Spanish-American War Timeline, Facts & Information • Globerove.com

Looking for a brief & informative timeline of the Spanish American War?

Want to know the chronology of all the major events of that war?

Our timeline provides you with the facts & information you are looking for.

The Spanish-American War started virtually in April 1898 and concluded in the month of August of the same year.

Though actual conflict terminated in August, the signing of the Treaty of Paris in December 1898 really brought the war to its final conclusion.

April 1898

April 11 – McKinley asks the United States Congress for authority to send troops to Cuba for ending the Civil War going on there.
April 19 & 20 – Resolutions passed in the U.S. Congress supporting the Cuban cause, demanding Spanish withdrawal.
April 23 – Spain breaks off diplomatic relations with the U.S. and formally declares war.
April 25 – Congress declares that a state of war existed between the U.S. and Spain since April 20. This date was later amended to April 21st.

May 1 – The first battle of the Spanish-American War, a naval encounter between Commodore Admiral George Dewey of the U.S. Navy and Admiral Patricio Montojo y Pasarón commanding the Spanish Squadron. Called the Battle of Manila Bay it lasted just a few hours. Incidentally, the U.S. Navy reported just one casualty – death by heart attack.
May 19 – General Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy returns to the Philippines from his exile in Hong Kong where he had been, since the failure of the Katipunan (a Philippine Revolutionary Organization) revolt of 1892-1896.

June 12 – General Aguinaldo signs the Philippine Declaration of Independence and becomes first president of the Philippines after defeating most of the Spanish Army and having encircled Manila.
June 15 – The American Anti-Imperialist League was established to oppose the U.S. annexation of the Philippines and other insular areas, alluding to a variety of legal, economic, moral grounds.
June 20-21 – U.S. takes possession of Guam from Spain.

July 3 – The U.S. destroys the Spanish Caribbean Fleet, also known as the Flota de Ultramar, under the command of Admiral Pascual Cervera y Topete at the Battle of Santiago de Cuba.
July 4 – Spain losses possession of the Wake Islands to the U.S.
July 16 – Santiago de Cuba, the second largest city in Cuba falls to U.S.
July 25 – U.S. takes possession of Puerto Rico from Spain
July 25 – August 13 – The Battle of Manila, the last and decisive battle of the Spanish-American War and also the shortest between the Spaniards and the U.S. was fought and won by the U.S. Army. Physical conflict ends.

August 12 – The end of the Spanish-American War with the signing of the Armistice.
August 14 – U.S. sends 10,000 troops to occupy the Philippines.

The Malolos Constitution is ratified by the Philippine Assembly, establishing Philippine Republic as an independent state.

October 1 – William Rufus Day, an American Diplomat and Jurist, is instructed by the U.S. President William McKinley to only seek possession of Luzon, Guam and Puerto Rico. The Paris Peace Conference begins. Negotiations last till December.

December 10 – The final Treaty of Paris signed by Spain and U.S. The United States of America pays Spain a sum of 20 million U.S. Dollars for the possession of Guam, Puerto Rico and The Philippines. Virtual conflict ends.