37. The American Independence War (2)
Carlos II of Spania
With the war in the American British colonies in a stalemate since 1779 and the rebellion in the Spanish ones reduced to Virginia, both London and Toledo began to study a way to get out of the mess. The new Queen María (1778-1802), had different point of view about the issue. Not interested in having the rebellion polluting her other American colonies, she proposed to turn those Spanish colonies into Dominions of the Empire, having their own governments but with the queen of Spania as their head of state. That option was strongly disliked by the leaders of the Virginian rebellion, Andrés de Fonollosa and Miguel Cervantes de León, but de León came to find it interesting as it would place power in the hands of the local population, while Cervantes de León hesitated (he would be murdered by his own men in 1780, probably because they were bribed by de Fonollosa). In the end, the Estados Confederados de America (ECA - Confederate States of America) were born on June 21st, 1781, with de Fonollosa as his first Presidente. This would led, eventually, to the transformation of the remaining colonies into independent states but, as we shall see, the process would take its time and it would not be an easy one.
The solution did not please London, Cornwallis had hit hard the rebel army led by Benedict Arnold at Yorktwon (September 28, 1781), but, in turn, he had been bleeded white when he had attempted to storm West Point (October 18), stubbornly defended by George Washington. In the end, the combined forces of Arnold and Washington were to deliever a big blow to Cornwallis in the outskirts of Germantown (December 3) and the war returned to its stalemate. By then, however, French supplies and money began to reach the Northern rebels through the ECA, as de Fonollosa was more than happy to "help" their brethern in exchange for some commision sales payed by Paris. This would, in turn, damage the Spanian relations with Great Britain, but Queen Maria was hardly bothered by the event and did not stop de Fonollosa from going on with his scheme, something that would return, in the future, to bit Spania in her most pudent parts. In the end, London granted the independence to the American colonies following the Treaty of Paris (1783), that marked not only the birth of the United States of America, but a bitter hatred that the British were to have towards Spania and France and that would take its time to heal.
However, as it has been mentioned, Maria did not care about the future troubles. Her 24 years in the Spanian throne were marked by her generosity towards her subjetcs but also by a total carelessnes about the state affairs, that were gradually let in the hands of her "Consejo de Ministros" (Minister Council), that, by 1780, had become a de facto government of Spania. She died in 1802, being 40 years old without a male heir. Carlos de Medina Sidonia, who was 12 years old and was a distant relative of the queen, became king Carlos II of Spania (1802-1835). A wealthy art collector, Carlos would let the government in the hands of his ministers, too, taking only a small role in the government of the country.
