By Anastasia Aleiferi,
Throughout human history, conflict and wars have been a focal point. They have occurred for many reasons, such as for the sake of expanding territories or gaining power. Today, I wanted to highlight a war that we don’t learn about at school, but I believe is interesting enough for people to hear about it at least once in their life.
The war of Jenkin’s Ear was a conflict between Britain and Spain that occurred during 1739-1749. Most of the war operations happened in the Caribbean and Granada. The incident that named the war happened in 1731. Outside the coast of Florida, between the British brigade and the Spanish patrol boats, the Spanish accused the captain of the British ship, Franklin Jenkins, of smuggling. When Jenkins had to report and testify before the Parliament, specifically the House of Commons, he allegedly presented his severed ear as evidence of violence against him, but no detailed record of the hearing exists to this day. This incident, among other cases of Spanish violence against British subjects (such as pillaging, destroying and attacking British citizens), was considered an insult to the British Crown and a cause for war.
The war was conducted on the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, where most Spanish territories and the South Sea company mostly operated. Initially, the British suffered great losses and retreated to Jamaica in order to recover and get emergency supplies. Because of their initial losses, their naval strategy had to change, and so the British navy started destroying specific strategic ports and forteresse of the Spanish along the Caribbean coast. The big victories that the British held on the Caribbean made the Spanish troops lose morale, and the Spanish naval forces made important changes to their defensive strategies and their leadership. During that time, the Austrian Succession war broke out, which led to the two forces to change their area of operation and focus most of their forces back to the European continent. But when France entered the war in 1745, its main focus was to invade Britain. So after that point, the war became a large-scale conflict. But negotiations for the end of it started in 1746 in Portugal, a neutral power to the conflict.
The eventual resolution of the conflict happened with the wide settlement of the War of Austrian succession by the Treaty of Aix la Chapelle, which essentially restored the previous status quo. The ambitions of the British for the expansion of their territory and an economic growth on the Caribbean had been stopped and, even though Spain wasn’t prepared to defend its possessions in America, it managed to do so. In the peace treaty, the issue of the succession wasn’t mentioned, as it was less important for both nations. In the treaty of Madrid, which officially finalized the issue, Britain agreed to renounce its claim to the asiento in exchange for a payment of 100.000£. The South Sea Company stopped its activity even though the treaty allowed favorable conditions for the British trade to continue with Spanish America.
The relations between the two nations improved temporarily through the years, thanks to the efforts of the Duke of Newcastle who wanted to make Spain an ally. Also, the succession of ministers that had friendly intentions towards Britain helped the cause. This resulted in the Seven Year War between Britain and France, with Spain initially remaining neutral, but eventually joining the French side and lost its rights to Havana and Manila to the British. During the settlement, after the war, both territories returned to Spain on condition that Spain ceded Florida to the British.
It is important to note that to this day, we don’t know if Jenkins truly lost his ear because of the Spanish coast guard’s actions or from a pub brawl. But what is true is that a severed ear is considered to this day the cause for a 10 year long war between two of the most powerful countries in the world of that era.
References
- What Was the War of Jenkins’ Ear?. The Collector. Available here
- April 8, 1740, War of Jenkin’s Ear. Today in History. Available here
- War of Jenkins’ Ear. Historic UK. Available here
- War of Jenkins’ Ear. Georgia Encyclopedia. Available here
