The QSSI & the America&Spain250 Initiative

were highlighted in a New York Times article.

As the U.S. gears up for America’s 250th anniversary, it is important to understand Spain’s crucial role in U.S. history. This article discusses how Spain’s significant yet little-understood contributions were pivotal in the success of the American Revolution.

Written by James Barron, the article features insights from Professor Larrie D. Ferreiro and Ambassador Gonzalo Quintero, both members of the Advisory Committee of the America&Spain250 initiative. It also includes an interview with M. Begoña Santos, President and CEO of the QSSI.

Some highlights from the article:

‘It’s not a matter of getting the credit’ for Spain, said Gonzalo Quintero, a historian who is to give a talk at the event. ‘Credit is not a thing we historians are concerned about. In the community of historians, it’s well recognized that without the help of Spain, American independence would never have taken place.’

‘Our equivalent hero died a young man at the age of 40,’ she said, referring to Bernardo de Gálvez, who had captured British outposts in Florida. Those victories opened the way for the French Navy to send onward its fleet to defeat the British at Yorktown, according to Larrie Ferreiro.

‘The people who fought alongside Bernardo de Gálvez and those troops — these were the ancestors of today’s Hispanics and Latinos,’ Santos said, ‘and we feel they should be included in the narrative of the United States. But the mythology of the birthplace of the United States is centered on the East Coast, not the Gulf Coast.’