The role of Spain in the birth of the United States is a little known and little understood aspect of U.S. independence. Through actual fighting, provision of supplies, and money, Spain helped the young British colonies succeed in becoming an independent nation. Soldiers were recruited from all over the Spanish empire, from Spain itself and from throughout Spanish America. Many died fighting British soldiers and their allies in Central America, the Caribbean, along the Mississippi River from New Orleans to St. Louis and as far north as Michigan, along the Gulf Coast to Mobile and Pensacola, as well as in Europe. Based on primary research in the archives of Spain, this book is about United States history at its very inception, placing the war in its broadest international context. In short, the information in this book should provide a clearer understanding of the independence of the United States, correct a longstanding omission in its history, and enrich its patrimony. It will appeal to anyone interested in the history of the Revolutionary War and in Spain's role in the development of the Americas.

This history of the contribution of Spain and Cuba to the American War of Independence continues to be largely ignored by the Americans and the world in general, including Spaniards and Latin Americans. This new presentation of my previous work includes three additional chapters with new data and information to make it more up to date in that it will show a more complete overview of the contribution of Spain, Cuba and other Spanish Colonies to the American Revolution. I will also comment on the international forces that influenced this colonial conflict that had worldwide implications. The main purpose of this book is to give greater recognition to the enormous contribution that Spain gave right from the beginning in 1776 to the revolutionary cause. King Carlos III himself was direcdtly involved in this effort, plus his Ministers Grimaldi, Floridablanca, Galvez and the enthusiastic and dynamic Count of Arana as ambassador of the Crown in Paris. Spain’s contribution has been largely forgotten, but as we shall see, it was indeed crucial to the revolutionary cause. Likewise, contributions were also received from Louisiana, Mexico and particularly from Havana, often under orders from the court at Madrid but also on the initiative of the citizens of Havana, creoles as well as Spaniards.

This book provides a new interpretation of Spanish American independence, emphasising political processes.

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.

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.