Young Historian Spotlight: Casey Hill

Casey Hill working at the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument

Today, we are continuing with the second of a series of interviews with a number of young historians. By the time this series concludes in early November, we will have heard from Jack Weaver, Andrew Warren, Ben Olex, Casey Hill, Samantha Sproviero, and Davis Tierney. All of these individuals are broadly interested in the Kabinettskriege era, and have been selected as a result of recent promotion, impending graduate school applications, or work recently begun in graduate school or at a historic site. Today's young historian Casey, a historian interested in a vital era of colonial conflict. Casey has worked as an historic interpreter at the Castillo de San Marcos and Fort Matanzas National Monuments, and is currently in the process of applying to graduate programs in historical archaeology. Casey possesses a broad range of knowledge on the War of Jenkins Era, and plans to study this topic in graduate school.

Alexander Burns : What drew you to study the history in this era? In 2018, much of popular memory of military history in the United States is focused on World War 1, World War 2, and the Vietnam War. What about the history of the 1688-1815 era do you find so compelling?

Casey Hill[1]: What drew me to to the military history of this particular era was actually getting involved in it. From a young age, I have always had an interest in history and naturally, this interest has expanded over the years. In 2013, I made the first step by establishing myself as a volunteer with the National Park Service at the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument in St. Augustine, Florida. I was doing this while working on my undergraduate so unfortunately, I didn’t have ample time to dedicate to it but I managed a couple weekends each month. This was my first involvement with reenacting and living history. I eventually was fortunate enough to  be able to get a student job with the NPS at the Castillo, which really changed things up for me quite a bit. I was able to learn so much about the Castillo and its involvement in history. The main interpretive theme is the time portrayed during the British siege that St. Augustine experienced in 1740. Naturally, I wanted to find out as much as I could, not only for my job, but because I was personally very interested. I learned all about the War of Jenkins’ Ear which I personally find the most compelling about this era.

AB: Is there a particular person, conflict, event, or geographical setting which draws you to this era?

CH: Yes. As I had mentioned before, for me it is the War of Jenkins’ Ear but I would also have to say King George’s War and the War of the Austrian Succession in general. Again, being surrounded by and involved with St. Augustine’s history when I was working there, really sparked my interest not only in that conflict, but the specific siege that St. Augustine experienced in 1740 led by General James Oglethorpe. The British invasions of Florida and the Spanish Invasions of Georgia and the Carolinas have always fascinated me. They are very obscure parts of American history, but are also quite important which is one of the many reasons I love talking to people about it. Political cartoons, ballads, broadsides, maps, pamphlets, commemorative medals, just about any type of 18th century material culture you can think of was produced during this war especially regarding Admiral Edward Vernon and the capture of Porto Bello in 1739, the successful capture of Porto Bello made Vernon an instant hero in Britain and really helped to establish the national pride of Britain, the image of the British Tar and Britannia ruling the waves as we see this famous song come out of this period. That victory also created so much interesting material culture!. My interest has evolved so much that I even find myself acquiring said original items from this period.

Casey working at the  Castillo de San Marcos and Fort Matanzas National Monuments

AB: Casey, that is really interesting. Do you view the War of Jenkins Ear as part of a global conflict between 1740-1748? I know that is a common interpretation of the Seven Years War, and wonder if you have seen it with this conflict as well?

CH: I most definitely do. As far as the War of Jenkins’ Ear goes, Britain officially declared war on Spain in October 1739 and a little over a year later, the War of the Austrian Succession (WAS) broke out in Europe. It was very much a global conflict and encompassed several theaters of war. In addition to the War of Jenkins’ Ear (WJE), these include King George’s War (KGW), which was a conflict between the British and French primarily over Louisbourg and Nova Scotia which erupted in 1744.  WAS also included the First Carnatic War (1746-48) between the French and British over control of Madras and Pondicherry (which were two major battles in their own right) in India, two very important trading ports that the French and British East India Companies fought over for control. There were roughly nineteen battles/engagements that made up KGW (1744-48) which covered the areas of New York, Massachusetts Bay, New Hampshire, and Nova Scotia as well as roughly nineteen engagements that made up the WJE (1739-48) that covered the south British colonies of North and South Carolina and Georgia and Spanish Florida, the Caribbean, South America and various naval engagements in European waters and the Pacific. It was also very much a global conflict for Colonial Americans as it was the first foreign war they directly fought in. Sir William Gooch’s 42nd Regiment of Foot, or the “American Regiment” was the first all Colonial American regiment raised and put on the British Establishment and consisted of roughly 3,000 men from 10 different colonies from New York to North Carolina. It was established with the sole purpose of fighting the Spanish in the West Indies, primarily the ill-fated Cartagena expedition of 1741. Lawrence Washington, George Washington’s older half brother, was a commissioned officer in this regiment. 

