Jenkins' Ear, War Of

War between Britain and Spain that began in 1739 and eventually merged into the War of the Austrian Succession.

In 1738 Capt. Robert Jenkins appeared before a committee of the House of Commons and exhibited his own amputated ear, which he alleged was cut off by Spanish coast guards who boarded his ship in the West Indies in 1731. Public opinion had already been aroused by other Spanish outrages on British ships, and the incident was exploited by members of Parliament who opposed the government of Robert Walpole.