In hindsight, it is clear that the United States did not have any justification whatsoever to send troops to Cuba and the Philippines. The U.S. government did not conduct a proper investigation to clarify the causes for the explosion of the U.S.S. Maine anchored at Havana, which would have ruled out a deliberate ill-intentioned by any sort of Spanish parties and determine the cause as human error by member of the crew. Instead, the incident was taken as a convenient excuse for waging war against Spain, a dying empire that took on an impossible challenge out of her national pride-
Furthermore, the conditions in Cuba did not improve for the vast majority of poor people who only changed one master for another as fair work conditions were not introduced, and the corrupt and oppressive Spanish government was replaced by a U.S. puppet government, even more oppressive, and under a dictator. In the Philippines, the U.S. expeditionary forces ended up engaging in brutal and bloody combat against local tribes which resulted in thousands of casualties on the local tribes' side.
The real reason behind this war was the expansion of the U.S. overseas aimed at exploiting the natural resources and boost up its domestic industry and international prestige as an emerging imperialist power at the expense| of the suffering and misery of the people in the countries invaded by the force of arms and a false promise of freedom and democracy.
