In message <[email protected]> Charles Ellson <[email protected]> wrote: > On Mon, 16 Jun 2008 09:19:45 +0100, Graeme Wall > <[email protected]> wrote: > > >In message <[email protected]> > > Charles Ellson <[email protected]> wrote: > > > >> On Sat, 14 Jun 2008 13:44:08 -0400, katy <[email protected]> > >> wrote: > >> > >> >Don Aitken wrote: > >[snip] > >> >> > >> >> This was the high period of Britiah "informal empire" in South America > >> >> - the theoretically independent countries of the region did what the > >> >> Britiah told them. > >> >> > >> > > >> >Os this when the Brits acquired the Falkland Islands, then? > >> > > >> British settlers had been there since about 1765, following closely > >> after French settlers. There was also Spanish involvement and an > >> amount of mainly non-hostile passing of the islands between the three > >> countries. The Republic of Buenos Aires tried to claim the islands in > >> 1820 (with the US also sticking their oar in) as they had never been > >> formally colonised by the UK but withdrew their claim and the islands > >> were made a formal colony in 1833. Argentina never possessed the > >> islands until the unsuccessful war in 1982. Some of the > >> passing-the-parcel is described in:- > >> http://gdl.cdlr.strath.ac.uk/scotia/gooant/gooant070703.htm > > > >The US 'sticking their oar in' actually refers to the fact that the Buenos > >Aires had used the islands as a prison camp which detoriorated into a > >pirate's nest that preyed on passing shipping. The Americans sent the USS > >Constitution down to clear them out, hanging the ring-leaders and > >transporting the remainder back to the main-land. > > > Is that an unmentioned part of the 1831 incident described in the > strath.ac.uk article or something separate ? That, as I understood it, was the 1831 incident, which the article has a slightly different take on. -- Graeme Wall My genealogy website <www.greywall.demon.co.uk/genealogy>

On Mon, 16 Jun 2008 19:09:26 +0100, Graeme Wall <[email protected]> wrote: >In message <[email protected]> > Charles Ellson <[email protected]> wrote: > >> On Mon, 16 Jun 2008 09:19:45 +0100, Graeme Wall >> <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> >In message <[email protected]> >> > Charles Ellson <[email protected]> wrote: >> > >> >> On Sat, 14 Jun 2008 13:44:08 -0400, katy <[email protected]> >> >> wrote: >> >> >> >> >Don Aitken wrote: >> >[snip] >> >> >> >> >> >> This was the high period of Britiah "informal empire" in South America >> >> >> - the theoretically independent countries of the region did what the >> >> >> Britiah told them. >> >> >> >> >> > >> >> >Os this when the Brits acquired the Falkland Islands, then? >> >> > >> >> British settlers had been there since about 1765, following closely >> >> after French settlers. There was also Spanish involvement and an >> >> amount of mainly non-hostile passing of the islands between the three >> >> countries. The Republic of Buenos Aires tried to claim the islands in >> >> 1820 (with the US also sticking their oar in) as they had never been >> >> formally colonised by the UK but withdrew their claim and the islands >> >> were made a formal colony in 1833. Argentina never possessed the >> >> islands until the unsuccessful war in 1982. Some of the >> >> passing-the-parcel is described in:- >> >> http://gdl.cdlr.strath.ac.uk/scotia/gooant/gooant070703.htm >> > >> >The US 'sticking their oar in' actually refers to the fact that the Buenos >> >Aires had used the islands as a prison camp which detoriorated into a >> >pirate's nest that preyed on passing shipping. The Americans sent the USS >> >Constitution down to clear them out, hanging the ring-leaders and >> >transporting the remainder back to the main-land. >> > >> Is that an unmentioned part of the 1831 incident described in the >> strath.ac.uk article or something separate ? > >That, as I understood it, was the 1831 incident, which the article has a >slightly different take on. > There is a rather more detailed description of the events in:- http://tinyurl.com/5rzu6m [Argentina and the United States 1810-1960 - Chap VIII The Falkland Islands: A Diplomatic Incident and the Aftermath, 1831-1960] which unfortunately has a couple of pages missing, thus mangling the interpretation of the plot to somewhat. It seems to be written from a US POV with the US and Buenos Ayres squabbling over sovereignty leaving the UK to nip in and retake possession of the islands. The event seems to be a side issue of the main goings-on of the locals getting rid of Spanish rule/influence in South America.

In message <[email protected]> Charles Ellson <[email protected]> wrote: > On Mon, 16 Jun 2008 19:09:26 +0100, Graeme Wall > <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > > The US 'sticking their oar in' actually refers to the fact that the > > > > Buenos Aires had used the islands as a prison camp which detoriorated > > > > into a pirate's nest that preyed on passing shipping. The Americans > > > > sent the USS Constitution down to clear them out, hanging the > > > > ring-leaders and transporting the remainder back to the main-land. > > > > > > > Is that an unmentioned part of the 1831 incident described in the > > > strath.ac.uk article or something separate ? > > > >That, as I understood it, was the 1831 incident, which the article has a > >slightly different take on. > > > There is a rather more detailed description of the events in:- > http://tinyurl.com/5rzu6m > [Argentina and the United States 1810-1960 - Chap VIII The Falkland > Islands: A Diplomatic Incident and the Aftermath, 1831-1960] > > which unfortunately has a couple of pages missing, thus mangling the > interpretation of the plot to somewhat. It seems to be written from a > US POV with the US and Buenos Ayres squabbling over sovereignty > leaving the UK to nip in and retake possession of the islands. That's a good a reading as any. > The event seems to be a side issue of the main goings-on of the locals > getting rid of Spanish rule/influence in South America. At that time, very much of a side. Also at that time the Argentine government was actively encouraging the immigration of British, principally Scottish, settlers to transform the agricultural prospects of the country. One of the first such settlements was at Monte Grande, just to the south of Buenos Ayres which consisted of around 225 men, women and chidren from Dumfries and Galloway. The colonisation of the Falklands was just another in a whole series of such settlements in that part of South America. -- Graeme Wall My genealogy website <www.greywall.demon.co.uk/genealogy>