Presided over by Her Majesty Queen Sofía, the QSSI presented an academic program at the historic Freedom Tower in Miami as part of the America&Spain250 initiative.
Organized in collaboration with the Consulate General of Spain in Miami, Miami Dade College, Florida International University, and Miami-Dade250, the event marked the first America&Spain250 program in Florida an essential region for understanding the global dimensions of the American Revolution.
Titled “Florida, Cuba, and the Caribbean in the American Revolution,” the program brought together three leading scholars whose work has shaped the modern understanding of Spain’s role in the conflict. Ambassador Gonzalo M. Quintero Saravia examined the strategic importance of Spanish territories in the Caribbean and Gulf Coast, while Professor Jane Landers presented her research on Fort Mose, the first legally sanctioned free Black settlement in what is now the United States. Professor Richard L. Kagan addressed the historical omission of Spain’s contributions from the broader account of the nation’s founding.
Held at the Freedom Tower—an iconic Miami landmark with deep historical resonance—the event reinforced the importance of place in connecting past and present. Originally inspired by the Giralda of Seville and later serving as a processing center for Cuban immigrants, the site provided a meaningful setting for a program exploring the intertwined histories of Spain, Cuba, and the United States.
The evening concluded with a special performance by the orchestra and choir of Florida International University, who presented selections of eighteenth-century music from the Spanish Viceroyalty, Havana and Mexico City, offering a powerful cultural evocation of the era.
