East Florida

showing East and West Florida, limited by the United States' claim to part of Spain-controlled West Florida Under the terms of the 1763 Treaty of Paris, which ended the Seven Years' War (the French and Indian War), Spain ceded Spanish Florida to Britain. At the same time, Britain received all of French Louisiana east of the Mississippi River, with the exception of New Orleans, from France. Determining the new territory too large to administer as one unit, Britain divided its new southeastern acquisitions into two new colonies separated by the Apalachicola River: East Florida, with its capital in the old Spanish city of St. Augustine, and West Florida, with its capital at Pensacola. However, most of the Spanish population departed following the signing of the treaty, with the entirety of St. Augustine emigrating to Cuba. East Florida remained loyal to Great Britain during the American Revolution. The colony became a haven for Loyalist refugees and fugitive slaves fleeing to British lines from the Southern Colonies during the American War of Independence, and several military units were established by Loyalists in East Florida. Spain participated indirectly in the war as an ally of France and captured Pensacola from the British in 1781. In the 1783 Treaty of Paris, which ended the war, the British ceded both Floridas to Spain. The same treaty recognized the independence of the United States, directly to the north. Government "Governor of British East Florida" was an appointed position. A legislative council did exist which shared power with the governor. The governor could appoint officials but they needed to be approved by the British government. These positions included: an attorney general, chief justice, coroner, etc. An official could be suspended but needed to get the council's consent. A court relating to maritime cases, the East Florida Court of Vice Admiralty was created in April 1771. The British province of East Florida had a royal seal, as did the province of West Florida. The seal for East Florida had on one side a depiction of a fortified town and harbor with the Latin motto Moresque Viris et Moenia Ponet ("He will establish customs for men, and walls"). Demography Racial demographics During the period of British rule in East Florida, the black population came to outnumber the white population in the province by a ratio of 2 to 1. The ratio of blacks to whites in East Florida was lower than in British West Florida but higher than in the other southern British colonies. Those who were white in Florida generally served in the military or worked as overseers, artisans, or merchants. There were very few white yeomen farmers. White residents generally lived in or around St. Augustine with an exception being generally made for overseers and those who resided in New Smyrna. Due to the poor treatment of Minorcans in New Smyrna, some left for St. Augustine, where a large number of them lived in a section of the city known as the "Minorcan Quarter" or the "Greek Quarter". Population and other characteristics It is unclear what the population of East Florida was prior to the American Revolution but it is estimated to have had a population of close to 3,000, making it much larger in population than West Florida, which is believed to have had only several hundred residents. The British tried to encourage settlement in East and West Florida, thinking it would take pressure off the proclamation line that colonists in the northern British colonies wanted to move beyond. However, this plan was generally unsuccessful as many of those who got land grants did not end up settling on those lands. By 1783 the population of East Florida was about 17,000. St. Augustine was about long and wide in size. With the end of the Revolution and the handing over of both Floridas to the Spanish, many loyalists were hesitant to leave. In the end, most of the loyalist and British residents, approximately 10,000 people, left with most of these going to the Bahamas or West Indies and some going to Nova Scotia and England. Another 4,000 people "melted away into the wilderness", with some going as far away as the Mississippi River. Most of those who fled to Florida settled at that town and St. Augustine. St. Johns Bluff became a port and had 300 houses in it by the spring of 1783. With the end of the British period, it was renamed as St. Vincent Ferrer before it was eventually abandoned. on the east shore of the St. Johns River, south of Deep Creek. St. Augustine, the capital of the colony, was much smaller and less advanced than the capitals of the other Thirteen Colonies. Slavery and economics East Florida did not establish a formal slave code until 1782. Those who were black or of mixed race of European and African origin and could not prove they were free were considered to be slaves. During the American Revolution, many Georgians and Carolinians moved to Florida along with their slaves. The colonial government, along with slave-owners, used slaves to construct defensive fortifications. A militia act that allowed for conscripting slaves as laborers and soldiers was passed in 1781. The primary harbor was located in St. Augustine, which had more ship traffic than Pensacola. Most commerce flowing into and sailing from East Florida went via St. Augustine. Ships leaving or entering St. Augustine almost always were destined to or departed from Charleston, South Carolina, but occasional ships did come directly from Europe. Nevertheless, the amount of traffic in St. Augustine was smaller than that of the ports to its north, Savannah and Charleston. For example in 1768, 56 ships entered St. Augustine compared to Savannah's 148 and Charleston's 448 ships. Bernard Romans wrote the first account of Spanish fishing ranchos existing along Florida's southwest coast in 1770. When the British took control of Florida, they monitored the fishermen who occupied the ranchos but let them continue their activities. Governor James Grant was ordered to stop the fishermen from operating but did not enforce that order. At one point the fishing boats were suspected of being a threat to British control, but a complete review in 1767-68 found they were harmless. Media The East Florida Gazette was a pro-loyalist newspaper that was published weekly in St. Augustine from 1783 to 1784. It was founded by a loyalist printer, John Wells, and his brother, William Charles Wells, who had moved to St. Augustine from Charleston, South Carolina. The paper was printed ...at the Printing-office in Treasury-lane. Prior to the establishment of a newspaper, most news came into St. Augustine through gazettes that were published in Savannah, Georgia, and Charleston. ==Spanish period: Florida Oriental==

