Spain in the American Revolutionary War
Encyclopedia
Thirteen Colonies
The Thirteen Colonies were English and later British colonies established on the Atlantic coast of North America between 1607 and 1733. They declared their independence in the American Revolution and formed the United States of America...
throughout the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
, beginning in 1776 by jointly funding Roderigue Hortalez and Company
Roderigue Hortalez and Company
Roderigue Hortalez and Company was a fictitious business set up in July 4 1776 by Spain and France House of Bourbon, which after entering into a secret agreement with the colonists to support them in their rebellion against England...
, a trading company that provided critical military supplies, through financing the final Siege of Yorktown
Siege of Yorktown
The Siege of Yorktown, Battle of Yorktown, or Surrender of Yorktown in 1781 was a decisive victory by a combined assault of American forces led by General George Washington and French forces led by the Comte de Rochambeau over a British Army commanded by Lieutenant General Lord Cornwallis...
in 1781 with a collection of gold and silver in Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
. Spain was allied with France through the Bourbon Family Compact, and also viewed the Revolution as an opportunity to weaken the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
, which had caused Spain substantial losses during the Seven Years' War
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...
. As the newly appointed Prime Minister, José Moñino y Redondo, Count of Floridablanca, wrote in March of 1777, "the fate of the colonies interests us very much, and we shall do for them everything that circumstances permit".
Aid to the Colonies: 1776–1778
Spanish aid was supplied to the colonies through four main routes: from French ports with the funding of Roderigue Hortalez and Company, through the port of New Orleans and up the Mississippi RiverMississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
, from the warehouses in Havana, and from Bilbao
Bilbao
Bilbao ) is a Spanish municipality, capital of the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. With a population of 353,187 , it is the largest city of its autonomous community and the tenth largest in Spain...
, through the Gardoqui
Gardoqui
- Gardoqui Family of Bilbao, Spain :Wealthy Basque proprietors of the 18th-Century House of José Gardoqui and Sons of Bilbao, Spain....
family trading company.
Smuggling from New Orleans began in 1776, when General Charles Lee
Charles Lee
Charles Lee may refer to:*Charles Lee , former NFL player*Charles Lee *Charles Lee , British author*Charles Lee *Charles Lee...
sent two Continental Army
Continental Army
The Continental Army was formed after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the Continental Congress on June 14, 1775, it was created to coordinate the military efforts of the Thirteen Colonies in...
(the army of the Thirteen Colonies) officers to request supplies from the New Orleans Governor, Luis de Unzaga
Luis de Unzaga
Luis de Unzaga y Amezaga , also known as Luis Unzaga Y Amezaga, was a Spanish Governor of Louisiana from 1769 to 1777 as well as a captain general of Venezuela and Cuba....
. Unzaga, concerned about overtly antagonizing the British before the Spanish were prepared for war, agreed to assist the rebels covertly. Unzaga authorized the shipment of desperately needed gunpowder in a transaction brokered by Oliver Pollock
Oliver Pollock
Oliver Pollock was a merchant and financier of the American Revolutionary War, of which he has long been considered a historically undervalued figure...
, a Patriot
Patriot (American Revolution)
Patriots is a name often used to describe the colonists of the British Thirteen United Colonies who rebelled against British control during the American Revolution. It was their leading figures who, in July 1776, declared the United States of America an independent nation...
(Revolutionary) and financier. When Bernardo de Gálvez y Madrid, Count of Gálvez
Bernardo de Gálvez y Madrid, Count of Gálvez
Bernardo de Gálvez y Madrid, Viscount of Galveston and Count of Gálvez was a Spanish military leader and the general of Spanish forces in New Spain who served as governor of Louisiana and Cuba and as viceroy of New Spain.Gálvez aided the Thirteen Colonies in their quest for independence and led...
was appointed Governor of New Orleans in January of 1777, he continued and expanded the supply operations.
As the Patriot Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...
reported from Paris to the Congressional Committee of Secret Correspondence in March of 1777, the Spanish court quietly granted the rebels direct admission to the rich, previously restricted port of Havana under most favored nation status. Franklin also noted in the same report that three thousand barrels of gunpowder were waiting in New Orleans, and that the merchants in Bilbao "had orders to ship for us such necessaries as we might want."
