G Lvez And Spain In The American Revolution

Though the participation of France in the American Revolution is well established in the historiography, the role of Spain, France’s ally, is relatively understudied and underappreciated. Spain's involvement in the conflict formed part of a global struggle between empires and directly influenced the outcome of the clash between Britain and its North American colonists. Following the establishment of American independence, the Spanish empire became one of the nascent republic's most significant neighbors and, often illicitly, trading partners. Bringing together essays from a range of well-regarded historians, this volume contributes significantly to the international history of the Age of Atlantic Revolutions.

Although Spain was never a formal ally of the United States during the American Revolution, its entry into the war definitively tipped the balance against Britain. Led by Bernardo de Galvez, supreme commander of the Spanish forces in North America, their military campaigns against British settlements on the Mississippi River—and later against Mobile and Pensacola—were crucial in preventing Britain from concentrating all its North American military and naval forces on the fight against George Washington's Continental army. In this first comprehensive biography of Galvez (1746@–86), Gonzalo M. Quintero Saravia assesses the commander's considerable historical impact and expands our understanding of Spain's contribution to the war. A man of both empire and the Enlightenment, as viceroy of New Spain (1785@–86), Galvez was also pivotal in the design and implementation of Spanish colonial reforms, which included the reorganization of Spain's Northern Frontier that brought peace to the region for the duration of the Spanish presence in North America. Extensively researched through Spanish, Mexican, and U.S. archives, Quintero Saravia's portrait of Galvez reveals him as central to the histories of the Revolution and late eighteenth-century America and offers a reinterpretation of the international factors involved in the American War for Independence.

A thorough study of how Spain contributed to the Revolutionary War in America.

Spain played a significant role in the outcome of the American Revolution by providing economic support and opening war fronts to fight the British in Europe and North America. Spain’s support for the revolutionaries was a strategic mistake for its government, for it was not in Spain’s national interests as a colonial power to do this. Neither France nor Spain helped the North American colonies to gain independence from Great Britain for altruistic reasons. Instead, both countries were eager to retaliate against Great Britain, which had become the undisputed global power after these countries’ defeat in the Seven Years War...However, Spain, unlike France, still possessed extended and rich territories throughout the two American continents. This caused Spain to cautiously approach involvement in the American Revolution. Being a colonial power like Britain, Spain did not want the seed of independence to spread throughout its own colonies; therefore the country never officially recognized U.S. independence during the time of the American Revolution. Instead, and as a result of the Bourbon Family Compact with France, Spain declared war on Great Britain in 1779, but it would never fight within the Thirteen Colonies. Nevertheless, and despite the inherent risk, Spanish ports were opened to American ships, and Spain provided, initially by secret means through Paris and New Orleans and later on in a more straight way, financial support to the American cause in the form of money and supplies since 1776. Spanish money also financed expeditions such as De Grasse’s Fleet in 1781 and the Washington’s army on its march to the south that were decisive in the Yorktown victory. Moreover, Spain fought the British in the Spanish areas of interest, including West Florida, Central America, the Caribbean, and Europe, thereby opening several fronts which the British could not simultaneously manage, and threatening vital sea lines of communications of the global naval power.

Without Spanish assistance during the American Revolutionary War, we would still be under the British flag. Galvez was always one step ahead of the English. He drove the English out of the lower Mississippi River by defeating them at Manchac, Baton Rouge & Natchez. His Spanish army and militia defeated the English at St. Louis. His Spanish army and militia captured the British fort with a warehouse of weapons, food and supplies at Niles, Michigan. He led the attacks on Mobile and Pensacola and drove the British from the Gulf coast. Spain provided as much if not more financial support as France during the American Revolutionary War. Spanish soldiers fought the English in Europe, Central America, South Africa and India. On one day the Spanish fleet captured 55 British ships, including 8 war ships, taking over 2,500 crew men as prisoners, & seized over 1,500,000 English Pounds value of the cargo on those ships. For fear of an attack from Spain and France, England kept the bulk of its army and naval fleet at home, diluting the strength of its forces in North America. Spanish merchants supplied the colonists with arms, ammunition and supplies as early as 1774. 17,000 Spanish troops and sailors fought the English in North America during the war; many more than George Washington's Continental Army.

American History is not complete without recognizing Spain's monumental contribution to the American Revolution. This book fills in that most important chapter of the American Revolution. It can be said that the American Revolution would not have been successful without Spain's money, war supplies, and General Bernardo de Galvez who defeated the British on the southern front and opened the Mississippi River to supply the American war effort. Read also, how all this was made possible with the help of an endless supply of Longhorn cattle from the Provence of Texas. To quote Judge Thonhoff, "Texas indeed had a steak in the American Revolution."