PARRIS N. GLENDENING, Governor

J.R.1

JOINT RESOLUTIONS SIGNED

by the

PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE

and the

SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF DELEGATES

Joint Resolution No. 1
(Senate Joint Resolution No. 2)

A Senate Joint Resolution concerning

Participation of Hispanics in the American Revolution

FOR the purpose of acknowledging the participation of Hispanics in the American
Revolution; honoring Hispanic contributions to American independence; urging
historians to a deeper examination and dissemination of the role of Hispanics in the
accomplishment of American independence; and urging that study of these
contributions be made an integral part of the social studies and history courses
taught in the State of Maryland.

WHEREAS, The independence of the United States was achieved not only from
the efforts of American patriots, but also due to the assistance of foreign governments,
soldiers, and individuals who supported them; and

WHEREAS, In spite of being an important factor in the victory, the participation of
Hispanics in the War of Independence is rarely mentioned in the history textbooks of this
nation; and

WHEREAS, Thousands of Hispanics fought the British and their allies during the
American Revolution in what today is the United States, winning crucial battles that
eased the pressure of the Crown's forces against the armies of General George
Washington; and

WHEREAS, Spanish Louisiana Governors Don Luis de Unzaga and Don Bernardo
de Galvez provided assistance to the revolutionary governments of Maryland,
Pennsylvania, and Virginia in the form of arms, war materiel, and funds to wage
campaigns and protect themselves against the British; and

WHEREAS, This assistance allowed American General George Rogers Clark to
wage his successful campaigns west of those colonies and also was instrumental in
preventing the British from capturing Fort Pitt in Pennsylvania and Fort Henry in
Virginia, which guarded the last leg of the only remaining major patriot supply route at
the time, that which originated in Spanish New Orleans, traversed the Mississippi and
Ohio Rivers and ended overland in Philadelphia; and

WHEREAS, Don Juan de Miralles, a wealthy Spanish merchant established in
Havana, Cuba, was appointed as the Royal Envoy of King Carlos III of Spain to the
United States in 1778, and while travelling with his secretary, Don Francisco Rendon, to
the revolutionary capital of Philadelphia, he initiated the direct shipment of supplies from

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