WEBVTT - Short Stuff: War of Jenkins' Ear

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<v Speaker 1>Hey, and welcome to the short stuff. I'm Josh, and

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<v Speaker 1>there's Chuck and there's Jerry, and this is short stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>so let's get to it. We're talking about a war.

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<v Speaker 1>Started buying ear go. My favorite thing is how you

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<v Speaker 1>try to keep us so on track and now I

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<v Speaker 1>try to throw us off. You really do, and you're

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<v Speaker 1>doing it now, and it's what I love it, all right.

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<v Speaker 1>The War of jenkins Ear, which there's a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>misnomers in this war because first of all, the War

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<v Speaker 1>of jenkins Ear was not called that until a hundred

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<v Speaker 1>and ten years later, is that right? Yeah? An essayist, uh,

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<v Speaker 1>what's his name, Thomas Carlyle dubbed dubbed it the War

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<v Speaker 1>of jenkins Ear dred and ten years later. And what

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<v Speaker 1>it really was was just a part of a larger war,

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<v Speaker 1>the War of Austrian secession, Yeah, succession, right, because it

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<v Speaker 1>was it was a question about who was going to

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<v Speaker 1>take over the throne. Yeah, but I don't want to

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<v Speaker 1>poopo it. Let's just go back and tell the story

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<v Speaker 1>because it is pretty good. It is. It's a good story.

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<v Speaker 1>That whole succeeding to the throne thing that was a

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<v Speaker 1>big deal in Europe in the eighteenth century and long

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<v Speaker 1>before the eighteenth century too, But by this time Europe

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<v Speaker 1>had basically formed a really intertwined set of economies and

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<v Speaker 1>set of governments, so that if if you were saying, like,

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<v Speaker 1>um a prince in Spain, you may end up being like,

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<v Speaker 1>running the show is the king of Austria at some

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<v Speaker 1>point because your father married an Austrian princess and you

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<v Speaker 1>have Austrian blood and there's no clear heir to the throne,

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<v Speaker 1>and so you are being called upon in Spain. Is like, yes,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm so glad we have somebody over there in Austria

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<v Speaker 1>because now Austria is gonna do right by us. And

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<v Speaker 1>when that didn't happened, and whether alliance is broken, and

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<v Speaker 1>when there was a conflict over who had the rightful

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<v Speaker 1>um claim on a throne, when when it came up

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<v Speaker 1>for grabs, that's when wars broke out. So you've got

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<v Speaker 1>like Spain, Austria, France, England, all of them are alternately

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<v Speaker 1>forming alliances, warring with each other and taking the throne

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<v Speaker 1>from one another, taking a seat on one another's throne,

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<v Speaker 1>which usually brought those two countries together. And that's what

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<v Speaker 1>happened in this case too. That kicked all of this off. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>this happened in Spain with King Charles the Second dying

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<v Speaker 1>no clear air. So obviously all of Europe basically is like, oh,

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<v Speaker 1>I want to be the king of Spain, uh, or

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<v Speaker 1>you know someone from our country, because that will really

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<v Speaker 1>help us out. So France and Austria got involved in

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<v Speaker 1>boss isn't hey we have a claim to the Spanish

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<v Speaker 1>throne and um France and Spain basically, uh, they all

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<v Speaker 1>started plotting. All these countries started plotting with one another,

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<v Speaker 1>and the Emperor of Austria and the King of France

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<v Speaker 1>I think while Charles the Second was still alive, divided

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<v Speaker 1>up Spanish territory of Italy between them. Charles got upset

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<v Speaker 1>willed his throne to a French prince, and then France

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<v Speaker 1>was like, wait a minute, Austria, did we really have

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<v Speaker 1>a deal right, because I don't remember that. All I

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<v Speaker 1>know is that we're next in line in Spain. Austria

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<v Speaker 1>got mad. That started the War of Spanish Succession, and

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<v Speaker 1>that is important to this not because it was the

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<v Speaker 1>ward Jenkins ear, but it just sort of set the

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<v Speaker 1>stage and that Spain and England, even though France and

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<v Speaker 1>Austria were fighting. They were sort of involved on the

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<v Speaker 1>fringe and just ticked each other off basically right exactly.

