Causes XX The conclusion of the War of Spanish Succession, with the Treaty of Utrecht had assumed only the dismemberment of the heritage of the Hispanic monarchy in Europe. England, Britain, apart from having avoided the creation of a hegemonic power on the European continent (with the combination of the Bourbon monarchs of France and Spain, along with the possessions of the last on the continent) had achieved broad trade concessions in the Spanish empire in America.So, apart from the possession of Gibraltar and Minorca (stubbornly territories claimed by Spain during the eighteenth century), Britain had obtained the so-called “black seat” (possibility of selling slaves in Hispanic America) for thirty years and the granting of “leave ship” (which allowed direct trade with Great Britain Spanish America by the volume of goods that could deliver a ship of 500 tons capacity), thus breaking the monopoly of trade with Spanish America, restricted earlier by the Crown to traders from metropolitan Spain. Both trade agreements were held by the Company of the South Seas. Philip V of Spain. However, Britain’s direct trade with Spanish America would be a constant source of friction between the two monarchies.Apart from that, there were other reasons for conflict: border problems in North America from Florida (Spanish) and Georgia (British), Spanish complaints by the illegal establishment of British wood cutters in the Caribbean coast, claims constant return of Gibraltar and Minorca from Spain, the British desire to dominate the seas, something hard to get before the recovery of the Spanish navy and the consequent rivalry between Britain and Spain, which had previously caused a brief war between the two countries in 1719 in what came to be a failed Spanish attempt to invade England. However, in the commercial arena was where the friction produced an ever increasing tension. Spain maintained a trade monopoly with its colonies in America, with the sole exception of the concessions made to Britain for permission to ship and the slave trade.Under terms of the Treaty of Seville (1729), the British had agreed not to trade with the colonies of Spanish America (apart from the ship permission), for which agreed to allow in order to verify compliance with the treaty, which Spanish ships intercept British ships in Spanish waters to check their load, which became known as “visitation rights. However, difficulties in the supply of Spanish America led to the emergence of an extensive trade in contraband in the hands of Dutchmen and mainly British. Given these Dominica facts, the Spanish surveillance increased, while fortifying the ports and improved the convoy system that served to protect the valuable treasure fleet that arrived in America.According to the ‘right to visit, “the Spanish ships could intercept any British ship and confiscate their goods, since, except for the vessel permit, all goods to Spanish America were, by definition, contraband. Thus, not only actual ships, but other Spanish ships in private hands, with the awarding of the crown known as Coast Guard, could address the British vessels and confiscate their goods. Such activities were, however, described as piracy by the government in London. Robert Walpole, British prime minister when war was declared. Besides smuggling, there were still British ships engaged in piracy. Much of the ongoing harassment of the Indian fleet lay with the traditional activities of English privateers in the Caribbean Sea, which dated back to the days of Francis Drake.The numbers of boats captured by both sides differ greatly and are therefore very difficult to determine: September 1741 to the English speak of 231 Spanish vessels captured off 331 British ships approached by the Spanish, according to them, the respective figures would be only 25 versus 186. In any case, it is noteworthy that by then the Spanish approaches successfully remained more frequent than the British. Between 1727 and 1732, spent a particularly tense period in bilateral relations, followed by a period of detente between 1732 and 1737, thanks to the efforts to do that British Prime Minister, Whig, Sir Robert Walpole and the Ministry of Marine Spanish, so she joined a collaboration between the two countries in the War of Polish Succession.

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