It Was News to Me

April 9th is Jenkins' Ear Day. Have you ever heard of English master mariner Robert Jenkins? I had not. On April 9, 1731 off the coast of Jamaica, Spanish coast guards from the La Isabela boarded the British ship Rebecca in search of contraband. In the course of the conflict over the Rebecca the Spanish commander Juan de Leon Fandino cut off Captain Jenkins left ear. The War of Jenkins' Ear between Spain and Britain did not begin until 1739 and lasted until 1748. Major war operations essentially ended in 1742. Why eight years between the severing of Jenkins' ear and the beginning of conflict?

The British South Sea Company wanted to spur outrage against the Spanish. The company was concerned that Spain would back out of the asiento contract which gave British slavers permission to sell slaves in Spanish America. In 1738 Captain Jenkins was called to testify before Parliament to tell his story to a committee of the House of Commons. Some accounts allege as a part of his presentation he produced the severed ear as a part of his testimony.

This war became significant in the his of Georgia. The Spanish and English had ongoing conflict regarding the land between Florida and South Carolina. The War of Jenkins' Ear began in 1739 just six short years after the founding of Georgia by James Oglethorpe. General Oglethorpe made forays into Florida in January 1740 seizing two forts. They were Fort Picolata and Fort San Francisco de Pupo west of St. Augustine along the St. Johns River. General Oglethorpe attempted to capture the fort at St. Augustine in May 1740 but that attack failed. He retreated to Fort Frederica and waited for the Spanish to attack. They did so coming ashore at St. Simon's Island in the summer of 1742. The Spanish attack was repelled by General Oglethorpe's troops in the Battle of Bloody Marsh. The treaty of Aix-le-Chappelle in 1748 officially ended the war. Britain and Spain agreed that the St. Johns River would be the boundary between Florida and Georgia. This firmly established Georgia as an English colony. The war of Jenkins' Ear is commemorated annually on the last Saturday in May at Wormsloe Plantation in Savannah, Georgia.

So, in the annals of history this goes down as one of the oddest rationales for a war. This concludes today's history lesson.

As a side note on April 9, 1963 President John F. Kennedy granted Sir Winston Churchill honorary United States citizenship. There have only been eight individuals so honored and Churchill is one of only two awarded while the person honored was still alive. The other being Mother Teresa. The others are as follows:
Raoul Wallenberg- Swedish diplomat who rescued Jews from the Holocaust.

William Penn- Founder of Pennsylvania.

Hannah Callowhill Penn- Administrator of the Province of Pennsylvania and second wife of William Penn.

Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette- Frenchman who was an officer in the American Revolutionary War.

Casimir Pulaski- Polish military officer who fought and died for the United States against the British during the American Revolutionary War.

Bernardo de Galvez y Madrid, Viscount of Galveston and Count of Galvez- A Spaniard who was a hero of the American Revolutionary War risking his life to provide supplies. intelligence and military support to the war effort. He was wounded during the Siege of Pensacola demonstrating bravery that forever endeared him to United States soldiers.