Sure, France Helped the Colonists. So Did Spain.
Good morning. It's Monday. Today we'll look at whether the Americans would have won the Revolutionary War without help from Spain, a topic that is the subject of a discussion tonight aboard a Spanish ship docked in Manhattan.
Move over, Lafayette. Spain helped the colonials in the Revolutionary War, too. In fact, Spanish arms and munitions were sent across the Atlantic first, before aid from France — and before the Battles of Lexington and Concord.
Three scholars may not put it exactly that way at a presentation tonight, but the subtext is that Spain was essential to the plucky colonists' fight for independence 250 years ago.
The New York-based Queen Sofía Spanish Institute planned the invitation-only gathering tonight, aboard the Spanish training ship Juan Sebastián de Elcano, docked at a pier in Manhattan. For its 'America&Spain250 Initiative,' the institute is spotlighting 'the significant yet little-understood role of Spain in America's war of independence.' Prince Pedro, Duke of Calabria, is scheduled to attend the event.
'It's not a matter of getting the credit' for Spain, said Gonzalo Quintero, a historian who is to give a talk at the event. 'Credit is not a thing we historians are concerned about. In the community of historians, it's well recognized that without the help of Spain, American independence would never have taken place.'
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