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Article: America's admiral: George Dewey and American culture in the Gilded Age.
- Article from:
- The Historian
- Article date:
- March 22, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 Phi Alpha Theta, History Honor Society, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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ON 1 May 1898, the United States Navy's Asiatic Squadron, under the command of Commodore George Dewey, entered Manila Bay in the Philippines and completely destroyed the Spanish fleet there. The Americans registered no fatalities and only eight minor injuries during the battle. With this victory, the United States opened its "splendid little war" with Spain, a war that would leave the United States with a significant overseas empire and newfound status as a world power. As a result of his part in the battle, George Dewey rose out of relative obscurity to become a national celebrity: a two-year period of "Dewey mania" swept the nation and culminated in the admiral's brief ...