The War Revenue Act of 1898 was legislation signed into law in the United States on June 13, 1898, which created a wide range of taxes to raise revenue for the American prosecution of the Spanish–American War. The legislation established the predecessor to the estate tax, and twice the Supreme Court of the United States issued rulings about the law. History The War Revenue Act of 1898 was introduced to fund American participation in the Spanish–American War. The people of Cuba had been seeking independence from Spain for several years, and after the destruction of the in Havana harbor on February 15, diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Spain dramatically worsened. President McKinley submitted a war message to Congress on April 11, and Congress enacted a joint resolution on April 19 demanding independence for Cuba and giving McKinley the authorization to declare war if Spain did not yield. McKinley signed the war resolution into law on April 20. After a series of events that included the announcement of a U.S. naval blockade of Cuba, the U.S. declared on April 25 that a state of war between the U.S. and Spain had existed since April 21. Congress recognized from the outset that additional revenues would be needed to prosecute the war. On April 25, 1898, Representative Nelson Dingley, Jr. introduced H.R. 10100 to levy these new taxes. Dingley's bill proposed issuing million in bonds and raising million in taxes on products as diverse as chewing gum, beer, circuses, insurance policies, pawnbrokers, theaters, toilet articles, and wine. Democrats argued that these taxes fell too heavily on the poor, and sought to amend the law. Dingley was chair of the powerful House Committee on Ways and Means, and his committee took up the bill the day following its introduction. The committee discussed the bill on April 26 and April 27, and reported it favorably to the House floor on April 27. The same day, the House debated and passed the bill. H.R. 10100 was reported to the United States Senate, where it was referred to the Committee on Finance. The committee reported an amended bill to the Senate floor on May 12. Democrats and so-called "Silver Republicans" (members of the Republican Party who wished to devalue the dollar by moving the country off the gold standard to the silver standard) united to create a majority on the committee which adopted amendments adding excise