THISSION: “The United States did not want to get involved in the Spanish-American War, but it was drawn into it because of yellow journalism, it wanted to control the seas and wanted total control over Cuba. »For 113 days in the summer of 1898, the United States was at war with Spain. Neither the President of the United States, nor his cabinet, nor the Queen of Spain, nor her ministers wanted war. This happened even though they tried their best to prevent it. This happened because of ambition, miscalculations and stupidity; and it happened through kindness, wit and ingenuity. This also happened because some were indifferent to the suffering of the world's wretched and others were not (O'Toole 17). By winning the war, the United States proved to the rest of the world and itself that it could and was willing to fight against foreign nations. For many years, world power was concentrated in European countries. Countries like Britain, France, Germany and Spain had the greatest influence in world affairs. But a shift in power was gradually taking place as the United States matured. The young nation grew in wealth and strength. Its population grew enormously and many people believed it would become a major world power (Bachrach, 11). Spain was one of several European countries with territory in the United States. Spain mainly controlled certain islands off the coast of Central America. The largest of these were Cuba and Puerto Rico. The United States was led to believe that the Spanish were ruling and abusing the people of these islands. In fact, Spain overtaxed and mistreated the Cubans, who rebelled in 1868 and again in 1895. Thus, the American people felt sympathy toward the Cuban independence movement. Additionally, Spain had frequently interfered in trade between its colonies and the United States. Although the United States had been a trading partner of Cuba since the 17th century, Spain at times attempted to completely end its trade with Cuba. Doing so in Spain has sometimes harmed American commercial interests. The United States strongly disagreed with Spain's right to interfere in these trade relations. (Bachrach, 12) The United States also feared that other commercial interests would be threatened by the number of ships and troops Spain kept in the region. If the United States were to wage war against Canada or Mexico, these Spanish forces could quickly mobilize against the United States..