The Republic of West Florida (, ), officially the State of Florida, was a short-lived unrecognized republic in the western region of Spanish West Florida for just over months during 1810. In December 1810, the United States occupied and annexed the Republic of West Florida. The governor of Orleans Territory designated the land comprising it as the County of Feliciana. The land was added to Louisiana on August 4, 1812, following an act of Congress passed earlier that year. In 1990, the region that was previously the Republic of West Florida was officially recognized as a historical region of the U.S., the "Republic of West Florida Historic Region", commonly referred to as the Florida Parishes.

History

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".

United States annexation

thumb|right|A sketch map published in 1898 showing the territorial changes of "West Florida"<sup>p 2</sup>

The United States did not recognize the independence of the Republic of West Florida, and on October 27, 1810, James Madison proclaimed that the United States should take possession of it, on the basis that it was part of the Louisiana Purchase. In his proclamation, Madison invoked the portion of the Louisiana Purchase agreement that directly quoted the 1800 St. Ildefonso treaty between France and Spain: Louisiana, he stated, had "the same extent that it had in the hands of Spain, and that it had when France originally possessed it". However, neither the 1800 treaty nor the 1803 purchase includes the word "originally"; instead, they state, "with the same extent that it now has in the hands of Spain and that it had when France possessed it". on December 6, 1810, and Baton Rouge on December 10. After Claiborne refused to recognize the West Florida government, Skipwith and the legislature eventually agreed to accept Madison's annexation proclamation. Congress passed a joint resolution, approved January 15, 1811, to provide for the temporary occupation of the disputed territory and declaring that the territory should remain subject to future negotiation.

The Mobile District, now coastal Mississippi and Alabama, remained under Spanish control until the War of 1812 with Britain, with whom Spain was allied. On May 14, 1812, the claimed portion of West Florida east of the Pearl River was assigned to Mississippi Territory, though at the time, the area around Mobile Bay remained under the control of Spanish Florida. Following that Congressional declaration of annexation and an act of February 12, 1813, (3 Stat. L. 472) authorizing the President to occupy that area, U.S. General James Wilkinson sailed from New Orleans to Mobile in April 1813 with a force of 600, whereupon he received the surrender of the Spanish commander.

Boundaries

The boundaries of the Republic of West Florida included all territory south of parallel 31°N, east of the Mississippi River, and north of the waterway formed by the Iberville River, Amite River, Lake Maurepas, Pass Manchac, Lake Pontchartrain, and the Rigolets. The Pearl River, with its branch that flowed into the Rigolets, formed the eastern boundary of the republic. A military expedition from the republic attempted but failed to capture the Spanish outpost at Mobile, which was situated between the Pearl and the Perdido River, farther to the east. Despite its name, none of the Republic of West Florida was within the borders of the present-day state of Florida, but rather entirely within the present borders of Louisiana.

Louisiana parishes once part of the Republic of West Florida are:

  • East Baton Rouge Parish
  • East Feliciana Parish
  • Livingston Parish
  • St. Helena Parish
  • St. Tammany Parish
  • Tangipahoa Parish
  • Washington Parish
  • West Feliciana Parish

The republic sought to control the Mobile District, which included these later Mississippi and Alabama counties; however, a military expedition led by Reuben Kemper failed. They remained under Spanish control until 1811 (Mississippi portion) and April 1813 (Alabama portion):

See also

  • Florida Parishes
  • Fulwar Skipwith
  • West Florida
  • West Florida Controversy
  • Spanish Florida
  • Louisiana Territory
  • List of historical unrecognized states and dependencies
  • Dominion of British West Florida, 21st-century separatist micronation

References

Bibliography

  • "West Florida Revolt" in Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities' Know Louisiana encyclopedia (2011)
  • Republic of West Florida Museum
  • West Florida Bicentennial
  • The Sons & Daughters of the Province & Republic of West Florida 1763 - 1810 — Republic of West Florida descendants' organization
  • West Florida Constitution — images of the 27 handwritten pages
  • History of West Florida – Histories and Source Documents — includes full text of Arthur (1935) and other materials (compiled by Bill Thayer)
  • "Not Merely Perfidious but Ungrateful": The U.S. Takeover of West Florida , by Robert Higgs (2005)
  • West Florida, by Ann Gilbert (2003) ←Broken link, February 2017.
  • Speech of Governor Fulwar Skipwith, 1810
  • Map of West Florida, 1806, by John Cary