<P> In 1670, Charles Town (modern - day Charleston, South Carolina) was founded by English colonists . As it was just two days' sail from St. Augustine, the English settlement and encroachment of English traders into Spanish territory spurred the Spanish in their construction of a fort . In 1702, English colonial forces under the command of Carolina Governor Governor James Moore embarked on an expedition to capture St. Augustine early in Queen Anne's War . </P> <P> The English laid siege to St. Augustine in November 1702 . About 1,500 town residents and soldiers were crammed into the fort during the two - month siege . The small English cannon had little effect on the walls of the fort, because the coquina was very effective at absorbing the impact of the shells . The siege was broken when the Spanish fleet from Havana arrived, trapping some English vessels in the bay . The English were defeated and decided to burn their ships to prevent them from falling under Spanish control, and then marched overland back to Carolina . The town of St. Augustine was destroyed, in part by the Spanish and in part by the English, as a result of the siege . </P> <P> Beginning in 1738, under the supervision of Spanish engineer Pedro Ruiz de Olano, the interior of the fort was redesigned and rebuilt . Interior rooms were made deeper, and vaulted ceilings replaced the original wooden ones . The vaulted ceilings allowed for better protection from bombardments and allowed for cannon to be placed along the gun deck, not just at the corner bastions . The new ceilings required the height of the exterior wall to be increased from 26 to 33 feet (10 m). </P> <P> Spain and Britain were rivals in Europe, and since the two countries had both founded empires in the New World, their rivalry continued there as well . In 1733 a British vessel, the Rebecca, commanded by Captain Robert Jenkins, was seized in the Caribbean by the Spanish coast guard . Suspecting that the British had been trading illegally with Spanish colonies (which was forbidden by both Spain and Britain), the Spanish searched the ship . A fight broke out between the Spanish and British sailors . In the skirmish, Jenkins had his ear cut off by a Spanish officer, who picked it up and said "Take this to your king and tell him that if he were here I would serve him in the same manner!" When Jenkins reported the incident to British authorities, they used it as a pretext to declare war on Spain in 1739 . The war was called the War of Jenkins Ear . </P>

What was the purpose of the forts constructed by the spanish where were they typically located