The Convention of Pardo, also known as the Treaty of Pardo or Convention of El Pardo, was a 1739 agreement between
Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands
* Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
and
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
. It sought to resolve trade issues between the two countries and agree boundaries between
Spanish Florida and the English colony of
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
.
The Convention established a Boundary Commission to set borders between Georgia and Florida, while Spain provided compensation of £95,000 for confiscated British property. In return, the British
South Sea Company
The South Sea Company (officially The Governor and Company of the merchants of Great Britain, trading to the South Seas and other parts of America, and for the encouragement of the Fishery) was a British joint-stock company founded in Ja ...
would pay £68,000 to settle Spanish claims for profits due on the ''
Asiento
The () was a monopoly contract between the Spanish Crown and various merchants for the right to provide African slaves to colonies in the Spanish Americas. The Spanish Empire rarely engaged in the trans-Atlantic slave trade directly from Afri ...
de Negros''.
Despite being owned by the British government, it refused to do so; both countries rejected the Convention, leading to the outbreak of the
War of Jenkins Ear
The War of Jenkins' Ear, or , was a conflict lasting from 1739 to 1748 between Britain and the Spanish Empire. The majority of the fighting took place in New Granada and the Caribbean Sea, with major operations largely ended by 1742. It is cons ...
on 23 October 1739.
Background
In the 18th century, wars were often fought over commercial issues, due to the then dominant economic theory of
mercantilism. This viewed trade as a finite resource, so if one country increased its share, it must be at the expense of others.
The 1713
Treaty of Utrecht
The Peace of Utrecht was a series of peace treaties signed by the belligerents in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht between April 1713 and February 1715. The war involved three contenders for the vacant throne ...
ending the
War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...
included commercial provisions allowing Britain to trade directly with
New Spain. They included the ''
Asiento
The () was a monopoly contract between the Spanish Crown and various merchants for the right to provide African slaves to colonies in the Spanish Americas. The Spanish Empire rarely engaged in the trans-Atlantic slave trade directly from Afri ...
de Negros'', a monopoly to supply 5,000 slaves a year to its colonies in the Americas and the ''Navio de Permiso'', permitting British ships to sell 1,000 tons of goods in
Porto Bello and
Veracruz
Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...
. However, these turned out to be relatively unprofitable and have been described as a 'commercial illusion'; between 1717 to 1733, the British sent only eight ships to the Americas.
![gacolony](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/Gacolony.png)
The real profits came from smuggled goods that evaded customs duties, with demand from Spanish colonists creating a large
black market. Accepting it could not be stopped, the Spanish authorities used it as an informal instrument of policy. During the 1727 to 1729
Anglo-Spanish War, French ships carrying contraband were let through, while British ships were stopped.
The British accepted the occasional confiscation of ships and goods as part of the cost of business but were concerned by the prospect of being replaced by the French. These were heightened by the 1733
Pacte de Famille
The ''Pacte de Famille'' (, ''Family Compact''; es, Pacto de Familia) is one of three separate, but similar alliances between the Bourbon kings of France and Spain. As part of the settlement of the War of the Spanish Succession that brought ...
between
Louis XV
Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached ...
and his uncle
Philip V Philip V may refer to:
* Philip V of Macedon (221–179 BC)
* Philip V of France (1293–1322)
* Philip II of Spain, also Philip V, Duke of Burgundy (1526–1598)
* Philip V of Spain
Philip V ( es, Felipe; 19 December 1683 – 9 July 1746) was ...
, indicating greater alignment between France and Spain.
The 1729
Treaty of Seville
The Treaty of Seville was signed on 9 November, 1729 between Britain, France, and Spain, formally ending the 1727–1729 Anglo-Spanish War; the Dutch Republic joined the Treaty on 29 November.
However, the Treaty failed to resolve underlying te ...
allowed the Spanish to board British vessels trading with New Spain; in 1731,
Robert Jenkins, captain of the ''Rebecca'', claimed a coast guard officer severed his ear. The legend this was later exhibited to the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...
has no basis in fact and the incident forgotten with the easing of restrictions in 1732.
The establishment of the British colony of
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
in early 1733 increased tension, since it appeared to threaten
Spanish Florida, vital for protecting trade between mainland Spain and its colonies. A second round of 'depredations' in 1738 led to demands for compensation, British newsletters and pamphlets presenting them as inspired by France. This placed political pressure on
Robert Walpole, the long-serving British
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
, to reach a satisfactory deal.
Negotiations
![Sir Benjamin Keene](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/Sir_Benjamin_Keene.jpg)
Delegates from both sides met at the
El Pardo
El Pardo is a ward (''barrio'') of Madrid belonging to the district of Fuencarral-El Pardo. As of 2008 its population was of 3,656.
History
The ward was first mentioned in 1405 and in 1950 was an autonomous municipality of the Community of Madri ...
palace in
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...
from late 1738. By January 1739, they had drawn up a basic agreement. The British had initially demanded £200,000 in compensation but ultimately accepted just £95,000. Spain originally demanded unlimited rights to search vessels, but this was eventually restricted to those in Spanish waters.
In return, the British
South Sea Company
The South Sea Company (officially The Governor and Company of the merchants of Great Britain, trading to the South Seas and other parts of America, and for the encouragement of the Fishery) was a British joint-stock company founded in Ja ...
would pay
Philip V of Spain
Philip V ( es, Felipe; 19 December 1683 – 9 July 1746) was King of Spain from 1 November 1700 to 14 January 1724, and again from 6 September 1724 to his death in 1746. His total reign of 45 years is the longest in the history of the Spanish mon ...
