The U.S. declared war on Spain in 1898 as a result of the sinking of the USS Maine in Havana harbor in Cuba. The explosion killed 260 American sailors and was blamed on Spain, although the exact cause of the explosion remains unknown. The incident, coupled with growing tensions between the U.S. and Spain over Spanish colonial rule in Cuba and the Philippines, led the U.S. to declare war in order to support Cuban independence and expand American influence in the region.
