Posted on 12/12/2019 11:44:04 AM PST by Perseverando
In 1655, British Admiral William Penn, the father of Pennsylvania's founder, captured Jamaica from the Spanish.
As Jamaica was too far from England be defended, inhabitants turned to privateers, freebooters, buccaneers and pirates for protection.
Port Royal, Jamaica, became a haven for the likes of Blackbeard, Calico Jack and Captain Henry Morgan.
With English, Portuguese, French and Dutch establishing bases in the Caribbean, Spain's power was being challenged.
Spain's most prosperous port in the New World was Porto Bello, Panama.
Spanish ships were loaded at Porto Bello with gold and silver from Peru, and then they set sail for Spain.
In 1668, English privateer Captain Henry Morgan and some 500 buccaneers attacked and captured Porto Bello.
They cruelly tortured the inhabitants to get them to surrender their treasures.
Captain Morgan demanded 100,000 pesos of silver and gold from the Spanish to ransom the inhabitants of the fort and its town.
The repercussions of this attack ended the tenuous cease-fire between Spain and England, renewing open hostilities.
In 1669, Captain Henry Morgan attacked and captured the Spanish port of Maracaibo (Venezuela).
Sailing into Lake Maracaibo in search of more treasure, Morgan was almost trapped.
He sent forward a decoy ship filled with gunpowder, which exploded and destroyed a Spanish ship.
He then faked a land attack, causing the Spanish fort to reposition its cannons landward, allowing him to quickly sail past to the sea.
In 1671, Morgan again sacked Panama.
In 1731, a Spanish commander in the Caribbean detained an English ship.
He cut off the ear of the English Captain Robert Jenkins and told him to take it to his King.
This began the War of Jenkins' Ear.
British Admiral Edward Vernon recruited 400 American
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Chill man, space these posts out a bit, you are swamping the entire forum.
It’s said that Jenkins got elected to parliament and used to carry his ear around in a bottle while in session.
You cut off my ear?
Of course, this means WAR!!!
You’re using up a lot of minutes here.
:-)
The War of Jenkins’ Ear was the name by which the War of the Austrian Succession was known in America, so that war probably wasn’t too popular on this side of the Atlantic.
***He cut off the ear of the English Captain Robert Jenkins and told him to take it to his King.
This began the War of Jenkins’ Ear. ***
I’ve read, many years ago, that this started when a English sailor got his ear cut off in a Spanish brothel.
Now I am SO confused! Woe is me!
Hey! I like this! Keep posting them, Perseverando
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