Evaluate the causes of the Spanish-American War.

CAUSES OF SPANISH AMERICAN WAR.
The Spanish American war happened in the late 1800s and it was the first conflict that the United States fought overseas.There are two main causes of this war;Cubans need for independence from the Spanish rule and the sinking of the battleship USS Maine anchored at the Havana Harbor.
Cuba was under Spanish colonial rule and it was the only one remaining under their rule.The Cubans desired independence but they were severely oppressed by the Spanish once the started a revolution against them.They were placed in concentration camps where the conditions were really appalling.As a result of this,many Americans felt sympathy towards the Cubans and hence the decision to help them fight against Spain.
Battleship Maine had anchored at the Havana Harbor on the February 15th 1898 when it exploded and sunk, killing 266 officers and men.It was believed that Spain was behind the sinking and this escalated the tension between them and U.S. leading to war
These are the main causes of the Spanish American war.

References: www.nps.gov.prsf/learn
spanish-american-war.tripod.com/id1.html

There were two immediate reasons for the outbreak of the Spanish-American War: American support for Cuban and Filipino independence from Spanish colonial rule. combined with the sinking of the American battleship, the USS Maine, in Havana Harbor. Public opinion in the United States had been sympathetic to the anti-colonial struggles of the Cuban and Filipino people for some time. It seemed to many that they simply wanted the same kind of freedom and independence for themselves as the original American colonists. Just as the Americans had managed to free themselves from British colonial rule, so too did the Cubans and Filipinos wish to do likewise in throwing off the Spanish yoke.
But it was the sinking of the Maine that really brought tensions between the United States and Spain to a head. The American government blamed the Spanish for the battleship's sinking and public opinion in the United States demanded a robust response. Soon, the clamor for intervention became irresistible, especially after the Spanish refused to accede to the demands of the US Congress and withdraw their armed forces from Cuba. The Spanish declared war on the United States, and the McKinley Administration responded in kind. What would become known as the Spanish-American War had now formally begun.