The Spanish–American War was a war fought between Spain and the United States of America in the year 1898. This war was fought in part because a lot of people wanted Cuba, one of the last remaining bits of the former Spanish Empire, to become independent. Many Americans also wanted their country to get a colonial empire. Spain lost the sea war and had to give up its colonies of Cuba, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and part of Guam. All of these colonies, except for Cuba, would become U.S. colonies at the end of the war.