Declaration of War
The Spanish had sustained serious losses against the British in the Seven Years War, and these losses less than two decades earlier heavily influenced their timing to enter the war in the 1770s. During the Seven Years' War, Spain's two key trading ports, Havana (in Cuba) and ManilaManila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
, Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
were invaded and occupied by the British in 1762. In the peace settlement of 1763
Treaty of Paris (1763)
The Treaty of Paris, often called the Peace of Paris, or the Treaty of 1763, was signed on 10 February 1763, by the kingdoms of Great Britain, France and Spain, with Portugal in agreement. It ended the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War...
Spain recovered Havana by ceding Florida, including St. Augustine
St. Augustine, Florida
St. Augustine is a city in the northeast section of Florida and the county seat of St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorer and admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, it is the oldest continuously occupied European-established city and port in the continental United...
, which the Spanish had founded in 1565. Spain recovered the Philippines later. The Spanish ministers were also concerned about geographic neighbor Portugal, an ally of the British, and Portugal's immensely wealthy treasure fleet that was due to sail from Havana.
The Spanish position was summarized by the former Spanish Prime Minister and then-Ambassador to the French Court, Jerónimo Grimaldi, 1st Duke of Grimaldi, in a letter to Arthur Lee
Arthur Lee (diplomat)
Dr. Arthur Lee was an American diplomat during the American Revolutionary War. He was the son of Hon. Thomas Lee and Hannah Harrison Ludwell...
, an American diplomat in Madrid who was trying to persuade the Spanish to declare an open alliance with the fledgling United States. Genoese
Republic of Genoa
The Most Serene Republic of Genoa |Ligurian]]: Repúbrica de Zêna) was an independent state from 1005 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast, as well as Corsica from 1347 to 1768, and numerous other territories throughout the Mediterranean....
by birth and a shrewdly calculating politico by nature, Grimaldi demurred, replying, "You have considered your own situation, and not ours. The moment is not yet come for us. The war with Portugal — France being unprepared, and our treasure ships from South America not being arrived — makes it improper for us to declare immediately." Meanwhile, Grimaldi reassured Lee, stores of clothing and powder were deposited at New Orleans and Havana for the Americans, and further shipments of blankets were being collected at Bilbao.
By June 1779, the Spanish preparations for war were finalized. The British cause seemed to be at a particularly low ebb. The Spanish joined France in the war, implementing the Treaty of Aranjuez
Treaty of Aranjuez (1779)
The Treaty of Aranjuez was signed on April 12, 1779 between France and Spain. France agreed to aid in the capture of Gibraltar, the Floridas, and the island of Minorca. In return, the Spanish agreed to join in France’s war against Great Britain. Based on the terms of the treaty, Spain joined the...
.
European waters
The main goals of Spain were, as in the Seven Years' War, the recovery of GibraltarGibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
and Minorca
Minorca
Min Orca or Menorca is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. It takes its name from being smaller than the nearby island of Majorca....
from the British, who had owned them since 1704.
The Great Siege of Gibraltar
Great Siege of Gibraltar
The Great Siege of Gibraltar was an unsuccessful attempt by Spain and France to capture Gibraltar from the British during the American War of Independence. This was the largest action fought during the war in terms of numbers, particularly the Grand Assault of 18 September 1782...
was the first and longest Spanish action in the war, from June 24, 1779, to February 7, 1783. Despite the bigger size of the besieging Franco-Spanish army, at one point numbering 100,000, the British under George Augustus Elliott were able to hold out in the fortress and secured their supplies by sea after the Battle of Cape Saint Vincent
Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1780)
The naval Battle of Cape St Vincent, took place off the coast of Portugal on 16 January 1780 during the American War of Independence. A British fleet under Admiral Sir George Rodney defeated a Spanish squadron under Don Juan de Lángara. The battle is sometimes referred to as the Moonlight Battle,...
in January 1780. Nor was the aged but energetic Luis de Córdova y Córdova
Luis de Córdova y Córdova
Luis de Córdova y Córdova was a Spanish admiral. He is best known for his command of the Spanish fleet during the American War of Independence...
, who captured almost sixty British ships during the Action of 9 August 1780
Action of 9 August 1780
The Action of 9 August 1780 was a naval engagement of the American Revolutionary War in which the main Spanish fleet led by Admiral Luis de Córdova y Córdova, together with a squadron of French ships, captured a heavy British convoy of sixty-three vessels causing a severe blow to the commerce of...
