1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,360 Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of I Heart Radio, Hey 2 00:00:06,440 --> 00:00:11,719 Speaker 1: brain Stuff Lauren Vogelbaum here. Sometime around seventeen thirty eight, 3 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:15,680 Speaker 1: an unattached ear made a serious splash in the British 4 00:00:15,720 --> 00:00:18,800 Speaker 1: House of Commons. The man who claimed to be its 5 00:00:18,800 --> 00:00:22,000 Speaker 1: owner presented it. Had he not pickled it, the ear 6 00:00:22,040 --> 00:00:24,640 Speaker 1: would have been mummified by this time. It had been 7 00:00:24,680 --> 00:00:27,520 Speaker 1: separated from his head for more than seven years by 8 00:00:27,520 --> 00:00:29,680 Speaker 1: the time he carried it into the House of Commons 9 00:00:29,720 --> 00:00:34,720 Speaker 1: to lodge his complaint. His name was Robert Jenkins had 10 00:00:34,720 --> 00:00:37,479 Speaker 1: been the captain of a commercial trading vessel named the Rebecca. 11 00:00:38,520 --> 00:00:42,040 Speaker 1: On April ninth of seventeen thirty one, the Spanish Coastguard 12 00:00:42,040 --> 00:00:45,360 Speaker 1: from Havana, Cuba boarded the vessel. They suspected that the 13 00:00:45,400 --> 00:00:48,720 Speaker 1: Rebecca was carrying smuggled goods and demanded it to inspect 14 00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:52,480 Speaker 1: the ship's cargo and manifest. Once they did, they found 15 00:00:52,479 --> 00:00:57,360 Speaker 1: that there was indeed contraband aboard the ship. As punishment, 16 00:00:57,440 --> 00:01:01,000 Speaker 1: the Spanish captain drew his sword and severed Captain jenkins 17 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:04,960 Speaker 1: ear from his head. According to Jenkins, the captain claimed 18 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:07,720 Speaker 1: were the King of England here and also in violation 19 00:01:07,760 --> 00:01:10,839 Speaker 1: of the laws, I would do the same for him, 20 00:01:10,920 --> 00:01:15,240 Speaker 1: and a year after jenkins testimony, England declared war on Spain. 21 00:01:17,319 --> 00:01:21,480 Speaker 1: It's not entirely clear why Jenkins waited seven years, or 22 00:01:21,520 --> 00:01:24,880 Speaker 1: why he was carrying the ear in question around with him, 23 00:01:24,920 --> 00:01:28,000 Speaker 1: but this conflict came to be known as the War 24 00:01:28,319 --> 00:01:33,920 Speaker 1: of jenkins Ear. However, relations between Spain and England were 25 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:39,920 Speaker 1: already strained long before jenkins mishap. Back in the sixteen nineties, 26 00:01:40,120 --> 00:01:43,440 Speaker 1: Spain's King, Charles the Second, was dying and he had 27 00:01:43,560 --> 00:01:47,400 Speaker 1: no clear heir to his throne. The superpowers of France 28 00:01:47,400 --> 00:01:50,840 Speaker 1: and Austria both had claims of lineage on the Spanish throne, 29 00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:54,800 Speaker 1: though dynastic families often married into one another, so that 30 00:01:54,840 --> 00:01:57,360 Speaker 1: the royal board in one country could very well end 31 00:01:57,400 --> 00:02:01,080 Speaker 1: up ruling a foreign nation. This was the circumstance at 32 00:02:01,080 --> 00:02:04,840 Speaker 1: the end of Charles the second reign. Even though he 33 00:02:04,880 --> 00:02:08,240 Speaker 1: was still alive. France and Spain didn't waste any time. 34 00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:11,600 Speaker 1: The nations set about plotting to get a family member 35 00:02:11,639 --> 00:02:14,840 Speaker 1: who was sympathetic to both nations onto the Spanish throne. 36 00:02:15,639 --> 00:02:18,720 Speaker 1: The Emperor of Austria and the King of France also 37 00:02:18,919 --> 00:02:22,880 Speaker 1: divvied up the Spanish territory of Italy between them. Out 38 00:02:22,880 --> 00:02:27,679 Speaker 1: of spite, Charles willed his throne to a French prince. Suddenly, 39 00:02:27,880 --> 00:02:30,560 Speaker 1: France had trouble remembering the alliance that had just made 40 00:02:30,560 --> 00:02:34,960 Speaker 1: with Austria. In retaliation, Austria declared war on France and 41 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:40,000 Speaker 1: Europe was plunged into the War of Spanish Succession. The 42 00:02:40,040 --> 00:02:43,720 Speaker 1: alliances that developed are important because the combatants of the 43 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:47,480 Speaker 1: War of Jenkins Ear Spain and England came to disdain 44 00:02:47,520 --> 00:02:50,760 Speaker 1: each other during the War of Spanish Succession, even though 45 00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:55,919 Speaker 1: both were only proxy players. The Treaty of you Tract, 46 00:02:56,120 --> 00:02:58,840 Speaker 1: which ended the War of Spanish Succession in seventeen th 47 00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:02,840 Speaker 1: as to, published some ground rules for Spain and England, 48 00:03:03,280 --> 00:03:06,519 Speaker 1: which were dominating adjacent areas in the so called New 49 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:11,880 Speaker 1: World of the America's. Primarily, the treaty set guidelines over trade, 50 00:03:12,200 --> 00:03:15,520 Speaker 1: allowing the English to operate commercial roots into these Spanish 51 00:03:15,560 --> 00:03:21,000 Speaker 1: American territories. To ensure that English commercial ambitions didn't exceed 52 00:03:21,080 --> 00:03:23,760 Speaker 1: what was granted to them by the treaty, the Spanish 53 00:03:23,800 --> 00:03:29,480 Speaker 1: increased their naval presence around Florida, but smuggling was rampant 54 00:03:29,520 --> 00:03:32,320 Speaker 1: among all nations operating in the Americas at the time, 55 00:03:32,840 --> 00:03:37,040 Speaker 1: and the Spanish regularly intercepted English vessels, harassed their crews 56 00:03:37,120 --> 00:03:41,480 Speaker 1: and confiscated cargo, regardless of whether the ships were functioning legally. 