Before 1762, France owned and administered the land west of the
Perdido River as part of
La Louisiane. In 1762, France signed a
secret treaty with Spain that effectively ceded all
French lands west of the
Mississippi River, plus the
Isle of New Orleans, to
Spain. At the end of the
Seven Years' War in 1763, France ceded its remaining lands east of the
Mississippi River (which included the land between the Perdido and Mississippi Rivers) to
Great Britain, while Spain ceded its Florida territory to Britain. Twenty years later, at the conclusion of the
American Revolutionary War in 1783, Spain received both
East and West Florida from Great Britain. The United States and Spain held long negotiations regarding the northern border of West Florida, concluding with
Pinckney's Treaty in 1795. In 1800, under duress from
Napoleon of France, Spain ceded Louisiana and the island of
New Orleans back to France, which promised to return them to Spain should France ever relinquish them. This cession did not include West Florida. In 1803, France then sold Louisiana and New Orleans to the United States in the
Louisiana Purchase. The U.S. claimed that West Florida was part of the Louisiana Purchase, a claim disputed by Spain, as it had controlled West Florida as a province separate from
Spanish Louisiana since 1783. There was an influx of Americans into West Florida in the early years of the 19th century. The population of the
Baton Rouge District was almost exclusively Anglo-American with a substantial number of
Tory immigrants of the
revolutionary period. Some of the Americans were land speculators eager to profit should the territory join the U.S. During the decade after 1803, the U.S. southern border was the scene of many minor frontier events that involved diplomatic relations with Britain, France and Spain. In order to resolve the problems along that border and gain control of ports for commerce, the U.S. desired to possess all territory east of the Mississippi. The rebels unfurled the flag of the new republic, a single white star on a blue field made by Melissa Johnson, wife of Major Isaac Johnson, commander of the
Feliciana cavalry engaged in the attack.) After the successful attack, plans were made to take
Mobile and
Pensacola from the Spanish and incorporate the eastern part of the province into the new republic.
Reuben Kemper led a small force in an attempt to capture
Mobile, but the expedition ended in failure. For some time, the governors of the Orleans and Mississippi territories,
William C. C. Claiborne and
David Holmes, respectively, had been U.S. President
James Madison's two chief agents in securing intelligence on West Florida. Upon learning of the revolt, Madison wanted to move quickly to annex the district but knew he could not use the military without congressional approval. Congress would not meet until December 1810. Military occupation would incur the wrath of Spain and perhaps also Britain and France. He feared if he did not move, West Florida could fall into unfriendly hands, as a considerable part of the population had previously been British subjects. Though troubled by "constitutional qualms", Madison did not want to let the opportunity pass unexploited and "resorted to the oldest justification in the political book: he acted, even without [clear authority] on the grounds that 'a crisis has at length arrived subversive of the order of things under the Spanish authorities. Madison issued a
proclamation of annexation on October 27. Critics quickly condemned the president "for acting without proper authority and for supplanting the jurisdiction of the Spanish, friends who had done nothing to deserve such aggression". Support for the revolt was far from unanimous. The presence of competing pro-Spanish, pro-American, and pro-independence factions, as well as the presence of scores of foreign agents, contributed to a "virtual civil war within the Revolt as the competing factions jockeyed for position". On March 11, 1811, rebellious elements again raised the Lone Star flag of the West Florida Republic, forcing Governor Claiborne to dispatch troops to enforce his authority. Spain did not agree to relinquish its title to any of the
West Florida territory occupied by the United States until 1819, upon the signing of the
Adams–Onís Treaty.
Artifacts The Constitution of the Republic of West Florida was based largely on the
United States Constitution, and divided the government into three branches: executive, judicial, and legislative. The legislature consisted of a Senate and House of Representatives. The Governor was chosen by the legislature. According to the constitution, the official name of the country was the "State of Florida". The marching song of the West Floridian army included these lyrics in verse six: ==United States annexation==