By the 18th century, Britain and Spain had gotten used to going to war with each other over all kinds of things — religion, trade, geopolitics, you name it. But it was on this day in 1739 that a peculiar Anglo-Spanish conflict broke out. It remains the most oddly named war in the two nations’, if not the world’s, history.
The War of Jenkins’ Ear was about more than, well, some guy’s ear. Spain had colonized nearly all of the Caribbean Sea, and kept tight control over who could sail in or out of it. That made logical sense: New World trade, especially in that area, was a cash cow for the Europeans. British slaving ships were allowed in and out, but otherwise, only two ships laden with goods for trade were allowed through the sea per year. Beyond that, any trading was a no-go.
Even when the Brits did comply with the draconian rules, their ships still got raided by jumpy customs officials who often beat the crews, even if they weren’t smuggling anything at all. In 1731, just two years after the end of the straightforwardly titled Anglo-Spanish War, one Robert Jenkins was helming a ship that was boarded by Spanish coast guards, who accused him of smuggling sugar. They sliced off the captain’s ear, handing it back to him as a parting gift.
Jenkins, his pickled ear in tow, went around his homeland making sure the people knew about the brutal act. It became symbolic of the general frustration toward Spain over its seafaring conduct in the Caribbean that continued to build more over the years. Parliament officially declared war against their ear-stwhile enemy in 1739; it would last nearly a decade.
