The American Anti-Imperialist League was founded in 1899, in the aftermath of the Spanish-American War. The war was launched with the dual purpose of stopping the (alleged) abuse of Cubans by the Spanish army and seeking revenge for the destruction of the American battleship USS Maine, which exploded in Havana harbor in February of 1898. At the conclusion of the war the United States had occupied the Caribbean islands of Puerto Rico and Cuba, the island of Guam in the central Pacific, and the Philippine chain of islands in the western Pacific. The Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico became American territories—essentially American colonies.