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<v Speaker 1>So there's already hostilities and this was not helping things

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<v Speaker 1>in the colonies, especially in Georgia and Florida where France

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<v Speaker 1>and Spain who were hostile to one another. As the

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<v Speaker 1>results of this War of Spanish Succession, Um, we're butted

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<v Speaker 1>upright against one another, and there was a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>border skirmishes. Um. I think by the time rolled around

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<v Speaker 1>and the hostilities really came to a head. Uh, Georgia

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<v Speaker 1>had only been formed as an English colony like six

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<v Speaker 1>years before, so it was real tentative and tenuous, and

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<v Speaker 1>that with the Spanish really had a respectable navy that

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<v Speaker 1>could take out a coastal town if it wanted to,

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<v Speaker 1>and so Georgia was in a really vulnerable position. So. UM,

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<v Speaker 1>one of the things from that War of Spanish Spanish

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<v Speaker 1>Succession that it addressed the Treaty of You Trecked that

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<v Speaker 1>came out of it, said okay, Spain, you you in England,

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<v Speaker 1>we haven't forgotten about you guys. We need to make

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<v Speaker 1>trade amongst you much more smooth and legal and maybe

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<v Speaker 1>that will keep some of the skirmishes from from happening.

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<v Speaker 1>And so the English were allowed, for i think the

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<v Speaker 1>first time, to actually trade with Spain from Georgia to Florida,

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<v Speaker 1>which seems like it would be a good move, but

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<v Speaker 1>it ultimately led to disaster. Yeah, and what you know,

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<v Speaker 1>there were a lot of things at stake here, but

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<v Speaker 1>we shouldn't whitewash this and leave out that what England

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<v Speaker 1>was really doing here and all these all the battling

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<v Speaker 1>was trying to improve their their trade capabilities in the Caribbean,

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<v Speaker 1>not just with stuff, but with human beings and slaves.

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<v Speaker 1>Oh yeah, yeah, true. So it was very very ugly

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<v Speaker 1>what was going on. And in the Treaty of Utrecht, uh,

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<v Speaker 1>they they set all these guidelines. Um, England had all

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<v Speaker 1>these ambitions in that area, and Spain though says, all right,

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<v Speaker 1>you know what, though, we're going to act as the

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<v Speaker 1>I guess sort of the the coast guard and the

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<v Speaker 1>cops um of the high seas. And if we think

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<v Speaker 1>that you're smuggling something you shouldn't be smuggling, we're gonna

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<v Speaker 1>board your ship. And maybe we should take a break

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<v Speaker 1>here and finish the story right after this okay, chuck.

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<v Speaker 1>So the Spanish Armada, the Spanish navy is acting as

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<v Speaker 1>the coast guard because technically the English traders are allowed

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<v Speaker 1>into trade, but they're they're supposed to be like their

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<v Speaker 1>cargo is supposed to pay taxes, tariffs, duties, all this stuff.

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<v Speaker 1>The problem is is that the English were um rampant

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<v Speaker 1>uh smugglers, and it was way easier to say like, oh, hey,

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<v Speaker 1>you in Florida, you need scissors and yarn and I

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<v Speaker 1>want some of your silver. So I'm just gonna sneak

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<v Speaker 1>some of those things past the Spanish coast guard in

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<v Speaker 1>the hopes that they won't find it and then we

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<v Speaker 1>can trade. And that's what the Spaniards called contraband. And

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<v Speaker 1>so the Spanish was well aware that this was going on,

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<v Speaker 1>so they would board ships routinely um and search them.

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<v Speaker 1>And on I believe April April nine, they happened to

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<v Speaker 1>board a ship in particular called the Rebecca that was

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<v Speaker 1>captained by a guy named Robert Jenkins. Yeah, and this

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<v Speaker 1>was one of those Spanish patrol boats. It was called Isabella,

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<v Speaker 1>and they said we're coming aboard and we're gonna check

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<v Speaker 1>out what you got here. There was a bit of

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<v Speaker 1>a um. Well, they found them out they were smuggling

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<v Speaker 1>things that they shouldn't have had after they expected the

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<v Speaker 1>manifest in the cargo, and there was punishment levied one

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<v Speaker 1>Juan de Leon Fandino, who uh was the Spanish captain

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<v Speaker 1>tried to send a message straight to the king and

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<v Speaker 1>said with his sword you like that, he said, with

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<v Speaker 1>his sword, off with your ear and cut off Captain

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<v Speaker 1>jenkins ear. And Captain Jenkins ostensibly picked it up, put

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<v Speaker 1>it in his pocket, and later pickled it. He did

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<v Speaker 1>pickle it, and he carried it around with him for

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<v Speaker 1>like seven years, and finally one day, I don't know how,

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<v Speaker 1>but he managed to get into the House of Commons

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<v Speaker 1>and said, look at this, look at what the Spanish

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<v Speaker 1>captain did to my ear, um, just for trying to

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<v Speaker 1>be like a respectable businessman smuggling a little contraband into Florida.

