed, the battleship Oregon, then on the Pacific coast, was ordered to the Atlantic seaboard. Making her way southward through the Pacific, she passed the Strait of Magellan, steamed up the east coast of South America, and after the swiftest long voyage ever made by a battleship, took her place in the blockading fleet.
[3] The storm of shot and shell from the forts carried away some of the Merrimac's steering gear, so that Hobson was unable to sink the vessel at the spot intended. The channel was still navigable. Read the article by Lieutenant Hobson in the Century Magazine for December, 1898 to March, 1899.