Michelle McIlroy - Bernardo de Gálvez: Spanish Revolutionary War Hero

Published in 2020 by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.

29 East 21st Street, New York, NY 10010

Copyright 2020 by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.

First Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: McIlroy, Michelle, author.

Title: Bernardo de Glvez: Spanish Revolutionary War hero / Michelle McIlroy.

Description: First edition. | New York: Rosen Publishing, 2020. | Series: Our voices: Spanish and Latino figures of American history | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Audience: Grades 58. Identifiers: LCCN 2018006727 | ISBN 9781508184362 (library bound) | ISBN 9781508184355 (pbk.)

Subjects: LCSH: Glvez, Bernardo de, 17461786Juvenile literature. | United StatesHistoryRevolution, 17751783Participation, Spanish Juvenile literature. | GovernorsLouisianaBiographyJuvenile literature. | Mississippi River ValleyHistoryRevolution, 17751783Juvenile literature. | FloridaHistoryRevolution, 17751783Juvenile literature. | LouisianaHistoryRevolution, 17751783Juvenile literature. | Glvez, Bernardo de, 17461786Juvenile literature.

Classification: LCC E269.S63 M43 2019 | DDC 973.3092 [B]dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018006727

Manufactured in the United States of America

On the cover: Bernardo de Glvez was a Spanish general who is remembered today as a Revolutionary War hero. Under his leadership, the Spanish forces and their allies were victorious over Britain.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

M orning quiet was pierced by the sound of gunshots on April 19, 1775, when British troops faced American colonial militiamen in Lexington, Massachusetts. With these shots, a long-simmering conflict between Great Britain and American colonists boiled over into war. The American Revolution had begun. However, the real conflict had started long before; war doesnt begin in one day. American colonists were fighting to be heard, and their grievances against British rule started in the 1750s from conflict across the sea.

From 1754 to 1763, there was a war known in Europe as the Seven Years War. This conflict spilled across all reaches of the powerful empires under Great Britain and France. The struggle took place on land as well as on the worlds oceans. Great Britain and France were fighting for territory and global power. The strife affected Europeans in all parts of the world and other peoples in the colonies. In North America, this part of the fight was known as the French and Indian War, named for the British and Iroquois allies against the French military forces and the Huron. The American war centered around the claims of the Ohio and Mississippi River valleys. Both France and Great Britain wanted these lands for the sake of trade with their allies and expansion of territory.

In 1759, in the midst of this global upheaval, Spains King Ferdinand VI died. Ferdinand VI had remained neutral in these conflicts, despite a long rivalry for control of the worlds oceans and ports between Great Britain and Spain during the age of exploration. Spain held a large empire in the New World, and the growing strength of the British Empire during the Seven Years War concerned Spain. Would Great Britain threaten Spains hold on the Americas and across the globe? When Ferdinand VI died, the rule passed to his half-brother Charles III, who was hungry to increase Spains power in the world. In 1761, Spain renewed an old compact with France to provide support for France against Great Britain. With this, Spains lands and wealth were brought into the growing conflict.

Bernardo de Glvez is remembered today for his heroic deeds during the Revolutionary War. His statue can be found in Washington, D.C.

Britain defeated France in 1763. With the Treaty of Paris, France lost most of its territory to Great Britain, while signing the Louisiana Territory over to Spain. Great Britain took Florida from Spain. In addition, King George signed the Proclamation of 1763, stating that American colonists would not be permitted to settle lands west of the Appalachian Mountains, preserving these lands for the Native Americans to use. Colonists living in these areas would be forced to leave. The increased taxes demanded to pay for war, as well as this proclamation, would eventually trigger the American Revolution. At the same time, Spain would need to send powerful leaders into the Louisiana Territory to maintain control of their hard-won landsand would eventually influence the fate of the American colonial struggle for independence. Bernardo de Glvez, it would turn out, was the leader who would turn the tide for American patriots when they faced their own fight for freedom.