Spanish Main

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Spanish Main

Spanish Main mainland of Spanish America, particularly the coast of South America from the isthmus of Panama to the mouth of the Orinoco River. Spanish treasure fleets, sailing home from the New World, passed through the Caribbean N of the Main and were attacked by English buccaneers raiding from the islands and coast. Pirates congregated there until the 19th cent., and the words "Spanish Main" have become the symbol of piratic romance.

Bibliography: See C. O. Sauer, The Early Spanish Main (1966); A. O. Exquemelin, The Buccaneers and Marooners of America (1891, repr. 1971).

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Spanish Main, the

The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military | 2001 | Â© The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military 2001, originally published by Oxford University Press 2001. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Spanish Main, the
1. the former name for the northwest coast of South America between the Orinoco River and Panama.

2. the area of the northwest coast of South America, the Caribbean Sea, and the West Indies, where Spanish merchant ships traveled and were often preyed upon by pirates from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century.

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"Spanish Main, the." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 8 Nov. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea entry for Spanish Main

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