D. Robert Smalls
He was an African American slave and gained his freedom and became a ships pilot ,sea captain, and politican
a charter of liberty and political rights obtained from King John of England by his rebellious barons at Runnymede in 1215, which came to be seen as the seminal document of English constitutional practice.
As with most expansionist wars fought during this time, the Americans supported war with Spain because they were convinced by politicians that it was their destiny to expand its borders.