Arthur Preston Whitaker

This book was quite what I hoped it was when I ordered it, yet it was interesting and filled in some important gaps in my knowledge.

Whitaker, writing in 1927, focused on the conflict between Spain and the United States following the Paris Conference ending the American Revolution. Great Britain ceded lands belonging to Spain to the new Republic, thus sowing seeds of conflict that persisted until Spain negotiated the Treaty of San Lorenzo with the United States in 1795.

This book is the story of the diplomatic strategies employed by both countries to achieve their goals. For Spain, jealous of her possessions, weak in military and population, this meant using her money and Old World guile to hold out the rapacious frontiersmen and land speculators. For the Americans it meant opening the Mississippi River, pushing back the Indian frontier, and if necessary separating from the weak and impoverished new nation.

An interesting, if brief read. It could profit by following a few anecdotal threads to illustrate the author's discussion.… (mere)