The Spanish-American War was part of a larger goal by the United States to expand its territory and influence abroad. In the 1880s, new U.S. territories and markets seemed to demand greater protection at sea. The U.S. Navy had suffered years of neglect, and expansionists began a program of modernization and overhaul. In 1883, Congress authorized construction of the nation’s first steel-hulled ships, a “new Navy” to protect U.S. shipping and extend the country’s influence overseas. When Spanish control over Cuba began to slip, President McKinley demanded that Spain allow Cuba to become an independent nation. Spain refused, and in 1898 the United States declared war. Almost 300,000 Americans served in the war, including Francis John Higginson of Deerfield, Massachusetts, shown here, who sailed the coal-powered USS Massachusetts to Cuba and who had an illustrious naval career into the 1900s. The war resulted in 5,400 U.S. casualties, mostly from disease and sickness. By the war’s end, Cuba was independent and the United States had acquired the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico. U.S. goals and successes in the Spanish-American War epitomized the imperialism of the period.