The Silver Road By Barbara Pereira-Amador

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The Silver Road by Barbara Pereira-Amador

From the Spanish-supplied muskets fired at Lexington and Concord in 1775 to the last-minute collection in Havana that helped fund the Battle of Yorktown in 1781, Spain and Latin America were decisively involved in the American Revolution. Support began with the smuggling of critical military supplies that the colonies could not produce in sufficient quantities. Latin American silver functioned as the hard currency of the American economy, which lacked a viable financial infrastructure. In 1779, Spain declared war, forcing Britain to divert manpower and firepower from fighting against the Continental Army to battlefronts stretching from Nicaragua to Florida to Gibraltar to England itself. The world erupted in conflict: Britain was simultaneously challenged by Spain, France, the Netherlands, and the Mysore kingdom in India. By 1781, Yorktown had become the Americans’ last chance. While the British desperately attempted to rescue their trapped army, Spain and Latin America supported the French Navy and funded the victorious American and French armies. The Silver Road tells the full story of how the Revolutionary War was won.