THE REPUBLIC OF THE NEST

THE UNITED STATES’ EXPANSIONISM TOWARDS SPAIN’S OVERSEAS TERRITORIES AND THE BEGINNINGS OF MANIFEST DESTINY WITHIN LUÍS DE ONÍS’ REPORTS ON THE FLORIDA PURCHASE (1809-1820)

Abstract

After the Independence of the United States, the new nation’s inherited territories had undefined borders, which collided with French and Spanish zones. The American expansionist impetus characterized this first phase on the relations between the three countries in the region. Such concert resulted in the Louisiana Purchase, in 1803. The referred acquisition became an element of pressure over the Spanish territories in the area. After the invasion of the Iberian Peninsula by Napoleon Bonaparte, in 1808, and the following usurpation of the Spanish Throne by his brother Joseph Bonaparte, the Spanish overseas domains were in crisis [...].