How did American involvement in Cuba & the Philippines affect the American “home front” in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s?

US involvement in the Philippines and Cuba occurred during the Spanish-American War (1898) and was a significant part of the Gilded Age (1876-1900). The Gilded Age was characterized by many different things, including immigration, the Jim Crow segregation system, and the founding of the American “empire.” The Spanish-American War was America’s first step at creating a global realm. US involvement in the war, specifically in Cuba and the Philippines, stirred many young men to action. On the US “home front” many young men enlisted or supported the war in order to prove their manliness.
During the 1880s and 1890s, many of the conflicts between the United States and Native American tribes in the American West came to an end. In 1890, Frederick Jackson Turner famously announced the “closing of the American West.” Many young men, unclear of their future, saw the military and wartime action as a way to prove their masculinity, as well as a way to secure their future.
One such young man was Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt. Roosevelt grew up idolizing American war heroes—men like Ulysses S. Grant and George Armstrong Custer. Throughout his adolescence, Teddy had lifted weights, hunted wild game, and competed in sports, all in an effort to prove his strength, stamina, and most importantly, his masculinity. When war was declared with Spain, Roosevelt requested a command and was given control of the Rough Riders (a cavalry unit). Teddy and his men famously captured San Juan Hill in Cuba, undoubtedly in an attempt by Roosevelt to prove his courage, leadership, and manhood. Roosevelt used his military successes in the war to gain political offices on his return to the US—first as the Governor of New York and later as the President of the United States.
The Gilded Age brought many changes to the United States, while the Spanish-American War created a sense of urgency for America’s young men; an urgency to prove their masculinity.
For more info, see:
Hoganson, Kristin L. Fighting for American Manhood: How Gender Politics Provoked the Spanish-Americanand Philippine‑American Wars. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998.
Thomas, Evan. The War Lovers: Roosevelt, Lodge, and Hearst and the Rush to Empire, 1898. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2010.

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