The Treaty of Paris was most generous to the winners. The United States received the Philippines and the islands of Guam and Puerto Rico. Cuba became independent, and Spain was awarded $20 million dollars for its losses. The war was supposed to be about freeing Cuba, not seizing the Philippines.
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America was not ready for war. Americans had an eager spirit, they needed military quality. The naval force, albeit improved, was mostly an excuse for what it would move toward becoming by World War I.
The bigger, wooden Spanish fleet was no counterpart for the new American steel naval force. After Dewey's weapons stopped firing, the whole Spanish squadron was a colossal fiasco. The leading American setback originated from sunstroke. The Philippines stayed in Spanish control until the military had been enrolled, prepared, and shipped to the Pacific.
The answer to the first question is the second one. Developed great civilizations without major influences from western Europe. The second one I think is developed mathematic and scientific systems.
Answer: first major American novelist, author of the novels of frontier adventure known as the Leatherstocking Tales, featuring the wilderness scout called Natty Bumppo, or Hawkeye.
