For other uses of the word Nootka, see Nootka (disambiguation).
The Nootka Conventions were a series of three agreements between the Kingdom of Spain and the Kingdom of Great Britain, signed in the 1790s which averted a war between the two empires over overlapping claims to portions of the Pacific Northwest coast of North America. The claims of Spain dated back nearly three hundred years to the papal bull of 1493 which had divided the world, and had granted to Spain the exclusive rights to settle the Pacific Coast of North America. This papal bull was not recognized by Britain (which was governed by Protestants) or by Russia (which was governed by Orthodox Christians). Britain's claims to the region were dated back to the voyage of Sir Francis Drake in 1579, and also by right of prior discovery by Captain James Cook in 1778, although a Spanish voyage had sailed as far north as the Queen Charlotte Islands, but not landed, in 1774.[1]
The dispute began when Spain, in defense of its claim, seized property settled by British subject John Meares on Nootka Island, leading to a confrontation between Spain and Britain known as the Nootka Crisis which threatened to trigger a major imperial war for control of the Pacific, and, in practice, for western North America. Russia was also a party of interest, as their prior trading presence and separate claim extended much farther south of Nootka to California, and was in fact the reason Spain was attempting to solidify its claims through exploration and settlement.
The Nootka Conventions of the 1790s, carried out in part by George Vancouver and his Spanish counterpart Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra prevented the dispute from escalating to war. The first Convention was signed on October 28, 1790.[2] The second Nootka Convention was signed in February of 1793 and awarded compensation to John Meares for the Spanish seizure of his ships at Nootka in 1789[3]. By the third of the three Conventions, signed on January 11, 1794, the Spanish did not give up claims, only agreed to other parties to trade at Nootka Sound, where the Spanish fortification or presidio Fort San Miguel had been built in 1789. As of the Third Convention the Spanish fort at Nootka Sound was available for occupation by any power, be it Russia, Britain, or anyone else, including Spain should it desire to return[4].
