Notes

Buenos dias. It is Anita again, your commonwealth chica from Puerto Rico.  Hey, here is something I bet that you did not know, we Puerto Ricans helped you Americans win your Revolutionary War.  This was back in 1780, when things were not going so well for you in the South.  The British Navy had your Southern ports blockaded, and redcoats were running riots through Virginia.  At that time Florida and Louisiana were part of New Spain, a vast territory that also included Puerto Rico and the other Caribbean Islands.  New Spain decided to help out the rebels, so we sent up some ships and men and one of our ablest commanders, Bernardo de Galvez.   The New Spanish brigade kicked British behind.  First, we drove them out of the mouth of the Mississippi, at the Battle of Baton Rouge, we beat them again at the Battle of Mobile.  Then forced them out of Pensacola, the settlement they had built in Florida.  Thanks to us the British were not able to completely blockade the South, and the rebels could keep their supply lines open.  The U.S. paid tribute to the bravery of Bernardo Galvez and his men by naming a town after him, Galveston, Texas.  Next time you are listening to the Star Spangled Banner, remember, we Latinos helped put that flag there.