For her own good reasons France had dragged Spain into the struggle.

Spain, of course, fought to cripple Great Britain and not to help the United States.

In return for this support France was pledged to assist Spain in obtaining certain additions to her territory.

In so far as these additions related to North America, the interests of Spain and those of the United States were far from being identical; in fact, they were frequently in direct opposition.

Spain was already in possession of Louisiana and, by prompt action on her entry into the war in 1780, she had succeeded in getting control of eastern Louisiana and of practically all the Floridas except St.Augustine.To consolidate these holdings and round out her American empire, Spain would have liked to obtain the title to all the land between the Alleghany Mountains and the Mississippi.