Under Spanish rule, the provinces of East Florida and West Florida initially remained divided by the Apalachicola River, the boundary established by the British. However, Spain moved it eastward to the Suwanee River in 1785. Spain continued to administer East and West Florida as separate provinces. The Spanish offered favorable terms for acquiring land, which attracted many settlers from the newly formed United States. There were several territorial disputes between the U.S. and Spain, some resulting in military action, including the Patriot War in 1812 and the filibuster at Amelia Island in 1817. An American army under Andrew Jackson invaded East Florida during the First Seminole War. Jackson's forces captured San Marcos on 7 April 1818; as well as Fort Barrancas at West Florida's capital, Pensacola, on 24 May 1818. James Monroe's secretary of state, John Quincy Adams, defined the American position on this issue. Adams accused Spain of breaking Pinckney's Treaty by failing to control the Seminoles. Faced with the prospect of losing control, Spain formally ceded all of its Florida territory to the U.S. under the Adams–Onís Treaty in 1819 (ratified in 1821), in exchange for the U.S. ceding its claims on Texas and the U.S. paying any claims its citizens might have against Spain, up to $5,000,000. In 1822, the U.S. Congress organized the Florida Territory, merging East Florida and the portion of West Florida that had remained under Spanish control until 1821. In 1845, Florida was admitted as the 27th state of the United States. Population and demographics With the transfer of Florida to Spain, a number of former British subjects decided to stay while some Spaniards came to Florida. St. Augustine had a mix of both residents from the British period and newly arrived Spaniards. The rural areas settled by colonists were described as being "exclusively Anglo". During the Spanish period, the population of St. Augustine "hovered" at about 3,000 people, with half of its population being black slaves. There were nine Native American towns in Florida, but those towns were not counted in the 1786 census. In 1786, St. Augustine had a population of about 950 people, 300 of whom had some degree of African descent whether they were enslaved or not. Economics With the return of the Spanish, the system of plantation agriculture developed in the colony during the British period remained. Although the production levels were not as high as other British colonies, cash crops like indigo, hemp, and rum made in Spanish East Florida led to economic growth there. As a result, St. Augustine became less dependent on the royal situado (royal financial payments for support). Trade became less restrictive during the second Spanish period as the Spanish monarchies enacted reforms allowing for trade between Spanish and non-Spanish areas, which benefited St. Augustine. St. Augustine was the largest port on the Atlantic Ocean south of Charleston. Ships would travel often to Charleston, South Carolina and Cap Français in Haiti where goods were traded and crews learned the latest news as well. East Florida became economically dependent on the United States after Spain started to align with France and declared war on the British in 1796; as a result British trade largely stopped. Charleston began to surpass Havana as St. Augustine's biggest trading partner while Savannah, Philadelphia and New York City had become trading partners with the city. East Florida exported oranges, lumber and cotton to the United States while fish, grain and foodstuffs were imported from the United States. Spain was concerned about the Haitian Revolution, fearing that ideas of independence could be spread to their own colonies, including Florida, with Governor Quesada doing his best to follow the Spanish government's policy of prohibiting interactions with French possessions, "...forbidding the introduction of French ideas, books, citizens, or slaves originating from French possessions." ==Governors==

List of governors of East Florida ==See also==