Pensacola

Abstract

Abstract The Treaty of Paris, which ended the Seven Years/French and Indian War in 1763, had sweeping implications for European colonialism in North America. France lost virtually everything on the continent, retaining only fishing rights off Canada and a handful of Caribbean islands. Left with only unexplored and mostly inaccessible territory between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains, France gave up most of her imperial dreams and ceded that land, known as Louisiana, to her ally Spain. Spain gladly received it, for she had lost Florida to Britain as a result of the treaty and was glad to control the strategic port of New Orleans in compensation. Still, the defeat rankled French and Spanish alike, and both looked forward to the day they could exact a measure of revenge. Such an opportunity arose in 1775 when Britain’s thirteen American colonies began a revolution. Spain and France were both quick to funnel illicit arms and money to the Americans, but their support remained under the table until the American victory at Saratoga in October 1777. The decisiveness of the victory impressed the government in Paris, which signed a treaty of recognition and mutual defense in February 1778. Spain hesitated to openly support the Americans, however, fearing to aid a cause that their own colonists might emulate. When Britain rebuffed Spain’s attempt to act as mediator, however, Madrid allied with France (although not with the United States) and went to war in May 1779. She hoped not only to regain Florida but also to seize the opportunity to capture Gibraltar, which the British had occupied for decades.