, able to add a third British convoy to his conquests, as Howe's fleet successfully resupplied Gibraltar consequent to the Battle of Cape Spartel
Battle of Cape Spartel
The Battle of Cape Spartel was an indecisive naval battle between a Franco-Spanish fleet under Admiral Luis de Córdova y Córdova and a British fleet under Admiral Richard Howe...
, in October 1782.
The combined Franco-Spanish invasion of Minorca in 1781
Invasion of Minorca, 1781
The Franco-Spanish conquest of Minorca from its British defenders in February 1782, after the Siege of Fort St. Philip lasting over five months, was an important step in the achievement of Spain's aims in its alliance with France against Britain during the American War of Independence...
met with more success; Minorca surrendered the following year, and was restored to Spain after the war, nearly eighty years after it was first captured by the British.
West Indies and Gulf Coast
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
, the main effort was directed to prevent possible British landings in Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, remembering the British expedition against Cuba
British expedition against Cuba
The Battle of Havana was a military action from March to August 1762, as part of the Seven Years' War. British forces besieged and captured the city of Havana, which at the time was an important Spanish naval base in the Caribbean, and dealt a serious blow to the Spanish navy...
that seized Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
in the Seven Years War. Other goals included the reconquest of Florida
Spanish Florida
Spanish Florida refers to the Spanish territory of Florida, which formed part of the Captaincy General of Cuba, the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and the Spanish Empire. Originally extending over what is now the southeastern United States, but with no defined boundaries, la Florida was a component of...
(which the British had divided into West Florida
West Florida
West Florida was a region on the north shore of the Gulf of Mexico, which underwent several boundary and sovereignty changes during its history. West Florida was first established in 1763 by the British government; as its name suggests it largely consisted of the western portion of the region...
and East Florida
East Florida
East Florida was a colony of Great Britain from 1763–1783 and of Spain from 1783–1822. East Florida was established by the British colonial government in 1763; as its name implies it consisted of the eastern part of the region of Florida, with West Florida comprising the western parts. Its capital...
in 1763), and the resolution of logging disputes involving the British in Belize
Belize
Belize is a constitutional monarchy and the northernmost country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Even though Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official...
.
On the mainland, the governor of Spanish Louisiana, Count Bernardo de Gálvez, led a series of successful offensives against the British forts in the Mississippi Valley, first capturing Fort Bute
Capture of Fort Bute
The Capture of Fort Bute signalled the opening of Spanish intervention in the American Revolutionary War on the side of France and the United States. Mustering an ad hoc army of Spanish regulars, Acadian militia, and native levies under Gilbert Antoine de St...
at Manchac
Manchac, Louisiana
Manchac is a small unincorporated community in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the Hammond Micropolitan Statistical Area....
and then forcing the surrender
Battle of Baton Rouge (1779)
The Battle of Baton Rouge was a brief siege during the American Revolutionary War that was decided on September 21, 1779. Baton Rouge was the second British outpost to fall to Spanish arms during Bernardo de Gálvez's march into British West Florida....
of Baton Rouge, Natchez
Natchez, Louisiana
Natchez is a village in Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 583 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Natchitoches Micropolitan Statistical Area....
and Mobile
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
in 1779 and 1780. While a hurricane halted an expedition to capture Pensacola
Pensacola, Florida
Pensacola is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle and the county seat of Escambia County, Florida, United States of America. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 56,255 and as of 2009, the estimated population was 53,752...
, the capital of British West Florida, in 1780, Gálvez's forces achieved a decisive victory against the British in 1781 at the Battle of Pensacola
Battle of Pensacola (1781)
The Siege of Pensacola was fought in 1781, the culmination of Spain's conquest of the British province West Florida during the American War of Independence.-Background:...
giving the Spanish control of all of West Florida
West Florida
West Florida was a region on the north shore of the Gulf of Mexico, which underwent several boundary and sovereignty changes during its history. West Florida was first established in 1763 by the British government; as its name suggests it largely consisted of the western portion of the region...
. This secured the southern route for supplies and closed off the possibility of any British offensive into the western frontier of United States via the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
.
