The Christy Collection

Military Stories and Articles

Pershing and His Pig’s Blood Bullets

Pershing and His Pig’s Blood Bullets

It might be difficult today to imagine the United States as a true colonial power, but in the years following the 1898 Spanish-American War, the U.S. became a major global power. The idea of American Imperialism crept into the public consciousness for the first time. During the war, the United States captured several key Spanish possessions, including Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines.  The War in the Philippines At first, it looked as if the U.S. was fighting to grant the...

read more
Facts on the Spanish-American War (1898)

Facts on the Spanish-American War (1898)

On April 25, 1898, the United States declared war on Spain following the Battleship Maine's sinking in Havana harbor on February 15, 1898. The war ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris on December 10, 1898. As a result, Spain lost its control over the remains of its overseas empire - Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines Islands, Guam, and other islands. Background of the Spanish-American War Beginning in 1492, Spain was the first European nation to sail westward across the Atlantic...

read more
The Philippine-American War

The Philippine-American War

After its defeat in the Spanish-American War of 1898, the Treaty of Paris (1898) transferred Philippine sovereignty from Spain to the United States, ending centuries of Spanish control over the politics and economy of its longstanding former colony. Filipino leaders, however, did not recognize America's authority and had no intention of ceding their homeland to a new colonial power. The decision by U.S. policymakers to annex the Philippines was not without domestic controversy, either....

read more