Historian Thomas E. Chávez focuses our attention on Spanish participation throughout the American Revolution through a discussion of Spain’s grand strategy during the war; the contributions to the Spanish war effort of Francisco Saavedra de Sangronis, a Spanish official working for Spain’s Ministry of the Indies; to the Spanish war effort and the interactions of Benjamin Franklin with key Spanish officials—from his early correspondence with the prince of Spain through his election as an honorary member of the Spanish Royal Academy of History. Drawing from his decades of archival research, along with his most recent efforts in uncovering various forms of correspondence and other documents within the Spanish archives pertaining to Benjamin Franklin’s cooperation with Spanish officials, Dr. Chávez demonstrates the significance of Spain’s contributions and the American-Spanish diplomacy that helped achieve American independence.
About the Speaker
Thomas E. Chávez is an independent researcher, consultant and historian, who earned his Ph.D. from the University of New Mexico. In 2004, he retired as the executive director of the National Hispanic Culture Center in Albuquerque. Before that, he was director of the Palace of the Governors in Santa Fe, New Mexico, for twenty-one years. He has published numerous book reviews and articles, as well as nine books, including Spain and the Independence of the United States: An Intrinsic Gift (University of New Mexico Press, 2004) and The Diplomacy of Independence: Benjamin Franklin Documents in the Archives of Spain (The American Philosophical Society Press, 2024), and wrote a monthly Sunday article for The Santa Fe New Mexican. Recently, he assisted the Museum of Spanish Colonial Art begin an endowment and consulted for the University of New Mexico Press and the New Mexico Women’s Forum.