The big change or turning point comes in 1898 when Spain loses the Philippines to the

Apuntes

• Subtopic: The Turning Point of 1898 The big change or turning point comes in 1898 when Spain loses the Philippines to the United States and sells the archipelagos it possessed there to Germany. • Subtopic: The United States in the 19th Century Shortly after the independence of the 13 British colonies on the East Coast, the United States began acquiring lands all the way to the Pacific. The U.S. bought Florida from Spain and Louisiana from France (this French colony stretched over the whole west). As a result of a war with Mexico in the middle of the century, the U.S. annexed a large portion of the southwest. However, most of the population lived on the East Coast, so there were few U.S. citizens in the West, with some in California and Texas due to the Gold Rush. Socially and economically, the country was divided into two areas: the North, based on cities and industry, and the South, where life revolved around the countryside and farming with crops such as cotton, worked by African slaves. In the 1861 elections, Abraham Lincoln became president and announced his intention to abolish slavery. As a result, the South decided to split and set up the Confederacy (Confederate State...