Question

performance task activity the changing world the spanish - american war and world war i both occurred in the early twentieth century and brought about significant changes for the united states of america. answer the following prompt by making a claim and supporting it with evidence from the unit: which war had a greater impact on the united states: the spanish - american war or world war i? use the claims and evidence activity page (ap 1.3) and the lines below to take notes and organize your thoughts. remember to include details from the chapters and primary sources in the changing world, as well as from the sources and resources in the unit activities.

Explanation:

World War I had a far greater transformative impact on the United States than the Spanish-American War.

1. Global Role & Diplomacy: The Spanish-American War made the U.S. a colonial power (gaining Puerto Rico, Guam, Philippines), but World War I positioned it as a leading global diplomatic force. President Wilson's 14 Points and U.S. involvement in the Paris Peace Conference reshaped post-war international order, even if the U.S. rejected the League of Nations.
2. Domestic Social & Economic Shift: The Spanish-American War had limited domestic upheaval, but World War I drove massive industrialization, pulled women into the workforce in unprecedented numbers (laying groundwork for 19th Amendment suffrage), and sparked the Great Migration of Black Americans from the South to Northern industrial centers. It also led to strict domestic surveillance and suppression of dissent via laws like the Espionage and Sedition Acts, fundamentally altering civil liberties debates.
3. Cultural & Ideological Change: World War I shattered the U.S.'s long-held isolationist sentiment more permanently than the Spanish-American War, creating a lasting debate over U.S. engagement in global conflicts. It also fueled cultural shifts like the "Lost Generation" literary movement, reflecting disillusionment with traditional values, a change not seen on the same scale after the 1898 war.

Answer:

World War I had a greater impact on the United States than the Spanish-American War. Its effects included establishing the U.S. as a major global diplomatic player, driving profound domestic social, economic, and civil liberties shifts, and permanently reshaping American cultural attitudes toward global engagement and traditional norms.