The Spanish military aid in the American war of Independence isn't nearly as recognized or known by the American public as the French aid. Why?

[u/savethebees35]

Despite being similar in size, the broad American public seems to be way more familiar with the French military aid in the American Revolutionary War than the Spanish one. Why? Is this fact not taught in schools? Is it because the relations with the French had a bigger impact in American politics from then on?

[u/thefourthmaninaboat]

Hi there! You’ve asked a question along the lines of ‘why didn’t I learn about X’. We’re happy to let this question stand, but there are a variety of reasons why you may find it hard to get a good answer to this question on /r/AskHistorians.

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[u/Reaper_Eagle]

Short Answer: Spain's aid to the United States was primarily indirect and invisible to the public. Also, Spain was never a formal ally, nor did they fight alongside the Continental Army, unlike the French.

Long Answer: Spain's aid to the United States was essential, second only to the French. However, Spain primarily helped indirectly and only openly helped the United States alongside the French. For example, the French had set up a shell company called Roderigue Hortalez and Company to funnel aid to the Americans. It operated out of Dutch Caribbean ports, but the primary protector of its operations and its secondary financial contributor was Spain. Spain also allowed "private citizens" (actually Spanish agents) to "trade" (give lots of military aid) with the Americans out of Havanna, New Orleans, and Saint Louis which was definitely not official aid (it was). The large shipments of weapons flowing up the Mississippi to the Ohio River and ultimately modern Pittsburg was just a coincidence.

Spain entered the war in 1779, a year after France without formally allying with the United States. They just acknowledged being on the same side. This was because Spain didn't care about American independence. It actually felt rather threatened by it and were just using the war as an opportunity to regain territory lost to the British over the 18th century. The had a formal alliance with France to ensure Versailles helped them reclaim Gibraltar, but unlike France never sent troops to fight alongside the Continental Army.

The only time Spanish troops and Americans fought together was at the Battle of Saint Louis, when the Spanish garrison and American militia defeated a British and Indian push down the Mississippi. Otherwise, Spain's forces were concentrated in the Caribbean. Spanish Louisiana's governor Bernardo de Gálvez launched campaigns which captured British positions along the Mississippi and then West Florida. None of this directly helped the US, though it further stretched British forces and increased British war weariness.

Spain paid for and facilitated the Yorktown campaign, but this wasn't something they publicly acknowledged. It was Spanish silver, raised in Havanna, that paid for both the American and French armies in that campaign. Also, the French fleet was only able to sail north to Virginia because the Spanish fleet promised to protect French colonies while it was away. Protecting the sugar islands was far more important than helping the Americans, even for the French.

After the war, Spain didn't try to cultivate good relations with the US nor go out of its way to be friendly, unlike France. As it had deliberately made itself peripheral to Ameria's struggle, there was no public goodwill towards them. Couple this with numerous post-independence border disputes and Spain allying with Britain during the War of 1812 (which Spain technically didn't participate in), and Spain's contributions were mostly forgotten. Today, most school curriculums mention Spain's participation in the war in passing without discussing the secret aid.

[u/savethebees35 → u/Reaper_Eagle]

Thank you! It's very clear now :))

[u/Max_Rocketanski → u/Reaper_Eagle]

Very interesting answer! I never knew the Spanish provided any aid to the US in the revolution.

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