But in the late 1890s, American public opinion swayed in support of the rebellion because of reports of concentration camps set up to control the populace. There had been war scares before, as in the Virginius Affair in 1873. The United States backed these revolts upon entering the Spanish–American War. Revolts had been occurring for some years in Cuba against Spanish colonial rule. That process was interrupted only for a few years by the American Civil War and Reconstruction era. The U.S., on the other hand, expanded economically throughout that century by purchasing territories such as Louisiana and Alaska, militarily by actions such as the Mexican–American War, and by receiving large numbers of European immigrants. In the Spanish case, the descent, which already came from previous centuries, accelerated first with the Napoleonic invasion, which in turn would cause the independence of a large part of the American colonies, and later political instability ( pronouncements, revolutions, civil wars) bled the country socially and economically. The 19th century represented a clear decline for the Spanish Empire, while the United States went from becoming a newly founded country to being a medium regional power. It led to United States involvement in the Philippine Revolution and later to the Philippine–American War. acquisition of Spain's Pacific possessions. The war led to the United States emerging predominant in the Caribbean region, and resulted in U.S. The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) began in the aftermath of the internal explosion of USS Maine in Havana Harbor in Cuba, leading to United States intervention in the Cuban War of Independence.

Prisoners of War by Sarah Gracia