Relative Monetary Costs of American Wars
By Patrick McSherry
By Patrick McSherry
This article provides a basic monetary cost comparison of American wars from the Civil War to the Persian Gulf War.
The data:
One interesting comparison concerning the Spanish American War is the relative financial cost of the war. This is one quantitative way of studying the war, but, of course, it must be remembered that the financial cost can never address the death, pain and suffering on all sides of this, or any other, war.
Still, the following figures are interesting. These costs, adjusted
for year 2010 dollars, are the costs for the major conflicts in which
the U.S. was involved since the Revolution through the Persian Gulf War.
Please note that on the table below, the "Spanish American War"
line actually includes the cost of both the Spanish American War and
Philippine American War together.
| Conflict |
Cost
at
the Time of the Conflict |
Cost
in 2010 Dolllars |
| American
Revolution |
$101
Million |
$2.4
Billion |
| War of 1812 |
$90
Million |
$1.5
Billion |
| Mexican War |
$71
Million |
$2.3
Billion |
| American Civil War |
$3.1
Billion |
|
| Spanish American War |
$283 Million |
|
| World War I | $20
Billion |
|
| World War II | $296
Billion |
|
| Korean War | $30
Billion |
|
| Vietnam | $111
Billion |
|
| Persian Gulf
War |
$61
Billion |
$102
Billion |
Lastly, the above data does not reflect total costs, since some
costs are ongoing. The above does not include costs such as ongoing
healthcare, pensions and dependent benefits. The Spanish American War
ended in 1898. As of November, 2020, over one hundred twenty years
later, the U.S. government was still paying veterans' benefits to
thirty-five spouses and twenty-five children of Spanish American War
veterans!
The Spanish American War had a very dramatic effect on American history in that the U.S. became an accepted world power virtually overnight, catapulting the nation onto the world stage. Though each of the conflicts listed above had a strong effect on this country in many ways, the Spanish American War’s legacy remains with us…and set the stage for the U.S.’s involvement in all of the later conflicts listed above. From a nationalistic U.S standpoint it could be argued that seldom has the country had such a large effect from such a small financial investment.