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Grade 5 Social Studies · World 2: Bigger, Better, Faster · Level 21
McKinley and War with Spain
Explain the Spanish-American War and what it changed.
Warm-up, learn, try it together, practice, then a quick check. About 15 minutes.
What children learn in Level 21
- By the 1890s, the United States was strong at home. Next it looked outward. William McKinley was president.
- Cuba, an island near Florida, was fighting to be free of Spain. Many Americans took Cuba's side, and newspapers ran scary stories.
- In 1898, the American warship Maine blew up in Havana harbor. The cause was never proved, but many Americans blamed Spain. The United States went to war.
- Theodore Roosevelt led a group called the Rough Riders in Cuba. Black soldiers known as Buffalo Soldiers fought beside them at San Juan Hill. The war lasted only months.
- Spain gave up Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines to the United States, and Cuba gained independence. Many people in the Philippines wanted to rule themselves, and a long, hard war followed there.
Georgia Standards of Excellence in Social Studies:
- SS5H1.c — Explain how William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt expanded America's role in the world; include the Spanish-American War and the building of the Panama Canal.