The latter years of Spain’s neutrality during the war (1759–62) saw an even greater deterioration in Anglo-Spanish relations. Ministers from both Courts attempted to preserve and salvage Spanish neutrality, but unresolved diplomatic grievances, as well as the deaths of both the Spanish king, Ferdinand VI, and the British monarch, George II, foiled their efforts and any gains made by the case of the San Juan Baptista. The increasing decay and eventual breakdown of Anglo-Spanish relations during the war demonstrate that the tactics used to ensure Dutch neutrality could not so easily be transferred to maintain Spanish neutrality. This chapter begins with the appellate case of the Jesús, Maria, y José and a close look at the legal arguments presented for both the Spanish shipowners and the British privateers who took the ship as prize. The proceedings of the court are analysed alongside the political developments between the Spanish and British ministries, and illustrate how they influenced one another. The case demonstrates Hardwicke’s continued attempts to make legal arguments that would set the Rule of the War of 1756 as the standard rule for how Britain’s prize court system would judge the legality of enemy goods carried in neutral ships.

Chapter 1 illuminates the inherent weaknesses of the French colonial empire on the eve of the Seven Years War and examines initial efforts to embark on imperial reform during peace negotiations between France and Britain. The chapter uses the correspondence of Jean-Antoine Riqueti de Mirabeau, governor of Guadeloupe in the Îles du Vent between 1753 and 1755, to shed light on the problems of the French Caribbean plantation complex and to show how Mirabeau’s experiences influenced the intellectual vision of his older brother, Victor Riqueti de Mirabeau, who co-founded Physiocracy together with François Quesnay. From here, the chapter analyses war-time discussions on the future of the French colonies within the Ministries of the Marine and of Foreign Affairs. While these discussions culminated in the well-known strategy to enhance the French Caribbean plantation complex, the chapter reveals that government officials were also contemplating alternative paths to empire rooted in a vision of mutual prosperity between the metropole and the colonies and a reorientation of colonial empire from the Americas to West Africa.