The colonies of East Florida and West Florida remained loyal to the British
during the war for American independence, but by the
Treaty of Paris in 1783 they
returned to Spanish control. After 1783, Americans immigrants moved into West
Florida.
East and West Florida
In 1810, these American settlers in West Florida rebelled, declaring independence
from Spain. President
James Madison and Congress used the incident to claim the region,
knowing full well that the Spanish government was seriously weakened by
Napoleon’s invasion of Spain. The United States asserted that the portion of
West Florida from the Mississippi to the Perdido rivers was part of the
Louisiana Purchase of
1803. Negotiations over Florida began in earnest with the mission of
Don Luis de OnÃs to Washington in 1815 to meet Secretary of State
James Monroe. The issue was not resolved until Monroe
was president and
John
Quincy Adams his Secretary of State. Although U.S. Spanish relations
were strained over suspicions of American support for the independence struggles
of Spanish-American colonies, the situation became critical when General Andrew
Jackson seized the Spanish forts at Pensacola and St. Marks in his 1818
authorized raid against Seminoles and escaped slaves whom were viewed as a
threat to Georgia. Jackson executed two British citizens on charges of inciting
the Indians and runaways. Monroe’s government seriously considered denouncing
Jackson’s actions, but Adams defended the Jackson citing the necessity to
restrain the Indians and escaped slaves since the Spanish failed to do so. Adams
also sensed that Jackson’s Seminole campaign was popular with Americans and it
strengthened his diplomatic hand with Spain.
John Quincy Adams
Adams used the Jackson’s military action to present Spain with a demand to either
control the inhabitants of East Florida or cede it to the United States.
Minister OnÃs and Secretary Adams reached an agreement whereby Spain ceded East
Florida to the United States and renounced all claim to West Florida. Spain
received no compensation, but the United States agreed to assume liability for
$5 million in damage done by American citizens who rebelled against Spain. Under
the OnÃs-Adams Treaty of 1819 (also called the Transcontinental Treaty and
ratified in 1821) the United States and Spain defined the western limits of the
Louisiana Purchase and Spain surrendered its claims to the Pacific Northwest. In
return, the United States recognized Spanish sovereignty over Texas.
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