The War of Jenkins' Ear (known as Guerra del Asiento in Spain) was a conflict

between Britain and Spain that lasted from 1739 to 1748, with major operations largely ended by
1742. Its unusual name, coined by Thomas Carlyle in 1858,[5] refers to an ear severed
from Robert Jenkins, captain of a British merchant ship, and acknowledged smuggler. The
severed ear was subsequently exhibited before the British Parliament.
The seeds of conflict begin with the separation of an ear from Jenkins, following the boarding of
his vessel by Spanish coast guards in 1731, eight years before war began. Popular response to
the incident was tepid, until several years later when opposition politicians and the British South
Sea Company hoped to spur outrage against Spain, believing that a victorious war would
improve Britains trading opportunities in the Caribbean. [6] Also providing the impetus to war
against the Spanish Empire was ostensibly a desire to pressure the Spanish not to renege on the
lucrative asiento contract (permission to sell slaves in Spanish America).[7]
The war resulted in heavy British casualties in North America. After 1742, the war was subsumed
by the wider War of the Austrian Succession, which involved most of the powers of Europe.
Peace arrived with the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748. From the British perspective, the war
was notable because it was the first time that a regiment of colonial American troops was raised
and placed "on the Establishment" made a part of the Regular British Army and sent to fight
outside North America.