Original sentence: The war was begun due to American demands that Spain peacefully resolve the Cuban fight for independence, though strong expansionist sentiment in the United States may have also motivated the government to target Spain's other remaining overseas territories: Puerto Rico, the Philippines, Guam and the Caroline Islands
Edited sentence: The war was begun due to American demands that Spain peacefully resolve the Cuban fight for independence, though arguably this was an excuse for the U.These territories were Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, Guam and the Caroline Islands.to seize Spain's remaining overseas territories in the Caribbean and the Pacific