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In 1776, Spain was almost 20 years into the reign of King Charles III, a member of the royal House of Bourbon. Charles was one of the European rulers who subscribed to Enlightened absolutism. Like Louis XVI in France and Catherine the Great in Russia, he held supreme authority but introduced some of the new ideas about society and progressive government that had emerged in recent philosophy. Like other European countries, Spain was vying for a global empire. 

Having allied with France in the Seven Years’ (French and Indian) War, Spain lost control of Florida but gained Louisiana in the peace settlement of 1763. People throughout the world, including in many parts of Central and South America, thought of themselves as subjects of – or subject to – the Spanish empire.

As soon as the American colonies began their rebellion, Spanish officials considered how this new war might benefit their empire. But other priorities and regions competed for Spain’s attention, including in the Spanish-Portuguese War of 1776-1777 over their own North American colonies and borders. That didn’t stop the shipment of arms to America though; some of the first imported weapons purchased by New Englanders came from Spain in 1775. In 1779, Spain signed the Treaty of Aranjuez with France, agreeing to support the French in their war against Great Britain (as part of the American Revolutionary War) in return – assuming a victory – for several former Spanish territories then under British and French control.

Spain chose to support the Revolutionaries by allying with France primarily out of global political strategy. Three places played into their thinking: Menorca, an island off the coast of Spain in the Mediterranean; Gibraltar, a point in southern Spain guarding the entrance to the Mediterranean; and the large region of the Mississippi Valley known as Louisiana. In 1776, as the result of centuries of conflict, the British controlled Menorca and Gibraltar – key to Spain’s defense of its coast – and the French held Louisiana – a potentially lucrative source of raw materials. When France agreed to return Louisiana as part of an alliance, Spain entered the War on the Franco-American side.

On June 21, 1779, Spain declared war on Great Britain, creating a de facto alliance with the Americans.

Spain’s King Charles III would not consent to a treaty of alliance with the United States. For one imperial power to encourage another imperial power’s colonies to revolt was a treacherous game, and he was unwilling to play. However, French Foreign Minister Charles Gravier, Comte de Vergennes, managed to negotiate a treaty with Spain to join their war against the British. As the ally of the United States’ ally, Spain managed to endorse the revolt at a critical diplomatic distance. Along with their military support, Spain supplied the Revolutionaries with desperately needed arms, blankets, shoes, and currency.

By far the most famous Spanish figure in the American Revolutionary War was Bernardo Vicente de Gálvez, a Spanish military officer and governor of Spanish Louisiana who orchestrated a series of victories against British forces along the Gulf Coast. Gálvez is one of only eight honorary U.S. citizens, an honor granted for his service in the Revolution. Other Spanish imperial administrators, like Francisco Saavedra de Sangronis, contributed support for the Revolutionary cause, and at sea, naval commanders like Admiral Luis de Córdova damaged British shipping. 

We know less about thousands of other people in the Spanish empire who contributed to the cause. Some might surprise you, like soldiers serving in racially integrated Spanish units or Petit Jean, an enslaved man whose story was uncovered by historian Kathleen DuVal, who spied and carried messages for the Spanish around Mobile (in present-day Alabama) and who achieved his freedom in the new United States.

The American Revolution had already spawned a world war between the two international powers of Britain and France. Spain’s entry into the imbroglio ensured that the British would have to spread their resources even thinner. King Charles wanted to reclaim Gibraltar for Spain and secure Spanish borders in North America and the Spanish immediately laid siege to Gibraltar at the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea. 

The British managed to drive the Spanish from Gibraltar on February 7, 1783, having constructed an 82-foot-long tunnel into the north face of the rock of Gibraltar, known as the “Notch,” in order to supply it with cannon. However, King Charles succeeded in his North American goals. The Spanish took West Florida by force and attained East Florida by cession when the War for Independence ended; they were also able to secure the Gulf of Mexico.

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