£68,000 to settle his share of proceeds from the ''
Asiento
The () was a monopoly contract between the Spanish Crown and various merchants for the right to provide African slaves to colonies in the Spanish Americas. The Spanish Empire rarely engaged in the trans-Atlantic slave trade directly from Afri ...
de Negros'' and a Boundary Commission established to settle borders between Georgia and Florida. The chief British negotiator Sir
Benjamin Keene
Sir Benjamin Keene (1697–1757) was a British diplomat, who was British Ambassador to Spain from 1729 to 1739, then again from 1748 until his death in Madrid in December 1757. He has been described as "by far the most prominent British agent in ...
felt this was a good deal and signed on 14 January.
Aftermath
The Convention was extremely unpopular in London. Many merchant captains were unhappy that the British compensation claim had been more than halved, the
South Sea Company
The South Sea Company (officially The Governor and Company of the merchants of Great Britain, trading to the South Seas and other parts of America, and for the encouragement of the Fishery) was a British joint-stock company founded in Ja ...
being concerned by the agreement allowing the Spanish limited rights to search British ships. Within months, the situation had turned sharply towards war, and the Convention grew increasingly fragile. Opponents published a list of all those who voted in favour of the Convention, including details of their income from government positions.
When the
South Sea Company
The South Sea Company (officially The Governor and Company of the merchants of Great Britain, trading to the South Seas and other parts of America, and for the encouragement of the Fishery) was a British joint-stock company founded in Ja ...
refused to pay the agreed £68,000,
Philip V Philip V may refer to:
* Philip V of Macedon (221–179 BC)
* Philip V of France (1293–1322)
* Philip II of Spain, also Philip V, Duke of Burgundy (1526–1598)
* Philip V of Spain
Philip V ( es, Felipe; 19 December 1683 – 9 July 1746) was ...
rescinded the ''asiento de Negros''. On 20 July 1739, the
Admiralty
Admiralty most often refers to:
*Admiralty, Hong Kong
*Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964
*The rank of admiral
*Admiralty law
Admiralty can also refer to:
Buildings
* Admiralty, Traf ...
sent a naval force under
Admiral Vernon to the
West Indies
The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...
, reaching
Antigua in early October. Three British ships attacked
La Guaira
La Guaira () is the capital city of the Venezuelan state of the same name (formerly named Vargas) and the country's main port. It was founded in 1577 as an outlet for Caracas, to the southeast. The town and the port were badly damaged during ...
, principal port of the
Province of Venezuela
The Venezuela Province (or Province of Caracas) was a province of the Spanish Empire (from 1527), of Gran Colombia (1824-1830) and later of Venezuela (from 1830), apart from an interlude (1528 - 1546) when it was contracted as a concession by the ...
on 22 October; Britain formally declared war the next day, beginning the
War of Jenkins' Ear
The War of Jenkins' Ear, or , was a conflict lasting from 1739 to 1748 between Britain and the Spanish Empire. The majority of the fighting took place in New Granada and the Caribbean Sea, with major operations largely ended by 1742. It is con ...
.
Sir Benjamin Keene was closely associated with Walpole and after his fall, there was some discussion of impeaching him for negotiating the Convention. The war later become submerged into the wider
War of the Austrian Succession
The War of the Austrian Succession () was a European conflict that took place between 1740 and 1748. Fought primarily in Central Europe, the Austrian Netherlands, Italy, the Atlantic and Mediterranean, related conflicts included King George's ...
. The issues that had started the war were largely ignored during the
Congress of Breda
The Congress of Breda, also known as the Breda peace talks, were a series of bilateral negotiations between Great Britain and France, held in the Dutch city of Breda from 1746 and 1748. The discussions led to the agreement of terms that later b ...
and the
Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle that ended it in 1748, as they were no longer priorities for the two sides.
Some issues were eventually resolved in the 1750
Treaty of Madrid, but illegal British trade with the Spanish colonies continued to flourish. The Spanish Empire in the Caribbean remained intact and victorious despite several English attempts to seize some of its heavily defended and fortified colonies. Spain would later use its trading routes and resources to help the rebels' cause in the
American Revolution
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...
.
The issue resurfaced in the dispute between the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
and Spain known as the
West Florida Controversy
The West Florida Controversy included two border disputes that involved Spain and the United States in relation to the region known as West Florida over a period of 37 years. The first dispute commenced immediately after Spain received the coloni ...
; it was initially resolved by
Pinckney's Treaty
Pinckney's Treaty, also known as the Treaty of San Lorenzo or the Treaty of Madrid, was signed on October 27, 1795 by the United States and Spain.
It defined the border between the United States and Spanish Florida, and guaranteed the United S ...
in 1796, then settled when Spanish Florida was relinquished in the 1819
Adams-Onis Treaty.
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Simms, Brendan
Brendan Peter Simms (born 1967, Dublin) is a Professor of the history of international relations in the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Cambridge.
Early life
Brendan Simms is the son of Anngret and David Simm ...
. ''Three Victories and a Defeat: The Rise and Fall of the First British Empire''. Penguin Books, 2008.
* {{cite book , last1=Woodfine , first1=Philip , title=Britannia's Glories: The Walpole Ministry and the 1739 War with Spain , date=1998 , publisher=Royal Historical Society , isbn=978-0861932306
El Pardo (1739)
War of Jenkins' Ear
1739 treaties
El Pardo (1739)
1739 in Great Britain
1739 in Spain