This is America in Pursuit, a limited run series from ThruLine and NPR.

I'm Randabed Fattah.

Each week, we bring you stories about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in the U.S. that began 250 years ago,

when the country's founders penned its breakup letter with the King of England

and launched a revolution founded on the principles of democracy.

For years after that, the U.S. was seen as a shining beacon of what democracy could look like,

an inspiration to other colonized countries looking to shake off their shackles.

And then in 1898, the U.S. made the crucial decision to go to war with Spain in support of

Cuban and Puerto Rican rebels fighting for independence from Spain. But that wasn't the only

place the U.S. military got involved. The next year, the U.S.

got involved in another rebellion, in another Spanish territory, this time in a nation on the

other side of the world, the Philippines.

Suddenly, very confusingly, the United States takes the Philippines from Spain.

The U.S. ended the war by purchasing the Philippines from Spain for $20 million.

And suddenly, the U.S. was no longer this democratic underdog, but an imperial player in its own right.

Today on the show, how the U.S. became an empire, changed its name from the United States to America,

and why that matters.

That story, right after a quick break.

Thank you. That story right after a quick break. It should be the earnest wish and paramount aim of the military administration to win the confidence, respect, and affection of the inhabitants of the Philippines.

President William McKinley.

In February 1899, Filipinos began a new fight for independence, this time against the United States.

You know, you can imagine the dashed hopes of people who'd been fighting for independence,

...