The legislation established the predecessor to the estate tax, and twice the Supreme Court of the United States issued rulings about the law.

President McKinley submitted a war message to Congress on April 11,[1] 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.

[3] Dingley's bill proposed issuing $500 million in bonds and raising $100 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.

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 taxes on business and taxing bond transactions.

[6] A wide range of amendments were offered on the Senate floor, including an antitrust law, an income tax, repeal of the United States Treasury's ability to issue bonds, and a number of restrictions on the issuance of bonds.

[8][10] President McKinley signed the War Revenue Act into law on June 13.

[11] The War Revenue Act of 1898 authorized a tax on a wide range of goods and services, including amusements, liquor, tea, and tobacco, and required tax stamps on some business transactions (such as bills of lading, manifests, and marine insurance).

[13] A tax on corporate gross receipts over $200,000 was also included, but applied only to sugar- and oil-refining companies.

This proved "a turning point" in the federal government's ability to create flexible financial instruments critical to maintaining the credit of the United States.

[15] Issuance of silver coinage continued until passage of the Gold Standard Act of March 14, 1900.