AB: How do you plan to continue your research into this era? You have been employed in public history setting, and are currently applying to graduate programs. Why have you chosen your particular path?

CH: I am also in the process of applying for graduate school; planning on pursuing historical archaeology, collections management, and historic preservation. I also do substantial independent research on my area of interest which includes collaborating and/or visiting historic sites that are relevant to my research but also acquiring primary sources that pertain to my area/conflict of interest. I would also love to do some proper funded research, perhaps in my masters program with a visit to Spain to visit some of the archives, museums, and libraries. I hope to eventually start giving talks/presentations on the War of Jenkins’ Ear using my collection as a visual and tangible aid, which I managed to do at my previous job and hope to continue in the future.

AB: What have you been reading, recently? Could you recommend one book on your topic of interest, or any recent work on the era?

CH: Since I have many books on many different topics of the period, I will stick with the main topic of the era being discussed. Apart from the primary source material from my collection, I have a handful of good books I could recommend for the War of Jenkins’ Ear period. The one I have acquired recently, which actually just came out in 2016 and I highly recommend, is titled The Temptations of Trade: Britain, Spain, and the Struggle for Empire by Adrian Finucane [University of Pennsylvania Press]. The others I would recommend (and have read) are: America’s First Marines: Gooch’s American Regiment, 1740-1742 by Lee G. Offen, On the Rim of the Caribbean: Colonial Georgia and the British Atlantic World by Paul M. Pressly, Trade and Privateering in Spanish Florida, 1732-1763 by Joyce Elizabeth Harman (a great little book!), A Relation, or Journal, Of a late Expedition, &c.: A Facsimile Reproduction of the 1744 Edition with an Introduction and Index by John Jay Tepaske [Bicentennial Floridiana Facsimile Series/University of Florida Press] (this is also available digitally), and last but not least, Informed Power: Communication in the Early American South by Alejandra Dubcovsky.

AB: Thanks! Is there a reason you enjoy Finucane’s book? Can you tell us a bit about it?

CH: I am always excited to see new books/research/material come out about this period. I found that it read very well and I feel it greatly explained the reasons behind the lead up to the outbreak of the War of Jenkins’ Ear, beginning right around the time of the end of the War of the Spanish Succession when Britain wins the right to begin trading with the closed Spanish market by way of the Assiento all the way through to when war was declared, and even the years of conflict. April Hatfield of Texas A&M University summed up this book pretty well and I would like to use an excerpt from what she said: “Adrian Finucane puts a human face on the Caribbean’s imperial and commercial struggles by bringing to life the stories of the South Sea Company’s agents in Spanish America. In the process, she answers a number of important questions about the nature of eighteenth-century trade and illustrates how British and Spanish empires, despite their unrelenting rivalry, depend on one another.” It is always important in this field to try to “put a human face” to any type of struggle or conflict that is going on to help try to understand the bigger picture, and I believe this book does that very well by not only telling stories of the South Sea Company agents experiencing the rising tensions first hand, but explaining the fact that Britain and Spain heavily relied on each other in trade in the West Indies, but at the same time, fought for dominant control of the seas and for free and warranted trade rights. It’s interesting also because Spanish Florida relied heavily on trade from the northern British colonies of Georgia, the Carolinas, and even New York (though it was illicit) because St. Augustine could no longer rely on the nearly nonexistent yet promised supplies from the Spanish via Mexico City. In my opinion, this is one of the most interesting aspects of this conflict, and this book really helps to delve deeper into that. I would like to end my answer with the last line of this book: “The increase in imperial control enacted by the British and Spanish in the second half of the eighteenth century shifted the opportunities of empire away from those who succumbed to the temptations of trade during earlier iterations of empire.” I think that is one of the most important lessons that can be taken from this conflict. 

AB: Thanks Casey! We look forward to following your career as it continues!

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[1] Casey Hill graduated from the University of Central Florida in 2015 with his BA in Anthropology, focus specifically in historical archaeology. He hopes to one day work with a university, museum and/or a historical site/city as a historical archaeologist. He plans to begin his MA next year in Historical Archaeology (maritime and terrestrial). His is particularly interested in the late 17th century to the mid-18th century. His main area of interest for research is Western Europe, North America, and the Caribbean (particularly during the colonial period) the War of Jenkins' Ear/King George's War/War of the Austrian Succession. He has worked for two years (2015-2017) as a historic interpreter at the Castillo de San Marcos and Fort Matanzas National Monuments in St. Augustine Florida.