Many think of 1776 as the defining year of American history, when we became a nation devoted to the pursuit of happiness through self- government.
In Unfamiliar Fishes, Sarah Vowell argues that 1898 might be a year just as defining, when, in an orgy of imperialism, the United States annexed Hawai`i, Puerto Rico, and Guam, and invaded first Cuba, then the Philippines, becoming an international superpower practically overnight.