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<v Speaker 1>And he said that if the King of England were

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<v Speaker 1>here and in violation of law, he would have done

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<v Speaker 1>it to the King of England too, And Parliament said,

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<v Speaker 1>that is it. We are declaring war on Spain Georgia.

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<v Speaker 1>Go get him. Yeah, he was actually called in to testify,

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<v Speaker 1>so okay, um, he was an important, um, important witness

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<v Speaker 1>I guess to the activities down there. Maybe that's why

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<v Speaker 1>they called him in. The one bad part about that

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<v Speaker 1>story is supposedly there is no evidence that he actually

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<v Speaker 1>presented his ear, and people think that it may have

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<v Speaker 1>just been sort of gussied up through history and telling

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<v Speaker 1>him this tale. But he did testify, we know that.

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<v Speaker 1>But it certainly makes for a great story that he

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<v Speaker 1>actually held his ear up and said, look at this

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<v Speaker 1>pickled ear. I'm hoping that at the very least they

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<v Speaker 1>inspected to make sure he was missing an ear. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>it would be so um obviously, I think we should say, like,

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<v Speaker 1>no one ever started a war over somebody's ear being

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<v Speaker 1>lopped off. That just became shorthand. Again, the tensions between

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<v Speaker 1>England and Spain and the tensions between their their colonial

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<v Speaker 1>presence was already simmering. Uh. There have been a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of overland skirmishes between Georgia and Florida, and this was

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<v Speaker 1>This is pointed to historically as the thing that that

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<v Speaker 1>the straw that broke the camel's back. I guess. Yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>And the sort of the um anticlimax of this story

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<v Speaker 1>is the War of Jenkins. Ear was not much of

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<v Speaker 1>a war um. Like we said, it was sort of

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<v Speaker 1>part of smaller wars that they just gave a name

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<v Speaker 1>to ten years later. But there wasn't much that got

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<v Speaker 1>accomplished during the War of Jenkins. Ear Over that that

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<v Speaker 1>few years that they had these battles, well, a couple

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<v Speaker 1>of things did come out of it. One there was

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<v Speaker 1>something called the Battle of Bloody Marsh. So you're thinking, like,

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<v Speaker 1>oh man, a lot of people died. Now it was

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<v Speaker 1>called Bloody Marsh already that just happened to be where

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<v Speaker 1>the battle was was staged on St. Simon's Island and Georgia.

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<v Speaker 1>But in that battle, like five thousand Spanish troops sailed

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<v Speaker 1>to Georgia and landed and came came into Georgia and

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<v Speaker 1>were repelled by the Georgian colonial defense people, the Georgia

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<v Speaker 1>defensive line exactly. They pushed him back, pushed him back

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<v Speaker 1>way back, right, and that was huge for them because

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<v Speaker 1>up to this point, remember the Spanish were like like

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<v Speaker 1>inconceivably powerful, and Georgia said, oh wait, we actually can

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<v Speaker 1>defeat them. So that was one big thing. And then

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<v Speaker 1>it also solidified George's position safely as an English colony.

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<v Speaker 1>That it was like, hey, man, we're here to stay.

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<v Speaker 1>You stayed down in Florida, we'll stay up here in Georgia.

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<v Speaker 1>We're an English colony, you're a Spanish colony. Don't mess

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<v Speaker 1>with us anymore. So those two things did kind of

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<v Speaker 1>come out of it. Actually. Yeah, and Oglethorpe he mounted

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<v Speaker 1>his own campaign to invade St. Augustine and did okay there,

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<v Speaker 1>but eventually retreated and even left his armaments and weapons

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<v Speaker 1>and stuff. Uh so there, I mean, there were some

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<v Speaker 1>major battles, but I think in the end, the War

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<v Speaker 1>of jenkins Ear is just sort of, um, a bit

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<v Speaker 1>of a historical footnote in a lot of ways. Yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>Historically it got absorbed in the larger King George's War,

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<v Speaker 1>which was a part of the War of Austrian Succession,

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<v Speaker 1>I think, right exactly. So it was a war within

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<v Speaker 1>a war within a war. It was like inception in

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<v Speaker 1>colonial America. And Ellen Page will be here in just

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<v Speaker 1>a minute to fully explain it over and over. Right,

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<v Speaker 1>thank you for listening to our attempt at explaining the

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<v Speaker 1>War of jenkins Ear. Uh, we'll see you next time

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<v Speaker 1>on short stuff.