Because I know you want to know... for $20 million in cash and some signatures on a piece of paper, more fomally known as the
Treaty of Paris, today in 1898 the US gained possession of the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam. Thus endeth the Spanish-American War and thus did we enter the international stage as a major... player - though it would take until 1945 for us and others to really accept that.
This would be distinct from the *other*
Treaty of Paris, in 1783, which formally established the independence of these United States. Heh. Can you imagine what today's Dems would do if presented with a treaty that opened thusly:
The Definitive Treaty of Peace 1783
In the name of the most holy and undivided Trinity.
Snerk. We'd still be colonies, or fighting.