Pinckney’s Treaty—A New Perspective

Abstract

O N OCTOBER 27, 1795, at the summer residence of the Spanish court in the village of San Lorenzo del Escorial, near the Sierra de Guadarrama range, one of the most widely discussed events in history took place-the signing of the Treaty of San Lorenzo.' It was an event the importance of which can only be compared with that of 1783 in the history of the 'United States, that recognized it before the world as a nation free, independent, and sovereign. After fifteen years of continued diplomatic overtures and controversy between Spain and the United States over the southern boundary and the navigation of the Mississippi River, Spain's acquiescence to the United States opened the greatest of possibilities for her future development, and marked the beginning of the end of Spain's expansion. The importance of the treaty and the astounding fact of its realization have brought into being many critical and historical works, but only a few of these writers have had direct access to original sources.2 Accordingly, with the perspective that time affords, and basing my observations principally on original documents conserved in the National Historical Archives, Madrid, I should like to present yet another interpretation of the conditions which preceded the signing of the Treaty of San Lorenzo. A detailed background of the question can be found in my: Los Antecedentes Politicos y Diplomaticos del Tratado de Pinekney. 3