This treaty met the demands of the Americans who wanted the United States to keep the spoils of war, except Cuba(“The Results of the War”). On December 10 of 1898, a treaty called the Treaty of Paris was signed by representatives from the United States and Spain in Paris. In this treaty, the independence of Cuba, while ceding Puerto Rico and Guam to the United States and allowing the United States to purchase the Philippines from Spain for twenty million dollars, was established(“Treaty of Paris Ends Spanish-American War”). While this was a great thing for America, two-hundred fifty million dollars and thousands of live were taken because of the war(“The World of 1898: The Spanish American War”). While this is bad, the Americans were not the only to lose lives and money. During the fight against the Philippines, the Spanish lost four hundred lives and six to ten million dollars(New-York tribune). After everything that had happened to ensure Philippine freedom, which was not granted in the treaty, the Philippines turned their guns towards the United States. Suppressing the Philippines caused the death of ten times more American than the war against Spain(“Treaty of Paris Ends Spanish-American …show more content…
The Spanish-American War caused an impact that is unforgettable and caused the United States to become even more than it already was. The expansion included Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines, while Cuba was finally given the independence they were looking for. Not only was Cuba given their freedom, they were also given the protection of the United States of America. There were minor revolts before any conflicts made a large problem for Spain. The United States became involved, causing the war to become more defined as a war instead of a revolt and moving the conflict towards a compromise. The treaty, which was the final compromise after four years of war, was helpful to the United States, even if it didn’t give every country that tried to revolt their independence. This was a major point in American history, giving the United States more power than they necessarily needed. A man named David Brin once said “It is said that power corrupts, but actually it's more true that power attracts the corruptible. The sane are usually attracted by other things than power.” Because of the amounts of power which the United States gained from the Spanish-American War, it later gained more corruption than it already