Latin American Rebels and the United States, 1806-1822

"Separatist revolts erupted in Spain's American colonies in the early 1800s. Opinion in the United States was undecided as to what position to take. U.S. strategic interests during the Napoleonic Wars dictated a policy of neutrality. Rebel agents and Spanish diplomat-spies vied behind the scenes for U.S. assets. The U.S. inadvertently became involved in their revolutionary struggle"--