Florida Territory
The Florida Territory was a historic territory of the United States of America that existed from March 30, 1822 to March 3, 1845, when the Territory was incorporated into the Union as the 27th state named Florida . The territory was originally a Spanish colony, La Florida , which was ceded to the United States in 1819 as part of the Adams-Onís Treaty .
prehistory
Florida was discovered in 1513 by Juan Ponce de León , who took possession of the land for Spain . The oldest settlement of European origin in the United States was St. Augustine , which was founded in 1565 on the northeast coast of Florida. Florida remained in Spanish possession until the end of the Seven Years War , when Spain ceded the colony to the Kingdom of Great Britain in exchange for Havana . After the American Revolution , Great Britain was forced to return Florida to Spain in 1783.
The second half of the Spanish reign was heavily influenced by the United States. There were border disputes over the Georgia border and American use of the Mississippi . These problems were supposedly resolved by the Treaty of San Lorenzo in 1795 , which set the Florida-Georgia border at the 31st parallel . However, as Thomas Jefferson once predicted, the United States could not keep its hands off Florida.
American influence before 1821
In 1812 US troops and patriots from Georgia invaded Florida under General George Mathews to protect American interests. These interests were largely linked to slaves . Escaped slaves were protected by the indigenous people of Florida, called the Seminoles by the Americans for a long time . They lived in a semi-feudal system. While the Seminoles protected the now “free” blacks, the former slaves shared the crops with them. Despite the fact that blacks were considered inferior by the Seminoles, both sides lived in harmony. Slaveholders in Georgia and the rest of the south grew angry about the continued flight of slaves to Florida. Most Americans viewed the Florida invasion as a rash act, and the Spaniards were promised a speedy withdrawal.
After many years of further clashes between the indigenous peoples and the settlers, General Andrew Jackson wrote to US President Monroe in 1818 that he was invading Florida. Jackson's troops left Tennessee and marched down the Apalachicola River . They wreaked havoc from north Florida until they arrived in March in Pensacola , where the Spanish quickly gave up.
Adams-Onís Treaty
The Adams-Onís Treaty , also known as the Transcontinental Treaty , was signed by John Quincy Adams and Luis de Onís on February 22, 1819 , but did not come into force until 1821 after ratification by the Spanish government. The United States got Florida and the Oregon Country for giving up all Texas claims to Spain. Contrary to popular belief, no money flowed between the two governments.
Florida Territory and the Seminole Wars
General Andrew Jackson was the first military governor of the new territory. On March 30, 1822, the US Congress merged East and West Florida to form the Florida Territory. William Pope Duval became the territory's first official governor, shortly after the Tallahassee Capitol was established. However, a Seminole tribe had to be removed from the country beforehand.
The central point of contention in the Florida Territory was the Seminoles. The federal government and most white settlers wanted all of the Native Americans in Florida to move to the west. On May 28, 1830, the US Congress passed the Indian Removal Act , which required that all Native Americans move west of the Mississippi River. The law did not apply to all of Florida, but it did set the framework for the Payne's Landing Treaty , which was signed by a council of Seminole chiefs on May 9, 1832. This treaty stipulated that all Florida Seminoles should be relocated by 1835. It was at this meeting that the famous Osceola expressed his resolve to fight for the first time.
At the end of 1835 Osceola began a guerrilla war with the Seminoles against US troops. Numerous generals fought and failed, succumbing to the heat and disease and the lack of knowledge of the country. It was not until General Thomas Jesup captured many of the most important Seminole chiefs, including Osceola, who died in captivity of an illness, that the fighting began. The Seminoles were eventually forced to migrate, with a small group holding out in the Everglades until Florida joined the Union as the 27th state on March 3, 1845.
List of governors
| Surname | Term of office | Political party |
|---|---|---|
| William Pope Duval | 1822-1834 | |
| John Henry Eaton | 1834-1836 | democrat |
| Richard Keith Call | 1836-1839 | |
| Robert Raymond Reid | 1839-1841 | |
| Richard Keith Call | 1841-1844 | |
| John Branch | 1841-1844 | Whig |
See also
Individual evidence
- ^ Hubert Bruce Fuller: The Purchase of Florida. University of Florida Press, Gainesville FL 1964, Introduction xvii.
- ^ Hubert Bruce Fuller: The Purchase of Florida. University of Florida Press, Gainesville FL 1964, Introduction xviii-xix.
- ^ Virginia Bergman Peters: The Florida Wars. Archon Books, Hamden CT 1979, p. 39.
- ^ Virginia Bergman Peters: The Florida Wars. Archon Books, Hamden CT 1979, pp. 18-22.
- ^ Virginia Bergman Peters: The Florida Wars. Archon Books, Hamden CT 1979, p. 39.
- ^ Virginia Bergman Peters: The Florida Wars. Archon Books, Hamden CT 1979, pp. 50-54.
- ^ Hubert Bruce Fuller: The Purchase of Florida. University of Florida Press, Gainesville FL 1964, Editorial Preface xi.
- ^ Virginia Bergman Peters: The Florida Wars. Archon Books, Hamden CT 1979, pp. 63-74.
- ^ Virginia Bergman Peters: The Florida Wars. Archon Books, Hamden CT 1979, p. 87.
- ^ Virginia Bergman Peters: The Florida Wars. Archon Books, Hamden CT 1979, pp. 89-95.
- ^ Virginia Bergman Peters: The Florida Wars. Archon Books, Hamden CT 1979, pp. 105-110.
- ^ Virginia Bergman Peters: The Florida Wars. Archon Books, Hamden CT 1979, pp. 137-160.
literature
- Hubert Bruce Fuller: The Purchase of Florida. Its History and Diplomacy. Burrows Brothers Company, Cleveland OH 1906, (Facsimile reprint: University of Florida Press, Gainesville FL 1964).
- Virginia Bergman Peters: The Florida Wars. Archon Books, Hamden CT 1979, ISBN 0-208-01719-4 .
Web links
- Library of Congress: An act for the establishment of a territorial government in Florida (pp. 654–659 of A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: US Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774 - 1875 , English)