Now the long rule of Spain came to an end.
The first battle of the war was fought in the Bay of Manila,
the capital of the Philippine Islands. Here the Spanish fleet was
shattered while not an American was killed. A month or two later
the town of Manila was taken, and the Philippines were in the power
of the Americans.
In the West Indies too the Spaniards were beaten on land and sea
and on August 2nd, 1898, she sued for peace.
By the treaty of peace Cuba became a free republic, while Porto Rico
and all the other Spanish islands in the West Indies were given to
the United States, as well as the Philippines.
But no sooner was the treaty signed than the Filipinos rose in
rebellion against American rule. For three years a kind of irregular
war went on. Then the leader of the rebellion, Aguinaldo, was
captured, and after that the Filipinos gradually laid down their
arms. And when they found that the Americans did not mean to oppress
them as the Spaniards had done they became more content with their
rule.
The winning of these foreign possessions brought something new
into the life and history of America. For now America began to own
colonies, a thing quite unlooked for, and not altogether welcome
to many.
At this time, also, besides those won in the Spanish War another
group of islands came under American rule. These were the Hawaiian
Islands, also like the Philippines in the Pacific Ocean.
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