Brooks: Diplomacy and the Borderlands 137

 The delay was not long. On July 3 Pizarro reopened the discus-
sion by offering unqualified ratification of the Convention of 1802.
That agreement, it will be remembered, stipulated that claims for
spoliations by French cruisers should be subject to further nego-
tiation, thus not relieving Spain of her obligation in the eyes of
the United States. Erving declined to accept Spain's ratification,
not having that of the United States to exchange for it. Pizarro
accordingly sent it to his subordinate in Washington to be ex-
changed there.
 The secretario at the same time brought up the question of the
territorial guaranty of Spanish dominions beyond the Mississippi
which had been offered by Charles Pinckney in 1803. Erving dis-
countenanced the idea completely, declaring that the guaranty had
been intended to apply nly to Louisiana and that, since Louisiana
had passed to the United States, it was entirely irrelevant now.
 In reporting these conversations to Adams, Erving astutely ex-
 pressed the belief that the ratification of the Convention of 1802
 had been made simply to permit its use as a bargaining point. Its
 acceptance would remove one motive for the occupation of Florida,
 inasmuch as the United States had at times claimed that region as
 indemnity for spoliations." He also believed that Pizarro, for the
 benefit of other European Powers, sought to strengthen the im-
 pression of Spain's conciliatory attitude, and that with this con-
 cession to his credit Pizarro would feel greater assurance in the
 matter of the western limits.
 The most interesting view expressed by Erving, however, is his
 opinion that Spain's hand was being forced (as it undoubtedly
 was) by Jackson's expedition into East Florida. Word of that
 invasion had just been received in Madrid. In the long run, Jack-
 son's maneuver was indeed one factor in causing Spain to come to
 an agreement. But at the moment it was to prove a stumbling block,
 as it caused an inevitable breach in diplomatic relations.
 Pizarro was reluctant to break off negotiations when he had such
 urgent reasons for wanting a settlement. Conferences and corre-
 spondence continued for a few weeks." Pizarro added more argu-
 ments on the guaranty of Spanish territory which had been offered
 by Pinckney, maintaining that it applied to all of America and
 should be revived. Serving resisted the plan for any guaranty at all,
 and offered instead the security of a thirty-league desert area along