Nootka Crisis

Location of Nootka Sound on Vancouver Island

The Nootka Crisis, also known as the Spanish Armament,[1] was an international incident and political dispute between the Nuu-chah-nulth Nation, Spain, the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the fledgling United States of America[2] triggered by a series of events revolving around sovereignty claims and rights of navigation and trade. It took place during the summer of 1789 at the Spanish outpost Santa Cruz de Nuca, in Nootka Sound on Vancouver Island in present-day British Columbia, Canada. The commander of the outpost, Jose Esteban Martínez, seized some British commercial ships which had come for the maritime fur trade and to build a permanent post at Nootka Sound.[3] Public outcry in Great Britain led to the mobilization of the Royal Navy, and the possibility of war. Both sides called upon allies, the Dutch joined the side of Great Britain; Spain mobilized her navy and her key ally France also mobilized theirs, but the latter soon announced they would not go to war. Without French help, Spain had little hope against the British and the Dutch, resulting in Spain seeking a diplomatic solution and making concessions.[4]

A Nuu-chah-nulth man drawn by John Webber, Captain Cook's official artist, c. 1778.

The crisis was thus resolved peacefully but with difficulty through a set of three agreements, known collectively as the Nootka Conventions (1790–95). British subjects, as well as the Spanish, were then enabled to trade up to ten leagues (30 miles; 48 km) from parts of the coast already occupied by Spain in northwestern North America by April 1789 and could form trade-related settlements in unoccupied areas. Spain renounced many of its exclusive trade rights and territorial claims in the area, ending a 200-year monopoly on Asian-Pacific trade. The immediate outcome was a success for the mercantile interests of Great Britain.[5][6][7]

  1. ^ Pelham Brenton, Edward (1823). The Naval History of Great Britain: From the Year MDCCLXXXIII to MDCCCXXII. Vol. 1. C. Rice. p. 149.
  2. ^ Manning, William (1904). The Nootka Sound Controversy – via ProQuest.
  3. ^ Moziño, José Mariano; Engstrand, Iris Wilson (2011). Noticias de Nutka: An Account of Nootka Sound in 1792. University of Washington Press. p. xxxii. ISBN 978-0-295-80386-9. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  4. ^ Crump, Jennifer (2010). Canada Under Attack. Dundurn. p. 86. ISBN 978-1-77070-570-8. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  5. ^ Ehrmanm, John (1969). The Younger Pitt: The Years of Acclaim. Vol. 1. Dutton. p. 349. it ended in a British victory: the traders were compensated, and the settlement was confirmed.
  6. ^ Nootka Sound Controversy, The Canadian Encyclopedia.
  7. ^ Coronado, José María Zamora y (1845). Biblioteca de legislación ultramarina: en forma de diccionario alfabético (in Spanish). Alegria y Charlain. p. 282.