Background:
After securing Louisiana and Mississippi for Madrid, Spanish forces led by General Bernardo de Galvez, commander of the Spanish forces in North America, besieged of Pensacola, Florida.
For two months, in what history records as the Battle of Pensacola (1871), the Spanish ultimately forced the British to surrender. King Charles III regained West Florida, consolidating control over its territory bordering the entire Gulf of Mexico.
While self-serving, Spain joined France against the common enemy of Great Britain to roll up British forces outside the 13 rebellious colonies along the Eastern seaboard.
At the same time, Spain blocked the southern expansion of the new United States.
Spanish to English Translation:
This probably unknown part of the US revolutionary war surfaced recently in an article in the Spanish daily, La Vanguardia:
Título: España, independentista en secreto
Headline: Spain, secret independent fighter
The following is a partial Spanish to English translation of the article.
Paris took a year longer to decide, but Spain’s contribution to the US struggle for independence was at least as important and decisive as Marquis de Lafayette’s homeland. His historical memory, however, could not be more unequal.
Spain aided US independence in money, supplies, and soldiers as much as France,” explains José Manuel Guerrero Acosta, commissioner of the Recovered Memory Exhibition, which opens tomorrow in Washington.
The Parisian revolutionary has a square with his name and a statue from the early 19th century in front of the White House. For the tribute to his Spanish counterpart, Bernardo de Gálvez, one must look to a cross street next to the State Department inaugurated in 1976. And while Lafayette has been an honorary citizen of the United States since 2002, it took 12 more years to give Gálvez the same recognition, a distinction only eight foreigners share. The diplomacy to give him his place in history, however, is beginning to bear fruit in a country that is increasingly diverse and aware of its Hispanic heritage.
Conclusion
A trusted translator is a valuable resource when you need to understand issues from history to business in a language other than English.
Rely on Professor Winn to conduct Internet Research of the Spanish web and produce a report of his findings in your specially-designed brief in English.
Learn more now – send a message to Professor Winn about your research project.