Saavedra, author of the novel Don
Quixote de la Mancha; playwrights Lope
de Vega Carpio and Calderón de la Barca;
mystics St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of
the Cross; and poet Luis de Góngora. But
Spanish wars continued into the next
century too, even while the supply of
precious metals from the New World
dwindled and Spanish intolerance drove
away such valuable subjects as the
Moriscos, Christianized Muslims who
were expelled in 1609. Epidemics in the
1590s further reduced the population.
To pay for its wars, the crown raised
taxes and took out loans it could not
repay, leading to economic instability.
Domestic revolts began to plague Spain,
even while its foreign wars dragged on,
notably the continuing conflict in the
Netherlands and the Thirty Years’ War
(1618–1648), a general European conflict.
Spain’s European empire began to frag-
ment. Portugal broke free in 1640, and
the Netherlands was recognized as inde-
pendent in 1648.
By the time of the War of the
Spanish Succession (1701–1714), Spain
had drastically declined in stature. That
war began when the Bourbon king Louis
XIV, ruler of Spain’s onetime nemesis,
France, tried to put an heir of his on the
Spanish throne, raising the possibility
that France would absorb Spain and
become too powerful a threat to its
European rivals, including England, the
Netherlands, and Austria. England,
which had once feared the mighty
Spanish Armada, was no longer con-
cerned about Spanish power but French
power. The resulting conflagration
embroiled most of Europe. It ended with
a Bourbon dynasty established in Spain,
on the condition that Spain and France
not be united, and with most of Spain’s
remaining European possessions passing
to other countries. England gained the
strategically important Spanish territories
of Gibraltar, at the southernmost tip of
the Iberian Peninsula, and Minorca, an
island in the Mediterranean Sea. It also
won coveted trading rights in Spanish
America, including the asiento, a monop-
oly for selling African slaves.
During the 18th century, the
Bourbon rulers of Spain, particularly
Charles III (1716–1788; reigned
1759–1788), concentrated on internal
reform and careful attempts to recoup
some of the nation’s lost overseas prestige.
Government was made more effective,
the military was strengthened, the
American empire was reorganized, the
economy began to rebound, and the pop-
ulation climbed. Overseas, Spain cultivat-
ed its alliance with France, seeking to
gain some edge against the rising might
of Great Britain (as England and Scotland
were called after their union in 1707). In
the Seven Years’ War (1756–1763), Spain
joined France as an ally against Britain,
only to discover it had sided with the
loser. In the peace that ended that war,
Britain forced France to sign over Canada
and other North American possessions,
while Spain was forced to surrender
Florida. As some compensation, France
ceded Louisiana west of the Mississippi
River to Spain.
Under these circumstances, Spain
was delighted to learn in the 1770s that
Britain had a new trouble: the rebellion of
13 North American colonies on the
Atlantic seaboard.Strange Bedfellows:
Spain Aids the Rebel CauseThe Thirteen Colonies had been founded
along the Atlantic coast, beginning with
Virginia in 1607 and ending with Georgia
in 1733. In 1775 they erupted in rebellion
against Britain over what the colonists
considered unjust attempts to tax them
without representation and take away
their substantial measure of self-govern-
ment. In 1776, with the American
Revolution (1775–1783) already raging,
representatives of the Thirteen Colonies
signed a Declaration of Independence in
which they proclaimed themselves a “free
and independent” nation called the
United States of America.
France and Spain saw an opportuni-
ty in Britain’s difficulty. The two coun-
tries were ruled by absolutist monarchs
with colonial possessions of their own,
but their long-term interest in preventing
anti-monarchical colonists from setting a
worldwide example mattered less to them
than their short-term interest in curbing
British power. France longed to avenge
its defeat in the Seven Years’ War and
improve its world trade position relative
to Britain. The French also feared that
their West Indian colonies were vulnera-
ble to British attack as long as Britain pos-
sessed the Thirteen Colonies. SpainINDEPENDENCE IN THE NEW WORLD 65