When Spain entered the war, Britain also went on the offensive in the Caribbean, planning an expedition against Spanish Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
. A British attempt to gain a foothold at San Fernando de Omoa was rebuffed in October 1779
Battle of San Fernando de Omoa
The Battle of San Fernando de Omoa was a short siege and battle between British and Spanish forces fought not long after Spain entered the American Revolutionary War on the American side...
, and an expedition in 1780 against Fort San Juan in Nicaragua was at first successful, but yellow fever
Yellow fever
Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....
and other tropical diseases wiped out most of the force, which then withdrew back to Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
.
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
from Cuba, but these plans were aborted when Britain sued for peace.
American Midwest
The Spanish assisted the Thirteen Colonies in their campaigns in the American MidwestMidwestern United States
The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
. In January 1778, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
Governor Patrick Henry
Patrick Henry
Patrick Henry was an orator and politician who led the movement for independence in Virginia in the 1770s. A Founding Father, he served as the first and sixth post-colonial Governor of Virginia from 1776 to 1779 and subsequently, from 1784 to 1786...
authorized an expedition by George Rogers Clark
George Rogers Clark
George Rogers Clark was a soldier from Virginia and the highest ranking American military officer on the northwestern frontier during the American Revolutionary War. He served as leader of the Kentucky militia throughout much of the war...
, who captured the fort at Vincennes
Forts of Vincennes, Indiana
During the 18th and 19th centuries, the French, British and American nations built and occupied a number of forts at Vincennes, Indiana. These outposts commanded a strategic position on the Wabash River.- Original Trading Post :...
and secured the northern region of the Ohio for the rebels. Clark relied on Gálvez and Oliver Pollock
Oliver Pollock
Oliver Pollock was a merchant and financier of the American Revolutionary War, of which he has long been considered a historically undervalued figure...
for support to supply his men with weapons and ammunition, and to provide credit for provisions. The credit lines that Pollock established to purchase supplies for Clark were supposed to be backed by the state of Virginia. However, Pollock in turn had to rely on his own personal credit and Gálvez, who allowed the funds of the Spanish government to be at Pollock's disposal as loans. These funds were usually delivered in the dark cover of night by Gálvez's private secretary.
The Spanish garrisons in the Louisiana region
Louisiana (New Spain)
Louisiana was the name of an administrative district of the Viceroyalty of New Spain from 1764 to 1803 that represented territory west of the Mississippi River basin, plus New Orleans...
repelled attacks from British units and the latter's Indian
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
allies in the Battle of Saint Louis
Battle of Saint Louis
The Battle of St. Louis was an unsuccessful British-led attack on St. Louis on May 26, 1780, during the American Revolutionary War...
in 1780. A year later, a detachment travelled through present-day Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
and took Fort St. Joseph, in the modern state of Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
.
Siege of Yorktown
The Spanish also assisted in the Siege of YorktownSiege of Yorktown
The Siege of Yorktown, Battle of Yorktown, or Surrender of Yorktown in 1781 was a decisive victory by a combined assault of American forces led by General George Washington and French forces led by the Comte de Rochambeau over a British Army commanded by Lieutenant General Lord Cornwallis...
in 1781, the critical and final battle of the War. French General Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau
Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau
Marshal of France Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau was a French nobleman and general who participated in the American Revolutionary War as the commander-in-chief of the French Expeditionary Force which came to help the American Continental Army...
, commanding his country's forces in North America, sent a desperate appeal to François Joseph Paul de Grasse
François Joseph Paul de Grasse
Lieutenant Général des Armées Navales François-Joseph Paul, marquis de Grasse Tilly, comte de Grasse was a French admiral. He is best known for his command of the French fleet at the Battle of the Chesapeake, which led directly to the British surrender at Yorktown...
, the French admiral designated to assist the Colonists, asking him to raise money in the Caribbean to fund the campaign at Yorktown. With the assistance of Spanish agent Francisco Saavedra de Sangronis
Francisco Saavedra de Sangronis
Francisco Saavedra de Sangronis was a Spanish government official and soldier whose work in Cuba during the American Revolutionary War laid the foundations for the defeat of British forces in Florida and at Yorktown.-Early career:...
, the needed cash, over 500,000 in silver pesos, was raised in Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
, Cuba within 24 hours. This money was used to purchase critical supplies for the siege, and to fund payroll for the Continental Army.
