ABSTRACT
The war had important consequences for American government and society. The logistical failures of the war revealed weaknesses in US military organization whose reform was soon undertaken. The war also had a "unifying" aspect. Acquisition of the Philippines –complicated by the resistance of Filipino patriots led by Emilio Aguinaldo –unleashed a national debate over the "large policy" itself. The splendid little war was indeed a major turning point in American life. Classical liberal sociologist William Graham Sumner wrote in 1900 that "[t]he political history of the United States for the next fifty years will date from the Spanish war of 1898." The costs to Americans of empire, all told, have been enormous. As the trial run of what became policy and unreflecting habit, the Spanish-American War warrants serious consideration despite its modest costs to Americans in lives and money.
