Dr. Samuel A. Forman
The Spanish Empire and Emerging United States in North America
In the Colonial and Revolutionary Eras, Spanish land claims in North America far exceeded the area of the thirteen original states. Spanish influence, dominion, and contests with both Native Americans and competing European imperial powers shaped the agendas from Florida, through modern-day Alabama, Mississippi, the Mississippi Valley, and the Louisiana Territory, up into the Southwest and Alta California in the Far West. This survey will place in context the notable people and events of the Spanish Dominion in North America. This presentation will start before European contact and include Conquistadors, establishment of Spanish missions and settlements, Spain’s pivotal support of American Independence, and post-war competition shaping the American Western and Southern frontiers. Attendees will appreciate the legacy of the Spanish presence in today’s United States. History Campers considering attending The Pursuit Of History’s immersive Weekend in Santa Fe this Autumn, and those rounding out their knowledge of American and European history, will find this presentation particularly interesting.
Dr. Samuel A. Forman, MD, MBA, MPH, (illfatedfrontier.com, DrJosephWarren.com, @DrSamForman) is a historian and Harvard University faculty member. He is educated in the history of the American Revolution as well as the practice of medicine. Throughout his successful careers as a physician, military officer, and businessman, he has published and lectured on historical topics that inform current issues. Sam is the author of the award-winning biography Dr. Joseph Warren: The Boston Tea Party, Bunker Hill, and the Birth of American Liberty (Pelican, 2012). His latest book is Ill-Fated Frontier: Peril and Possibilities in the Early American West (Lyons Press of Rowman and Littlefield, 2021).
Dr. Forman is a Founding Board Member of The Pursuit of History and is a regular presenter at History Camp Boston.