Treaty of Paris
The reforms made by the Spanish colonial authorities in the Americas as a result of Spain's poor performance in the Seven Years War had proved successful. Spanish forces remained undefeated—in the American theatre at least—until the end of the war. As a result, Spain retained Minorca and West Florida in the Treaty of Paris, and traded the Bahamas for East FloridaEast Florida
East Florida was a colony of Great Britain from 1763–1783 and of Spain from 1783–1822. East Florida was established by the British colonial government in 1763; as its name implies it consisted of the eastern part of the region of Florida, with West Florida comprising the western parts. Its capital...
. The lands east of the Mississippi, however, were recognized as part of the newly independent United States of America.
Aftermath
Spain's involvement in the American Revolutionary WarAmerican Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
was widely regarded as a successful one. The Spanish took a gamble in entering the war, banking on Great Britain's vulnerability, caused by the effort of fighting their rebellious colonists in North America while also conducting a global war against a growing coalition
Coalition
A coalition is a pact or treaty among individuals or groups, during which they cooperate in joint action, each in their own self-interest, joining forces together for a common cause. This alliance may be temporary or a matter of convenience. A coalition thus differs from a more formal covenant...
of nations. This allowed Spain some easy conquests, particularly in the New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
, as the British were increasingly stretched as they tried to wage war on so many different fronts.
The war gave a strong boost to national morale, which had been badly shaken following the major losses to the British during the previous war. Even though Spain's most coveted target, Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
, remained out of its grasp, Spain had more than compensated by recovering Minorca
Minorca
Min Orca or Menorca is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. It takes its name from being smaller than the nearby island of Majorca....
and regaining its place as a major player in the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
, all of which were seen as vital if Spain was to continue into the nineteenth century as a great power
Great power
A great power is a nation or state that has the ability to exert its influence on a global scale. Great powers characteristically possess military and economic strength and diplomatic and cultural influence which may cause small powers to consider the opinions of great powers before taking actions...
.
Spain was seen to have received tangible results out of the war, especially in contrast to its ally France. The French had invested huge amounts of manpower, finance and resources for little clear national gain. France had been left with crippling debts which it struggled to pay off, and which become one of the major causes of the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
that broke out in 1789. Spain, in comparison, disposed of its debts more easily, partly due to the stunning increases in silver production from the mines in Mexico and Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
. In the mid-18th century, production in Mexico increased by about 600%, and by 250% in Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
and Bolivia.
One particular outcome of the war was the manner in which it enhanced the position of Prime Minister Floridablanca, and his government continued to dominate Spanish politics until 1792.
Don Diego de Gardoqui
Don Diego de Gardoqui
Don Diego María de Gardoqui y Arriquibar Gardoqui-Gardoki Translation: Basque - Fernery was a Spanish-born politician and diplomat.-Biography:Diego de Gardoqui, the fourth of eight children, was the financial intermediary between the...
, of the Gardoqui trading company that had greatly assisted the rebels during the war, was appointed as Spain's first ambassador to the United States of America in 1784. Gardoqui became well acquainted with George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
, and marched in the newly elected President Washington's inaugural parade. King Charles III of Spain
Charles III of Spain
Charles III was the King of Spain and the Spanish Indies from 1759 to 1788. He was the eldest son of Philip V of Spain and his second wife, the Princess Elisabeth Farnese...
continued communications with Washington, sending him livestock from Spain that Washington had requested for his farm at Mount Vernon
Mount Vernon
The name Mount Vernon is a dedication to the English Vice-Admiral Edward Vernon. It was first applied to Mount Vernon, the Virginia estate of George Washington, the first President of the United States...
.
See also
- France in the American Revolutionary WarFrance in the American Revolutionary WarFrance entered the American Revolutionary War in 1778, and assisted in the victory of the Americans seeking independence from Britain ....
- Gardoqui Family of BilbaoGardoqui- Gardoqui Family of Bilbao, Spain :Wealthy Basque proprietors of the 18th-Century House of José Gardoqui and Sons of Bilbao, Spain....
- Great Siege of GibraltarGreat Siege of GibraltarThe Great Siege of Gibraltar was an unsuccessful attempt by Spain and France to capture Gibraltar from the British during the American War of Independence. This was the largest action fought during the war in terms of numbers, particularly the Grand Assault of 18 September 1782...