57 00:03:42,440 --> 00:03:44,880 Speaker 1: It was on one of those stops that Robert Jenkins 58 00:03:44,920 --> 00:03:50,120 Speaker 1: had his unfortunate encounter with these Spanish captains sword. When 59 00:03:50,200 --> 00:03:53,840 Speaker 1: Jenkins lodged his complaint against the Spanish to Parliament, his 60 00:03:54,080 --> 00:03:58,480 Speaker 1: firebrand called arms was justification enough for England to declare 61 00:03:58,520 --> 00:04:02,680 Speaker 1: war on Spain in America's In addition to the harassment 62 00:04:02,720 --> 00:04:05,760 Speaker 1: England endured from the Spanish on the high seas, there 63 00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:08,280 Speaker 1: had been an ongoing dispute over the border between the 64 00:04:08,280 --> 00:04:11,320 Speaker 1: Spanish colony of Florida and the English colony of Georgia. 65 00:04:11,920 --> 00:04:16,800 Speaker 1: The ear was simply the last straw. The War of 66 00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:20,520 Speaker 1: jenkins Ear lasted three years, from seventeen thirty nine to 67 00:04:20,640 --> 00:04:24,920 Speaker 1: seventeen forty one, but it didn't amount to much. Most 68 00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:28,240 Speaker 1: of the war was composed of British naval retaliation against 69 00:04:28,320 --> 00:04:31,600 Speaker 1: continued Spanish attacks on its ships. The battles on the 70 00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:35,839 Speaker 1: ground took place largely in Florida and Georgia, but the 71 00:04:35,880 --> 00:04:39,159 Speaker 1: war did rally other people's as well. The French Spanish 72 00:04:39,200 --> 00:04:42,120 Speaker 1: alliance was still strong, and France had a presence to 73 00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:44,719 Speaker 1: the west of Georgia what would later be included in 74 00:04:44,720 --> 00:04:48,320 Speaker 1: the Louisiana Purchase. But the French were kept from entering 75 00:04:48,360 --> 00:04:51,839 Speaker 1: the war in Earnest by the Creek, Cherokee, and Chickasaw tribes, 76 00:04:52,200 --> 00:04:54,560 Speaker 1: all of whom allied with the English and formed a 77 00:04:54,600 --> 00:04:57,240 Speaker 1: barrier between the French colonies to the west and the 78 00:04:57,279 --> 00:05:01,200 Speaker 1: Spanish and British colonies to the east. On the ground, 79 00:05:01,320 --> 00:05:04,360 Speaker 1: the founder of the Georgia colony, James Oglethorpe, led an 80 00:05:04,360 --> 00:05:08,400 Speaker 1: invasion of Florida, attacking St. Augustine, but he eventually retreated. 81 00:05:09,200 --> 00:05:12,560 Speaker 1: The Spanish retaliated off the Georgia coast, attacking a forth there. 82 00:05:13,320 --> 00:05:15,920 Speaker 1: The governor of St. Augustine led an attack on Fort 83 00:05:15,960 --> 00:05:19,360 Speaker 1: Frederica in July of seventeen forty two, two years after 84 00:05:19,360 --> 00:05:23,560 Speaker 1: Oglethorpe attacked this. The Battle of Bloody Marsh ended in 85 00:05:23,640 --> 00:05:28,400 Speaker 1: Oglethorpe's defeat of the Spanish. If you're beginning to notice 86 00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:31,160 Speaker 1: a tit for tat pattern that produced few results for 87 00:05:31,240 --> 00:05:34,000 Speaker 1: either side, then you've got a grasp on the War 88 00:05:34,040 --> 00:05:37,720 Speaker 1: of Jenkins's ear In fact, history doesn't name a clear 89 00:05:37,800 --> 00:05:41,080 Speaker 1: victor in the war, it was simply absorbed into the 90 00:05:41,160 --> 00:05:44,840 Speaker 1: larger King George's War, which broke out in seventeen forty. 91 00:05:45,520 --> 00:05:48,919 Speaker 1: This war resulted from revived animosity between the French and 92 00:05:48,960 --> 00:05:52,360 Speaker 1: the English, a larger rivalry than that between the Spanish 93 00:05:52,400 --> 00:06:00,279 Speaker 1: and the English. Today's episode is based on the article 94 00:06:00,560 --> 00:06:03,520 Speaker 1: why did England in Spain fight over an ear on 95 00:06:03,560 --> 00:06:06,560 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot Com written by Josh Clark. Brain 96 00:06:06,600 --> 00:06:08,840 Speaker 1: Stuff is production of iHeart Radio in partnership with how 97 00:06:08,839 --> 00:06:11,240 Speaker 1: stuff Works dot Com and is produced by Tyler Clang. 98 00:06:11,640 --> 00:06:14,680 Speaker 1: Four more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, 99 00:06:14,760 --> 00:06:17,520 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.