Spain, The Ally America Betrayed

Spain, The Ally America Betrayed 

“It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal.”

— Henry Kissinger 

Most Americans don’t understand the depth of Spanish involvement in the early history of the United States. Fewer even know that the cornerstone of the White House was laid by a Spaniard named Pedro Dickson, the fifth Mayor of Georgetown. 

The Spanish empire also played a very important role in the American war of independence. Spain provided financial aid, weapons, and guaranteed safe passage for American ships threatened by the English. What’s more, the Spanish also took a direct role in the war fighting the English with General Bernardo de Gálvez, who led the Spanish forces that captured Pensacola from the English during the American Revolutionary War in 1781, the capital of British West Florida. He defeated the British in Baton Rouge and in the battle of Mobile, Alabama.

The governor of Spanish Louisiana, Luis Anza, was one of the first to write letters to George Washington, recognizing American independence and offering his support in 1776. Yes, Spain was a principal ally in the war of independence, not just the French. But despite all these contributions to the formation of the United States, the Spanish empire would pay a high price, indeed. 

Instead of gratitude for the assistance in the defeat of the English, the anti-Catholic, Protestant sentiment in the new nation, was even stronger among the Americans than among the English themselves, and it would not be long before the Americans engaged in the process of complete disintegration of Spanish America and the subsequent occupation of many territories belonging to Spain.

In addition to the deliberate concealment of many aspects of American culture formed by Spanish heritage, the Americans took Puerto Rico and the Philippines from the Spanish, even prohibiting the use of Spanish in the Philippines. In Mexico, they invaded and took California, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Texas, Nevada, and even encouraged and supported the process of independence in Central America and in Mexico by fostering anti Catholic sentiment. Then the United States exploited the accidental ammunition magazine explosion of the USS Maine, in Havana harbor, to raise anti-Spanish sentiment in the United States in order to overthrow Spanish rule in Cuba.

The United States, in Latin America, also managed to rewrite history, always attributing the role of villain to the Spanish rulers, and you can still see reflections of these attitudes and mentalities today with the new president of Mexico, demanding an apology from the king of Spain for the conquest of Mexico and preventing him from attending her own inauguration. Ironically, it was the United States, which plundered more than half of Mexico‘s territory. Mexico today emphasizes Aztec symbolism while seeking to deny and hide its Spanish past. 

The United States has over 50 million Spanish speakers, making it the second largest in the world after Spain. Spanish is also the most studied foreign language in the country, with Catholicism being the religion of almost half of the population of the United States.

The cross of Burgundy, which for so long fluttered across the American territory as the symbol of the Spanish empire, today inspires the flags of Florida and Alabama. And with the increasing demographic change favoring Hispanics in the United States, there is hope that the legacy of the Spanish Empire’s contributions to our nation will be recognized and valued as it truly deserves.