This Day in History: 1833-01-01
In 1833 British forces arrived in the Falkland Islands and demanded British Sovereignty be restored. The Islands had already been claimed by a British explorer Captain John Byron in 1765 but on May 20th 1776 British forces had to leave the Islands due to economic reasons. Before leaving they left a plaque asserting British sovereignty over the Islands. In 1823 the United Provinces of the Rio de la Plata (part of which would later form Argentina) granted land on the Islands to Luis Vernet for him to start a new settlement there. In 1829 Vernet took settlers, many of which were British, to the islands creating a colony under Vernet’s governance. The United Provinces granted all entitlement of resources and governorship to Vernet despite diplomatic protest by the British and US (who had been denied fishing rights in the area by the United Provinces). So in 1832, the British sent two ships to the island to restore its sovereignty but allowed any settlers to stay if they wished.
