What is the nickname for the Spanish American War?
It really had no nickname. It was just the war for Cuban independence from Spain. In January 1898, the battleship Maine was sent to Havana, Cuba to protect US interests there during a time of local insurrection and civil disturbances . Early in the morning of FEB. 15, an explosion of 5 tons of gunpowder–intended for use in the ship’s 6 and 10 inch guns–in the front end of the ship caused it to sink in Havana Harbor. Most of the crew were either sleeping or relaxing in the enlisted men’s quarters when it happened–260 men died immediately from the explosion and 8 others died later from injuries. When war finally broke out in April that year, the war cry became REMEMBER THE MAINE, TO HELL WITH SPAIN. Some later claimed a mine in the harbor caused the explosion, when the ship ran over it. At the end of the 109 day war, the Treaty of Paris gave the United States ownership of Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippine Islands–all former Spanish colonies.
