The  year  1898  marks  our  first  war  with  a  Euro
pean  power  except  with  the  Power  from  which
we  won  our  independence.  This  war  with
Spain  will  doubtless  take  the  name  in  history
of  "  The  Spanish  War "  in  this  country,  while
in  Spain  it  will  probably  be  known  as  "  The
American  War."

In  our  limited  space  but  a  meagre  outline
can  be  given  of  this  short  but  important  war.
It  must  be  remembered,  too,  that  the  time  has
not  come  to  write  a  critical  history  of  this  war.
This  must  be  done  by  the  historian  of  the

future.     Our  present  chapter  will  aim  to  give
352


THE   SPANISH    WAR  353

a  condensed  account  of  the  military  and  naval
movements,  the  causes  and  results  of  the  war,
leaving  untouched  the  various  personal  con
troversies  to  which  it  has  given  rise.
The  Cuban  Revolt"1

At  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century
almost  all  of  South  America  and  Central
America  belonged  to  Spain.  But  so  oppres
sive  and  inefficient  was  Spanish  rule  that  the
inhabitants  of  the  various  colonies  revolted
against  the  mother  country  in  the  early  part
of  the  century,  and,  after  a  long  struggle  of
ten  years  or  more,  won  their  independence.
Cuba  and  Puerto  Rico  alone  in  the  Western
Hemisphere  remained  to  Spain.  The  Cubans,
however,  have  never  been  contented  under
Spanish  government.  In  1826  a  revolt  in
Cuba  was  put  down  with  a  strong  hand.  A
few  years  later  another  insurrection  met  with
the  same  fate.  In  each  case  the  leaders  were
executed.  In  1850  and  again  in  1851  Nar-
cisco  Lopez  led  an  expedition  against  the
island  in  the  interest  of  the  slaveholders  of

iSee  also  "  Side  Lights,"  Vol.  I.  p.  179.
